We’re back with updates! In the August newsletter, we shared with you about the food baskets that were being prepared for the COJ children and their families. By God’s grace and with all of your prayers, the pastors were able to safely buy, prepare, and deliver food baskets to the COJ children and their families! Since the delivery of the first food basket, we requested feedback on what other specific grocery items would be helpful for families during this time. We noticed that many churches were requesting the addition of beans, which are indeed a good source of protein, fiber, and many essential vitamins. With your ongoing support, a second distribution of food baskets - including beans! - has been made this month. Please pray for Peru’s economy to fully recover and for the love of God to be relayed to the COJ children and their families through these food baskets.

Tears roll down my face. I am sitting in front of my computer at the mission center office, translating a letter from a sponsor to their sponsored child. I start thinking about why I am crying. The letter is not written to me. I am simply responsible for delivering the original thoughts of the writer to the recipient, without anything getting lost in translation. But though I am not the intended final destination of the words on the pages, I find myself personally comforted by them. There are hard weeks, and this was one of those weeks. Of course, no one besides God knew the ins and outs of my personal struggles. Yet it is like the sponsor who wrote this letter knew. They seem to be speaking directly to me, acknowledging my struggles, and giving me a pat on the back, encouraging me to continue moving forward. But that is not the entirety of why I am touched. It is like I can tangibly feel the weight of love the sponsor has and wants to deliver to their child, a child they never even met in person and yet endearingly call them “My dear beloved daughter…” I can almost picture the sponsor as they carefully consider and pray about how to respond to what their sponsored child shared with them regarding the harsh reality and giants they face. This isn’t an ordinary love. It is a love that knows no bounds and cannot be constrained; it is the love of Jesus. And the thing is…we all are formed by our Creator to respond to love. I am blessed to witness the blossoming relationship between a sponsor and sponsored child within the love of Christ. The impact on the child is so evident in the following correspondences. Though this sponsored child doesn’t have much interaction with her biological father, God sent her another father who would be a channel of His wondrous love. And for the sponsored child, it is of far greater worth than anything else the world can offer. The impact you can have on the life of your sponsored child is likely beyond your imagination! There is a possibility that God will use you to even touch unsuspecting others. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God! What great love it is. If you would like to write a letter to the children you are sponsoring, you can write it on personal stationery or stationery we have provided. You can also write it online at www.coj.org. We ask that you be a messenger of dreams and hopes during difficult times.