Ivan A.

This is Ivan A. He is in Baby Class at Vision of Destiny International School, the school I started last year. He's one of the fortunate children that is attending.

Ivan is 4 years old so should actually be a class ahead of where he is but due to lack of school fees he never attended school last year.

He has two older brothers and a younger sister. Each has a different father and no father is any where to be seen. I don't think Ivan has ever even met his dad. He lives in a one room house with his mom and siblings. His mom is a drunkard, consistently lies, and isn't very cooperative with the rules at school.

However, Ivan is very cooperative, a bright learner, and full of life.

The first time I met Ivan, he was filthy, skinny, barely talked, and wouldn't smile. Just after one month in school, all that had changed. Ivan comes to school clean. This is a requirement which his mom took some time to be able to comply with. After us taking Ivan home from school, not allowing him to stay for the day for about a week, she finally decided to bring him when he was bathed. Since getting two meals a day from school, plus the one he gets at home, he's put on some weight. He smiles and can be seen playing with other children while running and shouting.

Ivan is one example of how sponsorship works, how it changes a life. It might be a small change, but it's a change. He now has a chance to go to school and maybe do something in the future that he otherwise would never have been able to do.

Please pray for Ivan: that he will know the Lord, love the Lord, study hard in school and become the man that God wants him to be.

Pray for Ivan's mom: that she will come to know and love the Lord, that she will stop drinking, that she will love and care for her children the way God intends for her to

Pray for Ivan's sponsor: that the sponsor (a family) will know they are loved and appreciated, that they will know how much impact they have made on a life, and that everything they have given will be returned to them.