Nyaga is TOP of his class!

Nyaga is our child in Kenya that we have sponsored for over 4 years now through Compassion International. He was 5 years old when we sponsored him and he just turned 10 a little over 1 week ago! He is the man. Some of you may know him as Peter (Nyaga Baithumbi) and i've written about him a lot - HERE, Here, HERE, and HERE are a few...

Crystal and i had the awesome privilege of visiting Nyaga last Fall and hanging out at his house and in his village with his family (no parents). We had A LOT of fun together.

We always receive his report card after every year of school. He actually had to repeat 1st grade and then he's always done just OK since then. i can imagine it's extremely hard without even a parent to help you out with anything. He does have an older brother that he lives with, but he has his own wife and is taking care of 5 other children.

In our letters to Nyaga we always encourage him to work hard in school and to simply do his best. Last year he finished the best in his class he ever had -->

Term 1 = 14 out of 21 students

Term 2 = 8 out of 21 students

Term 3 = 10 out of 21 students

Crystal and i were talking to the Compassion staff when we were in Nyaga's village. we have always said that we want to sponsor Nyaga all the way through the University program, so we were asking how a student is selected for it?

Obviously there are several factors like work ethic, etc... but the student MUST be at least in the top 6 or 7 in his class to even be accepted into a University in Kenya!

We talked about Nyaga's grades and the staff lady mentioned that he is working hard and improving so much. that semester that he finished 8th in his class was a great step and puts him really near the cut off.

That day Nyaga and Crystal and i talked about school a lot. We encouraged him over and over to study really hard every day, to go to the tutoring that Compassion provides on Saturdays, and to keep improving in school... because it matters for your future.

i asked Nyaga what he wanted to be when he grew up and he replied - "President of Kenya... because i want to help Kenyans."

wow. lump in my throat. talk about HOPE. and having a dream from the bottom of poverty.

We told him to go for it. to work as hard as he can to walk toward that goal. getting better and better in school was a great way to move toward that goal... or at least the goal of having more influence to help people.

we just received Nyaga's report card from this year of school that just finished... HE IS #1 IN HIS CLASS!

Term 1 = 1st out of 40

Term 2 = 2nd out of 40

Term 3 = 1st out of 40

THAT is what i'm talking about!

we wrote him a letter write away (+ a birthday card and a birthday gift) and told him we know how hard he must have worked and how proud we were of that!

i know he's not my own kid but i can't even tell you how proud this makes me feel. i really can't help but tear up every time i think about it. unbridled joy wells up in my heart.

i definitely am not taking any credit but i can't help but think that the visit and encouragement Crystal and i gave mattered. because that's a big jump - from middle of the class to top of the class.

at the end of his letter we just received, he wrote "When can you come visit my home again?" Soon, i hope... Soon.

i hope 1 day we can go visit and help him move into his University.

and then the last words of his letter are "I will always pray for you."

c'mon Nyaga, can't i make it through 1 letter without crying?

outback or bologna sandwiches?

(This article is reposted from July 2, 2008.)

Peter is the young boy that Crystal and I have the awesome privilege to support through Compassion International. Make sure you go read a little more about Peter & Compassion here. That's where I wrote about him on one of my very 1st blogs.

He's our "adopted orphan" - the only kind we can afford for now. We'd love to "really" adopt an orphan in Africa one day, but for now we send support to him each month and Compassion makes sure he has plenty of food, clean water, health care, education, AIDS prevention and help for his brothers & sisters, a place to sleep, and they also make sure he hears the amazing stories about Jesus.

So, I went to the mailbox this past weekend and pulled out a letter from Peter. (He writes to us every 2-3 months.) It's always really exciting when we get a letter from him. I was stoked, but I had to wait on Crystal to get back because we always read them together. As soon as we opened it we could tell that he wrote it himself! This is the 1st letter from him that he actually wrote with his own hands. He is only 5, so a translator had to write it for him up until now! Looks like that $ is paying off as he has already learned to write REALLY well! Really well for a 5 year old anyway as there were a few backwards letters and misspellings, but not too bad. I thought I would share some of the letter with you guys:

How are you. I hope you are fine. I am also doing great because of the Lord. How was your Easter? Mine was great. I went to church and learnt about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Thank you very much for your continued support and the gift you sent to me. I bought a goat worth 972 kshs and 50 kilos of maize worth 500 kshs.

Please pray for me that may do well in my studies. Is there any special prayer you would like me to pray for you? Bye til next time.

Love, Peter

Oh man, totally jacked me up a little when I read that. Definitely choked up a little. Pumped that he learned the coolest story ever - Jesus dying and coming back to life for us.

And then I read the next part. Crystal and I sent him a little extra $ for a Christmas gift. I think it was only like $50. We figured he could buy like a soccer ball and some toys or something. NOPE, he bought a GOAT! I read that and I just busted out laughing!!! So, I guess we got Peter a goat & some maize for Christmas. Actually I had some goat & maize together for a meal when I was in Africa. It's not bad when you're really hungry. Any of you ever got a goat for Christmas?It's just really funny to me.

Anyway, reading that letter makes it worth it all right there guys. When I think about there being 30,000 children dying every day from poverty, disease, and unclean water - it's crazy. But when I realize that for a little bit of my $ every month, Peter won't have to worry about it... what's a little bit of extra $? What's $40 a month going to do for me? 1 extra night out at a restaurant. But for Peter it guarantees he doesn't become a statistic! It gives him clean water, food, an education, medical care, etc... And it guarantees that he gets to be loved by a community of believers near his village who tell him the greatest stories ever told! His life is absolutely changed because of that money.

So, what do you think is more worth it? The night out at Outback or Peter? Get with it & sponsor a child! Go to compassion.com right now and make Jesus really happy.

As for me, I'm cool with the bologna sandwich for almost free at my house.