From Loving Sponsor, to Loving Home by: Jenn Hand, Nepal

I was at a Newsong concert when the Lord completely captured my heart as the band shared about the ministry of Holt International.  I honestly thought I should ignore the fast beating of my heart as I heard the stories [...]]]> Inspiring stories about sponsoring children in Holt’s care

From Loving Sponsor, to Loving Home
by: Jenn Hand, Nepal

I was at a Newsong concert when the Lord completely captured my heart as the band shared about the ministry of Holt International.  I honestly thought I should ignore the fast beating of my heart as I heard the stories of the children in need of sponsorship, because I myself was a graduate school student, which of course equals little to no money.  But I knew God was calling me to the sponsorship table, where I picked out my little girl, Manna. I fell more in love with her every month as I sent that check and loved getting the very detailed updates about how she was doing.  Little did I know during this time God was calling me to come serve him in another bordering country to where she lived in south Asia.   I was amazed how God provided for me as I raised support to come serve Him in south Asia, and even without a steady paycheck, there was always enough money to send to little Manna.  I proudly displayed her picture on my refrigerator.  In 2007 I left for south Asia where I received the blessing of getting to work with an orphanage here.  Every time I hugged one of our orphans I thought of Manna and prayed for her to find a great home.  I almost got to meet her in October 2007 as I traveled to Bangalore, India, to lead a women’s conference, however the conference session went too long, and I was unable to meet up with her foster family before I had to leave.  Every time I see a beggar child in the streets of south Asia (and there are hundreds) I praised God for the ministry of Holt and for the foster home Manna was in.  When I heard she was adopted into a loving Christian family, I just could not stop praising the Lord.  Now I have a new little girl’s photo on my refrigerator

Inspired to Give
by: Joann Westerman, Fair Oaks, CA

My daughter and her husband adopted a beautiful baby girl from Korea through Holt in October of 1999.   Tristen was 5 months old when she came into our lives.  Because of this amazing life-changing experience, I have dedicated my life to helping children.  I feel sponsoring is just a small way of helping.   I also do volunteer work with children in crisis.   Being able to financially and physically help children fulfills my life.

Joi’s Prayers Answered
by: Richard Buckley

As part of a ministry event called The Advent Conspiracy, my family and I chose to do four things to focus on Jesus this past Christmas: We worshipped more fully, spent less on ourselves, gave more to others, and loved the people God has placed in our path more fully. One exciting thing we did was to allow each of our daughters to sponsor a girl from their native country (2 from China and 1 from Korea).

Joi sponsored a child through Holt International, and she fervently prayed for her.  Every mealtime and bedtime prayer included a special mention of her name asking God to watch over her. If I forgot to pray for her, Joi made me “do it over,” or she added her own “P.S.” to God after the prayer. The amazing thing is that her sponsored child has the very same foster parents as Joi did! It’s tempting to say “It’s a small world after all” but it’s much better to say “What an awesome and huge God we have!”

Joi is a new Christian, and I love to see God affirm new believers as they grow in Him. This past week we got a letter from Holt International noting that Joi’s sponsored child had been adopted and has a forever home in the United States. You should have seen Joi’s face when it sunk in! Amy and I had the honor of telling Joi the Lord not only heard her prayers, but He has acted on them and placed this special child in a family where she will have the opportunity to hear the Gospel and understand unconditional love.

As we read the letter at the dinner table, we came to a paragraph noting that we had been assigned another Korean baby girl to sponsor and pray for.  She is the latest addition to our sponsorship family. Please pray for her to have a forever family soon…and remember, if you don’t, Joi will be there to remind you!

Hands Full of Children in Need
by: Juan Ocampo

I took the rest of the child sponsorship folders and handed them to a lady who wanted to look at them, and she ended up sponsoring a child. She then handed the pamphlets to someone else, and the sponsoring moved forward. Seeing the handful of pamphlets that began in my hands being sponsored by others was God’s way of telling us that, though we could only sponsor one child, He would always provide for the other children to be sponsored as well. Our hearts melted, and we thanked God for His love.  My wife and I registered to sponsor a 4 years young little girl from the Ukraine for 6 months at $30 a month. That is a minimal amount of money that will help her with her medicines and general needs. That’s the least we could do. I’m sure it will go on beyond the six months, but everything has a beginning.

Inspired at Winter Jam
by: Morgan Gibson, Danville, VA

My boyfriend and I went to Winter Jam in Greensboro, North Carolina, and a presentation was made about Holt International.  Feeling God’s call, we decided to support a little girl from Korea.  We’re both college students and had both looked into this with another organization; however, we couldn’t afford it.  Now, being able to split the cost, we already feel blessed by God knowing that we are helping to further His kingdom.  It was truly amazing walking up to the table praying that God would show us who He wanted to cross our paths.  God had a plan because our eyes landed on the same child at the same moment.  As two students who want to adopt in the future, we saw this as an opportunity to get started!

The Opportunity of a Lifetime
by: Michael Whatley, Acworth, GA

An incredible thing happened with the first child I sponsored through Holt. As I was giving and praying for her, I received a letter one day that told me that I no longer needed to give to her. Because of what I had given, it allowed the girl’s parents time to find another job that enabled them to provide the income needed.  The mom, dad, and child were reunited. Praise God! Now I am supporting my second child with great joy and gladness knowing that she will have the opportunity of a lifetime as well.

‘One of the Bests Things We’ve Ever Done’
by: Debbie

We love “our” little girl and hope she finds a loving family.  We feel like she’s ours!  My little granddaughter is so cute; she wants to write her a letter. I’m so glad Holt was introduced at the Winter Jam concert!  It’s one of the best things we’ve ever done.

Join these dedicated sponsors and help a child in need today….

I can’t say that I am very familiar with today’s top Christian artists, but I was familiar enough with a few, and thank God that He is [...]]]> When Juan Ocampo attended Winter Jam Christian concert recently, he realized that God was directing him toward sponsoring a child. The following is Juan’s account of that event:

I can’t say that I am very familiar with today’s top Christian artists, but I was familiar enough with a few, and thank God that He is able to use the music and the artists to do His work. I have to say that I was moved by the mass of youth praising the Lord and having fun in their faith. It was a full house of over 10,000 people, and 1,800 souls were saved that night.

Holt International is an organization that helps “give orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children safe and nurturing environments in which to develop,” and they were one of the organizations and sponsors involved with the tour. My wife and I attended the concert to enjoy the celebration of our faith, but after the Holt International story and testimonies of former orphans, we looked at each other with certainty of what the Lord was calling us to do. God had touched my wife and I to sponsor a child.

We headed to the crowded table where Holt International staff and all the pamphlets of needy children were. On our way to the table, my wife and I were praying for God’s direction and while peeking through the wall of people, I glanced at the table, and out jumped the face of a beautiful little girl on the cover of a pamphlet. In a swift moment I continued to scan the rest of the table to see if God would confirm who the child would be.

Quite honestly, it’s not easy choosing one child when so many need help, and it saddened our hearts to know that we could only help one. So, there we were still waiting for our turn to be shown the pamphlets of the children, when…One of the staff members handed us a handful of pamphlets of needy children. And, yes, you guessed it; the little girl who jumped out at us was one of the little girls in the bunch of pamphlets. My wife and I knew that God had spoken to us and we registered to sponsor that child.

I took the rest of the pamphlets and handed them to a lady who wanted to look at them and she ended up sponsoring a child. She then handed the pamphlets to someone else and the sponsoring moved forward. Seeing the handful of pamphlets, that began in my hands being sponsored by others was God’s way of telling us that, though we could only sponsor one child, He would always provide for the other children to be sponsored as well.  Me and my wife’s hearts melted and we thanked God for His love.

My wife and I registered to sponsor the 4 years young little girl from the Ukraine for 6 months at $30 a month. That is a minimal amount of money that will help her with her medicines and general needs. That’s the least we could do. I’m sure it will go on beyond the six months, but everything has a beginning. My wife and I just thank God for giving us the love in our hearts to see the needs of these children, and for Him providing for us to be able to help. What more can I say, but to God all the honor and glory.

Winter Jam is holding concerts until March in various cities, and Holt International is asking volunteers to help with child sponsorship sign up at the events.