Irma's Story

When I wrote the blog series about my second trip to Honduras to visit two of my sponsor children this past May, there were some stories left untold.  Not because they weren't amazing, but because telling just the stories of my own girls took up a nine-part series in itself.  Naturally, I had to leave out some of the stories of the other children we worked with during the week.  One of those stories was Irma.

 
I met Irma during my last day in Honduras.  My 15 year old sponsor child, Melania, arrived at the center that morning with several relatives.  Irma was introduced to me as Melania's cousin.  She was twelve years old at the time.  I spent some time talking to the family as we sat on a bench at the back of the center.

As the day went on, I was occupied with many children.  I was meeting my own girls, delivering gifts to children who were sponsored by friends of mine, preparing for Melania's quinceanera party, etc.  For much of my day at the center, Irma quietly followed behind me.  She would look at me and smile, occasionally grabbing my hand or wrapping her arm around me as we walked.  At one point, when she finally had me alone for a moment, she whispered something to me- "Do you know Michelle?".  Without any further explanation, I knew she was asking about her sponsor.  In these children's minds, if you are from the United States, you must know their sponsor who lives there.  Obviously, I didn't.  Irma had seen so many other children receiving love from their sponsors that day.  She wanted to know she wasn't forgotten.  I soon learned that Irma had been sponsored for over 3 years, yet had never received a letter from her sponsor.

I told Irma that while I did not know her sponsor, I would be glad to take a picture of her and have the sponsorship organization forward it to her, along with a letter saying how much she would love to hear from her.  She jumped at this opportunity.

 

I stuck with Irma throughout the rest of my time at the project and gave her the only extra gift I had with me- a simple drawstring bracelet with a cross charm on it.  After that, her demeanor changed.  As her friends arrived that day, she went over to them with excitement, pointed to me, and said, "She is going to send pictures to my sponsor!"  I spent some of the day with Irma as we played with the other children, watched soccer tournaments, had lunch, and made pipe-cleaner jewelry together. 

Since returning home from Honduras, I had the organization forward letters and pictures on to Irma's sponsor, and called several times to see if she was receiving letters yet.  Each time, the answer was no.  Eventually, I asked if there was any chance that Irma could have a correspondence sponsor.  There is a correspondence program for sponsors who want to support a child financially but not write letters, so they can assign someone else to write to the child.  I was told unfortunately, they could only give Irma a correspondence sponsor if her financial sponsor requested it.  After this, I kind of let it go and "gave up" for the time being.  I still prayed it could happen in the future, but I had made peace with the fact that there was no way for it to happen right now.  I tried to convince myself that maybe it was for the best if I just invested in the girls I already had.

Still, when I was having alone time with God a few days ago and making a list of everything I was praying for, Irma was at the top of that list.  When I read the passage in the bible about the shepherd who left is 99 sheep to go look for the lost one, I felt God speak- you're not giving up on Irma.  So imagine my joy when just a few days later, I got a phone call from the sponsorship organization.  It was the woman who I had last talked to about Irma.

"I had talked to you a while back about your sponsor child's cousin, Irma.  Today, I have the best possible news..."

Best possible news?  I thought I had already been given the news, that I couldn't have her.

"After talking to you," she continued, "I saw your heart for this girl, and I fought to make it happen.  Today, we have gotten permission from Irma's sponsor to make you her official correspondent sponsor."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  All I could do was thank God.  His work here was so apparent.  Just days after adding her to my prayer list, I got a call out of absolutely nowhere, delivering the "best possible news"!  In the days immediately before and after this phone call, the enemy had been at work in my life in ways that required every ounce of my faith to believe that God would answer my prayers.  Unknowingly, this sponsorship rep poured into me and delivered assurance that He definitely would. 

If they had given Irma to me when I had originally called and asked, that would have been so me.  I would have gotten what I wanted, and gotten to shower her with love.  That would have been a great story and all.... but, the fact that it happened this way was so God.  After deciding that maybe things had worked out for the best and I wasn't meant to sponsor Irma, He made it happen without even really giving me a choice.  Irma had already been added to my account by the time I received the call. It was just SO GOD!

If I'm being honest, I'm in a season right now where, for reasons I will write about in the future, I need to fight for my peace with everything in me.  God has shown me every step I need to take, and I am winning.  Still, I often need reminders that God is answering me when I call.  Now, every time I think of Irma, I remember His goodness.