But it occurred to me with all the new letter writing policies that I don't want new visitors to the blog to be confused about what is allowed to be sent and what is not by reading the old posts.
So, I would like to introduce you to my new blog series: Outgoing Mail! Each month I'll share the letters that I've send online and if I send a paper mailings per the new policies, I'll share about that also!
In case you have not had a chance to read the new policies, here is what you need to know…
What can be sent to Compassion?
- All of your correspondence should include a personal letter to your child. Enclosures received without a personal letter cannot be sent along to your sponsored child.
- Your letter and any enclosures should be completely flat and made of paper.
- Letters and small, flat paper gift items should be no larger than 8.5” x 11".
- Total number of items (including stationery) should not exceed six sheets of paper, including your letter to your child.
- If items are in excess of six sheets, we will make every effort to donate the item to a local children’s charity. Items that cannot be donated will be discarded.
Some items will be scanned...
Some flat paper items enclosed with your letter will be scanned and sent electronically with your letter. The following scan-friendly items will be scanned first, digitally sent to your child’s country office for printing, and then delivered to your child:
- Letters
- Photos
- Postcards
- Greeting cards
- Coloring pages
- Paper crafts
Your child will not receive original copies of items in the list above. Original items are not kept by Compassion and are not returned to sponsors. If you choose to send any of the above items to your child, you must include a letter in order to ensure proper delivery.
Some items will be physically delivered...
Please note, only the following items will be physically delivered to your child, up to a maximum of six sheets.
- Stickers (flat, not puffy or foam)
- Bookmarks
- Musical greeting cards
But the mailing address stays the same:
Attn: Child Correspondence
[No street address necessary]
Colorado Springs, CO 80997
Be sure to include your sponsor number and your child’s number on the letter so we can process it correctly.
Can we send Christmas cards to unsponsored kids?
[R]egrettably, we will not be sending the traditional Christmas cards the the unsponsored children this year. I know this is going to come as a big disappointment for many of you, as you have so lovingly extended such incredible love to these kids for many years. While we are not going to send the traditional greeting cards, our marketing team is currently working on ways to still bring the same kind of encouragement to these kids for Christmas. We don't know what that will look like yet, but we can absolutely let you know when we do. For those of you who have already bought cards, I suggest finding a local ministry that could use them. Places like homeless shelters, hospitals, boy scouts and cub scout packs and churches can surely use them to bless others! You could also mail them to members of the military who aren't able to be home for Christmas.
I hope this helps you as you continue your correspondence with your children! I look forward to seeing how the changes affect our correspondence and as I figure out how best to encourage our kids under the new policies.
Due to the changes in letter writing policies, I will be doing more online writing than sending packets of goodies. And to encourage you that there are still so many ways we can be creative with online writing, I wanted to share what I wrote to my kids about this month (in addition to a devotional and a country)!
Just as we love to learn all about our kids' lives, I think our kids like to learn about our lives! I try to share about different "events" in our lives and the online letter writing tool is really a great resources.
For example, when the kids' cousins were in town for Thanksgiving, I wrote a quick letter about Thanksgiving and sent a photo of the kids with their cousins. When we attended an Around the World Dance with my siblings over Christmas, I sent a photo of us in our "international" costumes and wrote briefly about our time.
I don't typically share those letters on here, but I thought that it might give you ideas for your own letter writing. This month, since Juanito and Rosie celebrated their birthdays, I wrote briefly about the celebration. This is what the letter looked like:
As you will see, I keep it simple and try to keep the information that kids in different cultures might appreciate or be able to relate to! I also like to make a point to encourage our kids in their relationship with God in every letter I send.
Hello Friend!
How are you? We hope that you and your family are well! This week we celebrated Juanito's and Rosie's birthdays! Juanito turned 4 on March 8 and Rosie turned 2 on March 10. To celebrate, we invited our family members and a few friends over and we had some hotdogs and cake for lunch. Juanito and Rosie had fun playing with their friends and we sang two birthday songs for them!
The first goes like this: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Juanito & Rosie, happy birthday to you!" (And you just change the name for whoever you are singing to!).
The other birthday song is like this: "A happy birthday to you, a happy birthday to you. Every day of the year, may you find Jesus near. A happy birthday to you, a happy birthday to you. And the best one you've ever had."
Do you have a birthday song you sing in your country?
I included a few photos for you to see! The photo of the left shows Abuelo (Eric's dad Robert) and Rosie. The middle one (from left to right in front) shows Grandma C (my mom's mom), Grandma U (Eric's mom's mom), Juanito, me (Hannah), Rosie, and Grandma B (my dad's mom). In the back of the middle photo are my mom (Karen, on the left) and Eric's mom (Magda, on the right). And on the far right photo are Juanito and his friend Charles playing with balls.
I have been attending a Bible study with my mom and my friends. We are studying the book of Philippians in the Bible! In closing, I want to pray Paul's prayer for you from Philippians 1:9-11:
"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
We love you dearly!
Hannah
I hope this helps give you ideas for sharing your life with your sponsored kids!
