When we first got married, one of the first interesting things that we did “as a married couple” was to sponsor a child through Compassion International. This is a Christian organization that connects sponsors with kids in developing countries. We sponsored a kid named Edwin from Bolivia back in 1994. In 1998, I encouraged our band Caedmon’s Call to partner and endorse Compassion as other artists do. And Amy and I went on tour with the band that year to talk about Compassion with people at the concerts. That same year, we got to go on a trip with the organization to see their work in Bolivia. There, we met Edwin, 10-years-old. We got to spend a day with him and share dinner with his family. Afterwards, we kept in touch by letter and later by email, and always hoped we would see each other again.
Now, Edwin is with us in Arica. I had emailed him that we were in Chile for three months, and he made arrangements to come. Flights were expensive, but he found a bus for about $70 each way from Santa Cruz, Bolivia to Arica, Chile (a 25 hour ride). He was really committed to coming. To take time off for a week at the university, he had to miss a whole month (and they go by month-terms). This means, he’ll be doing double work next month to make things up.
It is so amazing to see him. He is 19 now, and a great young man. The kids are having such a good time with them, are speaking to him in Spanish and teaching him some English too. In fact, we’re having such a great time that we’re arranging for him to come to Santiago with us for a week after Arica. He’s never flown on a plane, so it will be great for him. And he’s never seen a city like Santiago..
