One Year Later… Sylvia’s Story

So, many of you know that I sponsor a girl at Tumaini named Sylvia. Last year when I was visiting Tumaini Sylvia celebrated her 11th birthday. We laughed and danced together and sang Happy Birthday. Sylvia is shy so she kept quiet but she really enjoyed the celebration. When it was time for us to leave for the night we shared with Sylvia one last gift: a BIG box of Raisinettes. We told her the chocolate was for her because it was her special day. What transpired next changed my life forever. All the kids from the Children’s Home began to gather and watch as Sylvia opened the box of chocolate treasure. Keep in mind these kids NEVER get sweets like this. NEVER! Sylvia could have stood before these kids savoring ever single bite of the gift given to her, eating all the treasure for herself… after all it was her special day. But she didn’t. In fact she began giving the chocolate away one by one until all the little hands held out before her were full of the treasure. In the midst of this activity she did’t even take the time to try one for herself until all the wazungu watching realized what was happening and intervened by saying, “Sylvia, try one!” At that point she put ONE in her mouth and as her eyes lit up with pure joy at the taste of it she reached into the box again and gave the remainder of the treasure away. WOW what a lesson from the least of these. Sylvia knew she had a treasure in her hand and she had a choice… keep it for herself or give it away. She knew the gift given to her would be sweeter if shared with others. I watched with tears in my eyes that day as I observed the children of Tumaini sharing in the sweetness of the treasure all because a little girl named Sylvia saw more value in giving the treasure away than storing up the treasure for herself. She challenged me that day and now I am challenging you… First of all, do you have the sweetest thing…. That being Christ Jesus? And if you do, are you choosing to store up the treasure of Him for yourself, or are you willing to share the love of Christ with others?

On July 25th I had the pleasure of celebrating Sylvia’s birthday with her again. The ISF team was here so we had a dance party, sang Happy Birthday and of course Sylivia’s birthday would not be complete without… you guessed it…. Raisinettes. This time I brought 3 boxes… plenty enough for her to have some of her own and plenty to give away. The biggest blessing was the opportunity God gave me to share Sylvia’s story with the team and the kids at Tumaini. Praise be to God! I challenge you to think of Sylvia and her gift every time you look at a box of Raisinettes… I know I will!