Unbound and Our Sponsored Child

By bobbi
March 14, 2017
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During Lent, we focus on three areas – prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Today I want to share with you about one of the our favorite charities that we support through our almsgiving.

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Unbound, formerly known as CFCA (Christian Foundation for Children ad Aging,) began in 1981. Unbound has a beautiful history that started with three, brothers, a sister and a best friend.

The vision for Unbound began with Bob, Bud and Jim Hentzen, their sister Nadine Hentzen Pearce and their friend Jerry Tolle. Bob and Jerry were former missionaries who, while working in Latin America, witnessed the devastating effects of poverty on families struggling heroically to make better lives for their children. Guided by faith and rooted in Catholic social teaching, the founders envisioned a program that would invite people to partner with families to support, encourage and empower them.

Read more here.

Our family first learned about Unbound in 2011 from friends of ours that was sponsoring a child. I liked the fact that the program not only helped one child but their whole family and offered ongoing support for them to grow and better their lives. Unbound believes the following:

Poverty isn’t just about lack of money — it’s about lack of choices. We’ve found that families make good choices when they have support and encouragement. They invest in the education of their children. They develop livelihoods and become active community participants in the spirit of true sustainability. We work with families at the grassroots level with local staff. Our social workers visit the homes of the families and listen to their needs. They work with children to set education goals. They visit the elderly. They bring families together in small groups to support one another and improve their community.

I was impressed by the work that Unbound does and the percentage of funds that goes to the program vs the administration (92.6%.) I also liked the fact that we’d be able to write to our sponsored child and keep in touch with them through the program. (However, your personal info is kept confidential.) I talked to Brian and made sure the cost fit into our tithing budget and when it did , we prayed to the Holy Spirit to help us chose a child to sponsor.

Since we have so many boys in the house I thought it would be nice to sponsor a girl that Bella could write to as well. We chose the country of Mexico (since mi familia is Hispanic) and I picked a couple of cute little girls in need of help. Bella was ten years old at the time and I let her look over the profiles and pick the one we should sponsor. Of all the smiling faces and cute grins Bella chose a girl close to her age that looked more serious. Her name was Abigal, or as her friends liked to call her, Abi.

We took Abi’s photo and placed it on our home prayer table as a reminder to pray for her each day.

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In our first letter from Abi, she tells us about her life and her family but it is the closing paragraph that brought a tear to my eyes. The translation reads:

“I promise I will make a big effort in the school so that you become proud of me. I will pray every day for you from now on so that God takes care of you and pours blessings upon you wherever you are. I have to close for now. I love you. Your sponsored friend, Abigal”

As the years pass, Abi gets older and she shares with us news of her family – her mom, grandmother and uncles. We in turn share about our lives. This is one of my favorite letters from her.

Dear Bobbi,

Warm greetings to you and your family because you are helping me. Thank you! I love you very much and I pray for you everyday so that you may be healthy and you may always have a job and daily bread. I have the pictures of you next to my Virgin of Guadalupe so that she can take care of you wherever you are and she may cover you with her mantle.

I had a great time at Christmas because at the Foundation all the moms organized games for us so we could have fun and we could meet other sponsored children. My mom participated in the games. They gave us something to eat, gave us gifts, clothes and a small bag of candy. All this is possible thanks to you who give us our financial support. On the other hand, I would like to tell you that my mom and grandparents are very happy because you are helping me and they say that you are part of our family now.

Let me tell you too, that I am going to receive my First Communion. My grandmother goes to the handcrafts workshops that they give at the Foundation because they teach me how to make bracelets, necklaces, earrings and now they are making rosaries. My grandmother is teaching me how to make a rosary.

I am saying good bye and letting you know that I pray to God so that He may take care of you. I wish that with all of my heart. May He bless you wherever you are!

Abigail

I was so touched by her words and how our money was not only helping Abi but her mom and and extended family. It was having a positive effect on them and their community. As years passed, we continued to share about our lives in letters. When Brian was sick with cancer, Abi’s mom and grandmother were especially praying for him and placing him in the protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This little girl touched my heart and it was a joy to watch her grow and do well in her schooling from a little eight year old to a teenager.

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Abi over the years and with her mom and grandmother. We finally see her smile. 🙂

We spent the last five years getting to know Abi and her family. Unfortunately, it had to come to an end. The Unbound program in her area had to close due to its remote location, the challenges of providing adequate supervision and support and the risks to the staff presented by the growing violence in the region. We are sad that we can no longer support Abi financially but we continue to pray for her and her family every night.

I her last letter she wrote:

I write these lines to thank you for all your support during these years. You chose me among many. Your support was useful in my life. Thanks a million for caring about us! I also pray to God and the Virgin and I will make an effort to get ahead. My studies helped me to learn to share my things and to be a better person. My family is proud of you. I have to say goodbye but I thank you for the support you gave me five years ago. It was a foundation that helped me a lot. Love, Abi

Our chapter with Abi has closed but she will always have a special place in my heart.

We wanted to continue to support Unbound and their work so we decided to chose another child to sponsor. This time I let the boys choose. I picked out a few boys from various regions and we looked at their profiles.

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They finally decided on Kevin Andres from Columbia. His profile states that he is an active five year old boy living with his parents and two sisters. He likes to explore and playing with his friends and toys.

We just received our first letter from Kevin’s father who says:

Dear Bobbi,

I greet you very affectionately wishing that when you receive this letter you are well of health and being.

I am Bernardo, Kevin’s father. I am writing this letter because Kevin is only 5 years old and he will begin school in January, God willing. Kevin is very affectionate. He likes to sing very much and to play with his toys. He is very intelligent and likes to ask many questions. He has a dog that he loves very much. Kevin does much and he does it heartily. Kevin lives in a rented house with his mother, his father and his two sisters who are 12 and 14.

I heartily thank you for having sponsored Kevin now that he needs it. Many, many thanks and God will bless you always. Cordially, Bernardo.

We look forward to our new adventure with Kevin. We pray he is blessed by Unbound just as Abi was.

For information about how you and your family can sponsor a child in need, visit Unbound.

Also, if you follow me on Instagram, on Friday 3/17/17, I’ll be on the Blessed Is She account talking about Almsgiving for Lent and our experience with Unbound. Then at 6PM PST/ 9 PM ET, I’ll be LIVE to anser your questions and to pray a decade of the rosary with you. Hope to see you there!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, 😉

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Register for the Catholic Conference for 4Moms & A Coupon Code for Purchases!

By bobbi
March 5, 2015
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As I mentioned last week, I am excited to participate in the upcoming Catholic Conference 4Moms. There are so many great speakers and various topics, there is certain to be something to touch your heart!.

Here is how it works:

Every day during the conference, Friday, March 6- Monday,March 9, you will have access to 5-6 talks, just as if you were at a live conference. This link will come via email. What’s different is that you can choose which talks you want to watch or listen to and when you you want to do it. Early morning? Wonderful. Nap time? Great. Before bed? Super. Car line? Fine, as long as you don’t try to watch while driving!

I love that! I have tried to do webinars in the past but it is difficult to commit to be at a certain place at a certain time with my busy schedule. This is different since I can listen anytime of the day.

I also LOVE that the conference is FREE! However, you do have the opportunity to dig deeper and to hear all the other talks you missed.

After the conference is over, it will all be available for purchase for one low price of $39.99 This will include online access to all the videos, as well as a download of every video presentation. And besides all of this, there will also be bonus downloads, PDFs, discussion questions, ebooks, and other goodies.

The hope is that with this package you not only can enjoy the conference again at your own convenience, but you can also share the conference with other moms, perhaps in a support group setting or just over tea. Each presentation in the conference package will include discussion questions.

Since Revolution of Love Blog is an affiliate of the conference, once the conference is over and available for purchase, I will have a coupon code for you to use to get $10 off the Conference Package price. Yay! (Update: The code is “Revolution.”)

This is the last day to sign up!! And it is free! Register here.

The conference will start tomorrow. I’ll “see” you there! 🙂

UPDATE: You can now purchase the Catholic Conference 4 Moms Package! The price is $39.99 but if you use the code “REVOLUTION” you get $10 off! For more details or to order click here – http://www.catholicconference4moms.com.

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉

PPS – This post contains affiliate links.

New School Meets Old School with “Ora et Labora et Zombies”

By bobbi
September 14, 2012
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Over the last week or so numerous blogging top guns such as Jen Fulwiler and The Anchoress and Dorian Speed have plugged Ryan Charles Trusell and his publication Ora et Labora et Zombies as well as his printing/publishing company called Labora Editions.
The unique thing about Ryan’s book is twofold. First it is a Benedictine zombie apocalypse novel. Yeah, get your head around that one. But first read what Ryan posed on his website:

While his wife, Ava, is out of town, Dr. Thomas Schutten is off for a week to take care of their eighteen month old son, James, and to enjoy the last few days of carnival, and then… something misunderstood and mysterious… and his world changes, almost overnight, into a dangerous place. Information services stop, society begins to pull itself apart, and Dr. Tom does the only thing he knows to do; he follows his own emergency plan and flees with James to the nearby Benedictine monastery, where he and his wife serve as oblates. They have agreed upon the Abbey as their meeting place in emergency circumstances. Now, without word, without news, with only hope… he waits.

Ora et Labora et Zombies is an epistolary novel, told through letters. In this case they are Tom’s letters, written to Ava while he waits for her to join him and their son at the Abbey. All that stands between them is time and uncertainty… and zombies?

Second, his novel isn’t available in book format. Rather it is written in the form of Tom’s letters to Ava – real letters. The handwritten letters are sent as a weekly serial through the mail. Real paper. Handwritten letters. Watermarked stationery. The mail box. Anticipation. Egads, I swoon at the thought. It is new school meets old school.
Okay, I admit when I first heard about it I kept thinking, whaaaat?? But after reading over his website and all the great things others were saying, I couldn’t help but order the first set of letters. I’ll let you know what I really think after I receive them. I can’t wait. 😉
You can order your copy here.

CFCA & An Abigail Update

By bobbi
June 4, 2012
1 Comment

Last year I posted about Abigal, the little girl in Mexico that we sponsored through Christian Foundation for Children & Aging (CFCA).

I shared with you the first letter we received from her and I thought I’d update you by sharing another letter we received last week that truly touched my heart.

The letter translates:

Dear Bobbi,

I am writing this letter to greet you and all your family because you are helping me. Thank you! I love you very much and I pray for you everyday so that you may be healthy and you may always have a job and everyday’s bread. I have the picture of you next to my Virgin of Guadalupe so that she can take care of you wherever you are and she may cover you with her mantle.

I had a great time at Christmas because at the Foundation all the moms organized games for us so we could have fun and we could meet other sponsored children. My mom participated in the games, and then they gave us something to eat, gave us our gifts, clothes and a small bag with candies. All this is possible thanks to you who give us economic support.

On the other hand, I would like to tell you that my mom and my grandparents are very happy because you are helping me and they say that you are a part of our family now.

Let me tell you too, that I am going to receive my First Communion; my grandmother goes to the handcrafts workshops that they give at the Foundation because they teach them how to make bracelets, necklaces, earrings and now they are making a rosary and then my grandmother teaches me and I am making a rosary.

Goodbye to you, letting you know that I pray to God so that He may take care of you. I wish that with all my heart. May He bless you wherever you are!

A greeting to Bella: Hello, my friend! How are you? Do you like to go to school? Do you have many friends?
Goodbye to you from your sponsored,
Abigail

I am blown away that her mother and grandparents consider me a member of their family now and that Abigail is praying that Our Lady of Guadalupe watches over me and “covers me with her mantle.” How beautiful! I love the fact that we are helping Abi financially, yet we are the ones receiving the blessings of this little girl’s love and prayers.

To be honest with you, the other day I was going over the budget and I was wondering if we could afford to have all the kids in Catholic school and still send money to Abigail as well. Reading this letter, though, reminded me of how important this money is to her life and her family’s life. I quickly found a way to make it work by cutting out some other frivolous spending in my budget. Besides, I have already been paid back tenfold by the prayers of Abi and her family.

For more information about the CFCA or to sponsor a child of your own, visit the Christian Foundation for Children & Aging (CFCA) website.

The Premiere Show of THE GIST and What God Reminded Me

By bobbi
January 5, 2012
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Each week, Catholic personalities Danielle Bean, Rachel Balducci and Carolee McGrath host The Gist. They discuss topics such as abortion, raising teens in the faith and confession. Along with guests such as Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Lino Rulli and others, they will give Catholic women the gist on everything from faith and the Church to exercising, make-up and how to stay sane. Tune in every Wednesday morning for a new show at 10:30 with rebroadcasts Thursday at 8:30 p.m., Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 6:30 a.m., Monday at 8 a.m. and Tuesday at 10 p.m. (all times Eastern).

I missed the first show since it is on at 7:30 AM in Cali and I’m usually in the middle of getting kids off to school. However, it is rebroadcast during the week and available to view online. If you missed it, I’ve added it here. Below I’ve also added my own comments about the show.

It was wonderful to watch these great Catholic women and moms. I feel like I already “know” them from reading their blogs and columns. There was a lot to be learned and here are a few things that struck a cord with me.
Topic – Working moms.
My take – Danielle said it best, “All moms are working moms.” Being a SAHM, I say, “Amen, sister!”
Topic – Comparing ourselves to others.
I loved Rachel’s comment, “The only people you can truly analyze is yourself and your situation…”
My take – It is so easy to look at other moms and see how much they are doing and think, how do they do it? It will sometimes make me feel guilty that I am not doing enough. But I have to remember that we are each in different situations and have our own unique vocation as a wife and mother. As long as we are open to God, He will direct us to exactly where we need to be. He’ll often challenge us but He won’t overwhelm us. If we are overwhelmed we may need to ask, “Am I doing more than I should be and spreading myself too thin?” If not, then ask, “Am I relying on God for my strength or on myself?” (Sigh. Been there. Done that.)
Topic – How do you do it all?
When Danielle asked guest speaker Lisa Hendey, “How do you do it all?” Lisa replied, “If I think about everything that I do in a day, it’s too overwhelming. So I start my day with prayer…and that’s a key component throughout the day. Praying just for the grace and the energy and the strength to do it all and really, I just do my best with whatever pot that is burning right in front of me…managing the priorities, looking at how I can be of help to other people and most importantly serving my parish and my family.”
My take – Prayer, Priorities, Serving family first but not forgetting others. Enough said!
Topic – Lisa talked about saints being role models, intercessors and heroes of our family.
My take – Often when I hear about the saints I wonder how I can relate to them because, well, they are saints. But really, they weren’t born with halos on their head. They had the same kind of human struggles we do. They had to fight their personal demons and rely on God to give them the strength to live holy lives. I can certainly learn from that! (Side note; I am in the middle of reading Lisa’s book The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul and I am eager to also check out her new book A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms: 52 Companions for Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul.)
Topic – Prayer
In the next topic they ladies spoke about the importance of prayer in our daily lives and I love what Rachel said, “Right off the bat, establishing that our prayer life is the most important thing and I think as moms we can so easily justify and rationale away taking time to pray because laundry needs to be done, and lunches need to be made and children need to be cared for, but really, personal holiness and a relationship with God is the most important gift we can give our families.”
My take – I am guilty of this all too often! There is always something that needs to be done and although there are times when I can pray as I work, there also needs to be time when I quiet myself and simply focus on God. Some days it may only be for a few minutes but I must be willing to make the effort and establish the priority. Certainly if I have to time to post on my blog, pin an idea on Pinterest or watch a favorite tv show, then I certainly have time to shut it all down and give God a little silence.
Topic – The rosary and adoration.
My take – I love Carolee’s comparison of the rosary and exercise. Both are things we tend to want to put off yet both are important to our health (physical and spiritual) and we’ll feel better after we are done! And Danielle’s thought on Adoration reminded me that just as I ask Brian to watch the kids so I can run to the market alone, I can ask Brian to watch the kids so I can stop at the chapel and speak to God in his presence alone. (And I know he is more than wiling to do it!)
Topic – Family prayer.
My take – This should be a show topic itself! I already commented on this briefly in another post but a number of families I know pray the rosary every night with their kids. I commend them! For us, it has not worked out very well, but rather than forget the whole thing, we’ve adjusted it to our family needs. Instead, we try to say the rosary but with only one decade. Some nights we’re lucky just to gather us all together for a quick night prayer but we do what we can. Each family is different and their needs change as the family grows. The main thing is to be doing something.
Last Thoughts
With that said, I really recommend that you watch the show yourself. At first I was a little reluctant to devote time to it since the topic was on working moms but that was just a small portion of it. There were many topics discussed. On the one hand, it seemed like too many topics. Maybe there could have been less topics and more time spent on one or two subjects. (It seems like the saints, personal prayer or family prayer could have been their own shows.) On the other hand, the flow of conversation carried into many different topics and they commented accordingly. Either way, I really enjoyed the show and actually watched it twice. The second time around is when God impressed certain things on my heart and for that I am thankful.
So thanks, Gist Girls. I look forward to watching you again next week!

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