Meeting someone for the first time can be awkward.

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Now imagine you’re in Africa, you don’t fully speak the same language, and you’re meeting a child you’ve only ever seen in pictures.

Yeah… it’s a lot.

My wife and I recently started sponsoring a child through Compassion, and this week, I got to meet her in person for the first time.

Her name is Christabel. And she’s incredible.

Her English is actually really good (which caught me off guard), but honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised—she’s one of the smartest kids I’ve met. At her school, she’s what they call a “medical prefect,” which basically means she’s part student leader, part first responder. On weekends, she helps take care of other students, gives first aid, and even helps decide if someone needs to go to the hospital.

No pressure, right?

She’s also crazy driven. She wanted to be a doctor, but now here eyes are set on being a midwife which actually requires more schooling. When she talked about it, you could tell she’s not just dreaming. She’s already on her way.

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I met her parents too—Jonathan and Juliet. Her dad is a taxi driver, working to save up enough to own his own car so he can run his own business. Her mom is a seamstress, saving to build something of her own too. This is a family with vision. A family that works hard. A family that believes things can be better.

And here’s the part that hit me:

Christabel had been in the program for almost eight years… without a sponsor.

Eight years.

It’s easy to think sponsorship is just about helping with food or school.

But it’s so much more than that. It’s encouragement. It’s someone in your corner. It’s knowing someone across the world knows your name, believes in you, and is praying for you.

We got to ask her family how we could pray for them. We got to give her a gift (she loves art, so we brought her an art set). We got to laugh, talk, and just be together.

And suddenly, she wasn’t just a photo anymore.

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She’s a real person.

With real dreams.

A real family.

A real future.

I think that’s one of the hardest things for us to understand. Because it’s so easy to scroll past pictures of kids and feel… nothing. Not because we’re bad people—but because it doesn’t feel real. It feels distant. Like a story that belongs to someone else or some characters in a movie.

But it’s not.

These are real kids, just like the ones we know and love—except they’re waiting for someone to step in and say, “I see you.”

We met so many kids who are still waiting for that. And if we’re being honest, doing nothing is always easier.

But this? This feels like something worth doing.

My wife and I are so excited to keep getting to know Christabel—through letters, through prayers, through whatever comes next.

And if you’ve ever even thought about sponsoring a child, this might be your moment.

There are kids right now who are hoping someone chooses them.

Someone like you.

Click here to get more info on child sponsorship and start now!