Nick and Emilee first heard about Compassion in 2013 during a weekend service at the Summit. At the time, they had three sons under 4 and thought that sponsoring a child would be a practical way for their children to engage in global missions. They chose a 4-year-old boy from El Salvador closest in age to their oldest child and loved that the gospel was being shared with the children at the Compassion student center. As a family, they began writing letters and sending pictures and, when a letter would come in the mail from their sponsored child, they would read and talk about it together.

Last year, Nick and Emilee started sponsoring another boy who is close in age to their second oldest. With the hopes that they might one day be able to visit El Salvador, they purposefully picked a location close to their other sponsored child to make seeing both boys more feasible. All of Nick and Emilee’s kids have become more intentional in this ministry by coloring pictures, making crafts, and sending notes to the boys. Pictures of their sponsored children hang in their home; their names come up in conversation as though they are family. They even have their own popsicle stick added to the family’s “prayer jar.”

The natural next step seemed to be to meet their sponsored children in person, so Nick and Emilee decided that instead of going on a typical vacation this year, they would take their now-family of seven to El Salvador to meet the boys the first week of March. As part of a visit coordinated with the Compassion staff, the family will have the opportunity to be immersed in the boys’ culture and really see how they live on a daily basis. It also allows them to build on the relationships they have with the boys by meeting their families, hugging them, playing with them, visiting their student center, and praying with them.

Nick and Emilee have been learning the past few years that it isn’t about them or what they can do for their sponsored children. It’s about how God can work in and through their obedience in the small steps to draw others to himself. They are excited to see how this trip impacts their family’s perspective and know that through Compassion, their children are witnessing a tangible example of the gospel and how eternally life changing it can be.