It is an odd reality to mourn someone you’ve never met.
But that’s what our family faces since we received the news last week that the
Compassion International child we’ve sponsored for over 10 years passed away.
We’ve supported two children through Compassion for 15
years. Our first child, Gilmario from Brazil, aged out of the system two years
ago. Our second, Selina from Tanzania, was about to age out; we were in our
last year of her sponsorship. But on Tuesday, I received a call, letting me
know that she passed away on December 31.
The very nice man on the phone said he’d call me back on
Thursday to answer my questions – good idea, since I couldn’t formulate a clear
thought or utter a concise sentence through my sobs.
But Thursday afternoon came and went and my phone did not
ring. I gave the guy until 4:45 before I called him. My grief had given way to
anger and I really wasn’t interested in waiting another day to hear what had
happened to Selina. The first person I spoke with told me she wasn’t trained to
handle my type of phone call; I guess not. And I guess I’m glad because that
means there aren’t a bunch of sponsors calling to see why their Compassion kid
died.
She connected me with someone else who was able to take
my call; the woman who answered said the man who was supposed to call me was
out of the office. I don’t know, Compassion, but I think if you tell a sponsor
that her kid died you might want to make every effort to call her back when you
say you will…
Anyway, the woman I spoke with was very apologetic, but
the news I heard was not good. The Compassion team in Tanzania knew Selina was
sick for a year but never gave that information to Compassion headquarters in
Colorado. That is supposed to be standard operating procedure, but in Selina’s
case, it was not followed.
And now, all I can think about are the if onlys: if only
we’d known, we would have done something. We would have given more money or
flown her over here for treatment or gotten her better treatment over there. I
would have rallied my friends who live in Kenya who would have certainly had
contacts in Tanzania. We would have done something.
I did ask if anyone knew if Selina had made an indication
that she understood the Gospel, and thankfully the Compassion workers in her
village said that yes, she loved the Lord and was clearly living as a
Christian. I am resting in that knowledge and praising God for that good news.
Thank you to everyone who has emailed or called or
commented on Facebook – the outpouring of love, support and prayer has been
amazing and I am so thankful for it. Please do continue to pray for Selina’s
mom. Her husband passed away and now she’s lost her daughter.
Again, thanks for the love and support.
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