Natnael

Pronounced: not-nay-el

Age: 5

Nickname: Nati

My family and I are huge supporters of Compassion International, a child sponsorship program that helps provide basic needs for impoverished children all over the world. Being blessing with some extra money this year, I decided I wanted to sponsor a child. So, over the summer, at Cornerstone Festival, I began looking through the Compassion child packets, seeing if any of them caught my eye. I didn't really come across the age/gender child I was looking for, so I chose to wait and sponsor a child through Compassion online. But quickly, my summer turned into an insane mess of busyness, and I found no time at all to sit down and make such a serious commitment. Then, I found myself in Africa. This, of course, was God's perfect plan working itself out the entire time.

God had a child for me in Ethiopia. God had a perfect plan for me to meet, fall in love with, and choose to sponsor this specific child. So here is his story:

Nati was born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. When he was four years old, both of his parents died, leaving him orphaned. Friends or servants of the family took Nati and put him on a bus, sending him an hour away to Debre Zeit, the city we were staying in. Apparently somewhere in this city of thousands of people, Nati's uncle lived. His uncle had no word of him coming and Nati had no idea how to find him. When Blessing the Children (BCI) found Nati, he was on the streets crying and starving. It is estimated that he had been in Debre Zeit 20 days before he was found. Upon finding him, BCI took Nati to a medical clinic to have him looked at. This is when it was discovered that Nati has a heart condition. "Heart condition." That is simply all anyone knows. There is no money available to take Nati to the hospital in Addis Ababa to have something diagnosed. When I saw Nati, it was very clear that he was ill.

Nati now lives in a small, one-room home with his uncle, aunt, and baby cousin in Debre Zeit. They have a dirt floor and one bed for the four of them. They also have a bench. When I first met Nati, he was sitting on the bench in his house, kicking his feet back and forth, stuffing some sort of food into his mouth. He looked hungry. Also, upon arrival, it became clear that there was something wrong with Nati's uncle. His eyes were crossed and he didn't seem to be fully present. Our social worker eventually told us that Nati's uncle has a "mind like a child." In America, we would call that mentally handicapped.

Nati was very quiet at first, just staring at us...strange white people handing him candy and speaking in a foreign language. Eventually, though, he opened up and started giggling and smiling. Then, my sister, Lindsey, asked him to come sit on her lap. It was then that I knew this boy would be mine. As he got up to walk over to my sister, putting one foot in front of the other, he almost fell down, losing his balance. He shuffled and limped the rest of the way over. Nati can barely walk.

I asked Tigist, his social worker, what was wrong. She said it was part of his heart problem. She had Nati come to her and take off his shirt. I then saw something that may be very serious. His chest is deformed. Part of it bulges out, while another part sinks in. It is as if part of his heart is much closer to the outside of his body than it should be. It is something that, in America, we would not go one day without heading straight to a hospital to get some care. It is something that Nati has lived with his entire life. It is something that no one really knows the severity of.

Nati can't run at all. He tries, but it turns into something like a limp/gallop/trip. He knows he doesn't fit in and can't keep up with the other kids. As a result, he isolates himself, playing alone, eating alone, sitting alone. He knows he is different. He knows that putting himself with other children will only hurt him.

And the last thing about Nati; perhaps the most heartbreaking of all: Nati's aunt and uncle don't agree about keeping and caring for him. His uncle, his blood relative, cares for Nati to the best of his ability. His aunt doesn't feel the same. She feels the burden of Nati's health. Tigist told us that Nati's aunt and uncle constantly argue and disagree about keeping and caring for him. They do this in front of Nati. It is just a terribly heartbreaking part of this little boy's life.

So there he is. My sponsor child. As soon as I returned home I got online and set up my sponsorship through BCI. With my support, Nati will be fed, sheltered, clothed, and educated. He will also be actively involved in his local church and be able to attend school for free.

                           His name is Natnael. And he is mine.

It costs $30 a month to individually sponsor a child. A full child sponsorship is $90 a month. That way, each child has the possibilty of having up to three sponsors. These sponsors receive letters and pictures from their child and have the opporunity to send letters, picturres, and care packages. Hopefully, through my relationship with Nati, he will be able to receive better medical care and an overall better life. And most of all, he will connected with people who are eager to share the love of Jesus Christ with him. I can't wait to get to know this little boy!

Nati still needs two more sponsors in order to be fully supported. This would provide him with even more healthcare, food, etc. I witnessed firsthand that a little money goes a long way in Ethiopia, as the exchange rate is 17 Ethiopian Birr to 1 US Dollar.

If you are interested in sponsoring Nati or any of the other children in the BCI program with similar, different, and equally heartbreaking stories, please get in touch with me. I would love to talk to you and give you more information. Or, you can visit http://www.blessingthechildren.org/ for more information.
If you would like to sponsor a child through our loving partners at Compassion, visit http://www.compassion.com/


 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.  Matthew 25:34-40