Meet ‘Tenny’

This is ‘Tenny’ – well actually his name is Yeabsira Kidanie Tenny, but in true Aussie spirit we gave him a nickname (plus its way easier to say!).

Tenny is our Compassion sponsor child. We’ve had Tenny for a few years now, and its been awesome to see him grow up each year! When we picked Tenny, we really didn’t know what to look for in choosing a sponsor kid except we knew we wanted one quite young and from Ethopia. Tenny was one of the hundreds of cute little faces on the Compassion website who needed some love…

I just finished writing another letter to him – its weird to think that this little kid on the other side of the globe actually reads these letters and even writes back! Even more weird, but also amazing, is that the money that we give every month is actually making a difference in his life… most of the time it doesn’t even cross my mind where the money is going and what impact it might be having – it just comes out of our account each month and goes off to do its thing. But what a wonderful thing this money does! Its great to have the letters to remind me of Tenny, and more importantly to pray for him.

I still don’t think I have any idea of what life is like for Tenny, even though I read his letters and see some pics of him… which gives me some insight, but I don’t think my western mind can comprehend what it’s like to live in poverty. When I can’t afford something I want, I think “I wish I wasn’t so poor and could just afford this…” – Tenny and his family struggle just to afford to eat, and i’m complaining about not being able to afford a gadget or some other unnecessary luxury item that will just give me some temporary pleasure until it get superceeded by the next model…!

Perspective is a helpful thing! Thanks Tenny for helping me have a better perspective on life!