Let Every Child Dream
Hey Traveling Partners,
Dream Sunday is this Sunday, September 24th at both Imprint Church Bothell and Imprint Church Woodinville. In light of this, we asked Anna Huebner if she would reflect on how a Dream Sunday impacted her family years ago.
Dream Sunday is upon us!
I’m very excited to see how God is going to move within our Imprint community. We will hear from an Africa New Life representative and how the Sponsorship program helps not only the student, but their families and, ultimately, the country of Rwanda!
I’m very excited to see how God is going to move within our Imprint community. We will hear from an Africa New Life representative and how the Sponsorship program helps not only the student, but their families and, ultimately, the country of Rwanda!
As I prepare for this coming Sunday, I can’t help but reflect on the Dream Sunday where my family and I started sponsoring a student. Africa New Life had been introduced to Imprint, and we were preparing for our second Dream Sunday as a church.
Both Casey and I wanted to sponsor but we felt a little leery of the process (we hadn’t done any research of our own at that point). The only real exposure we had to sponsorship had been attending Christian concerts where they take a break about halfway through the show to promote sponsorship in third world countries. We never gravitated towards this method because, to us, it felt impersonal.
When Imprint hosted Africa New Life, we were more open to hear about the importance of sponsorship. We loved the fact that time was taken to explain the impact that sponsorship has in the country of Rwanda, but we LOVED the emphasis on relationship: first and foremost, the student’s relationship with Christ, the relationship between families, and the relationship between Africa New Life and us.
It wasn’t until the second Dream Sunday until we really felt called to sponsor a student. Things were tight financially for us at that time and we didn’t know how to make that happen. We were feeling torn and not sure what to do. Pastor Darren was speaking that Sunday and when he was wrapping up his sermon, he circled back to Dream Sunday and sponsorship. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but his passion was clear. One thing we do remember Darren saying was that we could use our tithe money to sponsor a student. When we heard that, Casey and I felt that this was God’s way of saying to us that we could do this.
When Casey picked up the kids from their Sunday School class, they had also heard about Dream Sunday and sponsorship. They were thrilled to find out that we would be sponsoring a student that day. The kids looked at the sponsorship cards that had the profiles of students on them. They picked out a student, Wilson, who was close to their age and grade so they could relate to him. It was so special to have them be a part of the process. We spent lots of time that afternoon talking about how this commitment isn’t just for a year or two… Our commitment, as a family, was/is to sponsor Wilson through his educational career.
Both Casey and I wanted to sponsor but we felt a little leery of the process (we hadn’t done any research of our own at that point). The only real exposure we had to sponsorship had been attending Christian concerts where they take a break about halfway through the show to promote sponsorship in third world countries. We never gravitated towards this method because, to us, it felt impersonal.
When Imprint hosted Africa New Life, we were more open to hear about the importance of sponsorship. We loved the fact that time was taken to explain the impact that sponsorship has in the country of Rwanda, but we LOVED the emphasis on relationship: first and foremost, the student’s relationship with Christ, the relationship between families, and the relationship between Africa New Life and us.
It wasn’t until the second Dream Sunday until we really felt called to sponsor a student. Things were tight financially for us at that time and we didn’t know how to make that happen. We were feeling torn and not sure what to do. Pastor Darren was speaking that Sunday and when he was wrapping up his sermon, he circled back to Dream Sunday and sponsorship. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but his passion was clear. One thing we do remember Darren saying was that we could use our tithe money to sponsor a student. When we heard that, Casey and I felt that this was God’s way of saying to us that we could do this.
When Casey picked up the kids from their Sunday School class, they had also heard about Dream Sunday and sponsorship. They were thrilled to find out that we would be sponsoring a student that day. The kids looked at the sponsorship cards that had the profiles of students on them. They picked out a student, Wilson, who was close to their age and grade so they could relate to him. It was so special to have them be a part of the process. We spent lots of time that afternoon talking about how this commitment isn’t just for a year or two… Our commitment, as a family, was/is to sponsor Wilson through his educational career.
It has been 7 years since sponsoring Wilson. It has been so amazing to watch him grow as a boy and as a student. Our dreams came true this year when we were able to go over to Rwanda as a family and have both families together! To see how the gift of sponsorship has affected their lives over the years was amazing to see. We are forever grateful for Africa New Life Ministries and the encouragement from Pastor Darren to sponsor a student. Through this ministry we have found a deep love in our hearts for the people of Rwanda. We know it is Christ is who keeps us connected, and who makes us feel not so far away from our friends on the other side of the world.
As we prepare for Dream Sunday, I pray that you will lean into what God is pressing on your hearts. Whether you choose to sponsor a student or not, I encourage you to keep Rwanda and Africa New Life Ministries in your prayers. God is doing many things through his believers over there. May we continue to lift up our Brothers and Sisters over in Rwanda as they continue to bring the Good News to their fellow countrymen.
We hope you'll come ready to hear about what is happening in Rwanda and how you can be involved. We'll see you Sunday at 9 or 11!
Together in Jesus,
The Imprint Church Team
Together in Jesus,
The Imprint Church Team