When people ask us to describe our child sponsorship program, I start out by saying that it is highly relational and transformational on both ends! Hillary Nicholson and son, Jaden, sponsor a little boy named Adrian in Juarez. Over spring break, they got to meed Adrian for the first time and it has been life-changing! 
We have sponsored Adrian for 6-7 months through Project Hope Worldwide and always hoped we would have the opportunity to meet him someday. Finally, that day came on our last trip to Juarez in March 2014! Adrian was very shy initially and his mother was very humbled to meet Jayden and I. We had a translator and we talked about school and his favorite things. Soon he and Jayden were playing soccer and having a great time. We had to leave for a few hours to go eat and get cleaned up for church. When we returned to the church Adrian was waiting for Jayden! They spent the evening exchanging English for Spanish and a great friendship was underway! When the time came to leave, Adrian was the first to have tears followed shortly by Jayden, Nancy (Adrian’s mother) and myself. Nancy whispered in my ear during our final farewell hug “thank you, I love you.” I am so amazed that a relationship can develop in just a matter of hours with a language barrier. Meeting Adrian changed our lives! He is no longer just a kiddo that we sponsor; now he is one of our family members and we are so excited that God has allowed Adrian into our lives!
When we got to meet him it was sort of a feeling of relief. Thant kid on a postcard was now a kid standing in front of me. I grew a great friendship with him in just a matter of hours. The experience turned into not just a kid on a postcard, but a kid who I had fallen in love with.