Today my life purpose became a little clearer.

My morning started at the Kind Hands Student Center in Bogota, Colombia. My team and I arrived to music and fanfare much like we did at one of the other Compassion projects yesterday. As soon as the crowd settled down Michael and I were called to the front of the room by the project director and thanked for having such kind and generous hearts.

We were then presented with a large box with a gold bow on it.

“Shannon, will you please open it?” I heard the woman’s voice but the next few moments are a blur. Instead of describing it for you I’ll let you watch what happened (for those of you reading via RSS feed click here):

 And that is how I met Yulli (pronounced Julie).

The entire thing was her idea. A child with nothing wanted to greet her sponsors with a gift so she wrapped herself in a box and gave us her love.

My heart connected with this sweet girl from the moment I first hugged her. I listened with the pride of a mother as she told me she is currently ranked third in her class in school and wants to go to college to become a social studies teacher.

When I asked her what her favorite Bible story is she hesitated for a moment and then said, “My favorite verse in the Bible is Luke 2:52” and then she proceeded to recite it from memory. She even wrote it out on a piece of paper so I can keep it in my Bible as a reminder to pray for her.

In the afternoon it began to rain so Yulli put on the raincoat we brought her. She never took it off for the rest of the day—not even indoors. Since Yulli was the only child anyone from our team sponsored from her project she got to travel with us to our other destinations for the day.

We boarded the bus and she talked my ear off the entire way to our first stop: the local university. Our team was going to meet a 23-year-old woman who was a Compassion success story.

Marizel opened our meeting by talking about her experience growing up in the Compassion program. Just like Yulli her initial sponsors quit sponsoring her partway through the program and a second sponsor family stepped in to instill dreams and values in her. At the age of eighteen, when the Compassion Child Sponsorship Program stopped, she entered the Leadership Development Program and found another sponsor who put her through college. She excelled in all of her studies, became a favorite of her professors and was offered a job at the university upon graduation.

She told her entire story in Spanish to the captivated and attentive Yulli. The rest of us listened as someone translated. Then, Marizel turned to Yulli and gave her some advice on how to keep going and work hard. The entire room watched as God cast His vision before a young girl with big dreams and she eagerly drank it in.

In that moment I knew I was in Bogota, Colombia because God wanted Yulli in that room and I was His tool to get her there. His vision for me became clear too—to invest everything I possibly can into this precious child so that one day she can stand before an audience wearing professional business attire and bearing no traces of the poverty she now lives in.  

Before we left, Yulli wanted her picture taken with Marizel. Tearfully I looked her in the eyes and asked her if she knew she could be just like her. She nodded.

From there Michael and I got to take her to McDonalds. She had never seen one before, much less been inside. When she saw the playground her eyes lit up and she asked if she could play. She repeatedly slid down the slide sticking all the way because she refused to take her raincoat off. The Happy Meal arrived and she was beside herself when she discovered it came with a toy. She made sure to save all of the packaging including her Happy Meal box.

When it was time to say goodbye I became a flood of emotions. Michael and I both encouraged her to dream big and promised to help her in anyway we can. We assured her we would send a letter and mail photos as soon as we got home.

As Yulli hugged me goodbye she squeezed me tight, refusing to let go for a good few minutes.

“Thank you for everything,” she said. “Thank you for spending time with me today. Thank you for the gifts. I have enjoyed being with you. I am speechless.”

As my teary eyes looked into hers I only had one thought.

Yes, sweet child, I am too.