We are nearing the end of our May Sponsorship Drive. Our goal to reach twenty-five new sponsors and increase twenty-five current sponsorships for children at The Raining Season in May is a BIG goal, but we continue to trust that we can meet this goal with your help. Imagine the look on our children’s faces when we share the good news of new sponsors!
This week, we are launching a new sponsor feature where we will introduce you to a TRS sponsor quarterly and share how sponsorship has impacted them. We couldn’t do what we do without our sponsors. Some sponsors have been with us since the very beginning, while others have joined in recent weeks. Whether you have been sponsoring for years or days, the sacrifices our sponsors make each month do not go unnoticed.
Meet the Staab family – Rachel, Nick, and their children, Ava and Emma. They live in Papillion, Nebraska. Nick works in the IT department at a local bank, and Rachel is a stay-at-home mom. Rachel began supporting The Raining Season through sponsorship in 2013. When Rachel and Nick married eight years ago, they continued to support TRS financially, through prayer, and even traveling to Sierra Leone.
People are often connected to The Raining Season through a friend, church, or a current sponsor. Rachel was introduced to TRS on one of its visits to Trinity Church over ten years ago. After hearing the story and the heart behind The Raining Season, Rachel began sponsoring a young girl that day. We are always open with sponsors that we may only have some children for a few months while others will be in our care for years. We have seen children reunified with their families while others have found their forever families through adoption. The first child Rachel began sponsoring was adopted, and we are grateful that she transferred her sponsorship giving to Aquila and Alfreda. In 2017, when The Roots Project launched, the Staabs began giving monthly to support the young adults who would soon be part of that program. In 2021, when twins Alhassan and Alusine came to the center, they answered the call for help and began sponsoring them, too. They have supported The Raining Season in other ways over the years including Rachel’s time as an Ambassador for Kids at TRS. During this time, she was instrumental in sharing our sponsorship program with others and introducing new sponsors to The Raining Season.
The Staabs have also traveled with The Raining Season. The opportunity to travel to our center in Sierra Leone is a unique opportunity offered not only to sponsors but to all supporters of The Raining Season. Rachel traveled for the first time in 2013 and again in 2019 with Nick. Rachel shared about the impact of traveling to see the children they sponsor, “Traveling to see our kids was one of the best things we have ever done as a couple. At the time, we were sponsoring the girls, and it took our relationship to a whole new level. We got to know them so much more and spent significant quality time with them. It was so hard to leave when the week was over, but we get to continue that relationship with them over Skype. Our Skype conversations got so much more meaningful after we met them in person. Nick and I generally do not enjoy traveling, but we would go back to Sierra Leone over and over again if we could.”
Skype is another unique feature to our sponsorship program. Sponsors have the opportunity to Skype every month with the child they sponsor if they choose to do so. This allows our sponsors and children to connect on a more personal level, get to know each other, and our children have an opportunity to hear just how loved they are by someone across the ocean. Sponsorship has truly changed the Staab family’s lives. They look forward to Skyping each month. Rachel shared, “Skype allows us to see their beautiful, smiling faces each month. We get to check in with them, see how school is going, learn about their favorite hobbies, read books, sing songs, and watch their silly personalities shine.”
We are grateful for the many ways people find and link arms with us. We couldn’t do what we do without sponsorship. We know the sacrifices our sponsors make to support the children each month, and we do not take it for granted. Our prayer is that you will see the direct impact your sponsorship has on these children through sponsorship updates, Skype, letters, and travel. Rachel shared, “Sponsorship and travel have absolutely changed our lives and hearts forever. TRS and the kids we sponsor are an extension of our family around the world. Sponsorship and traveling are both absolutely worth the financial sacrifice. God has immensely blessed our lives through our connection to TRS.”
Currently, we have sponsors from forty-two states and multiple countries! This week, can you help us reach all 50 states? To join the Staab family as a sponsor you can SIGN UP TODAY or email sponsorship@therainingseason.org to learn more.
Many blessings,
The Raining Season
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