It was May 2004 when we heard that Caleb wouldn’t be coming back to school. Caleb attended the Latin America ChildCare Good Shepherd School in the community of Doleguita located in the northwest part of the country. He didn’t come back for classes when school started in March 2004. We had been sponsoring Caleb for a couple of years. Caleb had replaced another boy, Henry, that we had sponsored for three years. Poor families move around a lot looking for work and a way to make a living. We wish it weren’t so, but we understand. In fact, we believe LACC is helping to break the chains of poverty… over the long haul.

We knew the LACC office would be sending us a new boy to sponsor. Sherry said to me, “I think we should sponsor Aldo.” Aldo—a chunky boy with a funny smile—was a fourth grader at the time, attending the Good Shepherd School in Aguadulce. He and his family had been waiting for more than year for a sponsor to choose him.

We returned to the States for itineration in March 2004. We always talked about the LACC kids who needed a sponsor every opportunity we had. We had seen about 50 kids sponsored in the first several weeks. But Sherry noticed that nobody wanted Aldo. And I think Aldo reminded Sherry of me as a boy… chunky kid with a funny smile.  So we decided to sponsor Aldo.

We received a letter from Aldo a few weeks later. He said, “Thanks for choosing me!  I like hamsters because of how they scurry around. I like my school. Even though it’s small, it’s a Christian school and that helps me to grow spiritually. I really like the modern technology in our school.”

Aldo’s letter really impressed us. What an attitude! We were there in April 2003, a month after this new school began. We visited all of the classrooms; took photos of the children to help find them a sponsor. Our last stop was the “modern” computer lab. There were two old computers… so old, in fact, that they had 5-1/4 floppy drives! How long has it been since you’ve seen one of those?

We began to share Aldo’s story in our services. In October 2004 we shared about LACC in a Sunday school class at Portland Christian Center. David Kaiser, class leader and teacher, was so moved by Aldo’s story that he rallied a group from the church to come to Panama.
David began contacting local businesses to help “teach computers to poor kids in Panama.” The team arrived to Panama the end of May, bringing the internal components for 50 computers. And in just two days they had all 50 put together, ready for delivery. They spent the next few days delivering the computers to the LACC schools. (See Tech Team Builds 50 Computers for Panama Schools)

The highlight for me was our visit to the Aguadulce School where we were able to spend time with Aldo as his sponsors. When we met Aldo two years before, we had no idea we would be sponsoring him. And he had no idea who we were. And, as it turned out, the first student we saw when we arrived was Aldo. It was as if he were our welcoming committee, arranged by the Lord! We asked permission for him to help us set up the four new computers in the small computer lab. The two “modern” computers that we had seen two years ago had been replaced with four others; but they were pretty old by today’s standards. So the four new computers doubled the lab.

It was so much fun watching Aldo help our team unpack and set up the new computers. I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. Without hesitation he said, “I want to work for a video game company.” I asked him, “Nintendo?” He instantly replied, “No, X-Box.” He went on to say he wanted to be a software engineer for Microsoft. After Sherry gave him the present we brought him, Aldo thanked the group for the new computers, speaking on behalf of all of the students in the school.

We found out that Aldo’s little brother had just started kindergarten. So we brought him a small gift also. We had a chance to sit down and get to know both of these boys. They are both named Aldo! Their father’s name is Osvaldo. So his parents named their first son Aldo Abraham and the second, Aldo Adam. Little Aldo is in kindergarten. I gave Little Aldo his small present and told him, “when you get a sponsor, you’ll get a bigger present!” That won’t be too long since the Portland team has committed to sponsoring Little Aldo.

The team left the school very content. Aldo had impressed us with his spirit. It was an emotional time for me. We had shared Aldo’s story with so many churches.  Finally we were able to show Aldo what “modern technology” is really all about!

So… why do we “teach computer to poor kids?” Why wouldn’t we? Latin America ChildCare is all about reaching kids for eternity and loving them enough today not to leave them in their poverty.  We must give them a chance in life too.

Aldo’s story is very personal to me.  But Aldo represents more than 1,200 children in Panama whose lives are being impacting by loving sponsors through Latin America ChildCare.  We currently have 250 children who waiting for help to arrive.  Can you help? Would you like to sponsor a child and help affect the destiny of a young person in Panama? You can view some Panamanian kids who need a sponsor by clicking this LACC4Hope.org link.

Where’s Aldo? You can watch video of our time with Aldo at the Aguadulce School. Simply click one of the two links in the upper right hand corner.