What People, Like You, Are Saying.
My family and I have had the honor of sponsoring several children since the beginning of “For the LOVE of Mateo” was founded by ENVP, Valerie Edwards. It has been one of the most rewarding things that we have done! WE keep a picture of the children that we have sponsored on the wall in our home.
Being able to provide financially for their needs for things like their rent, food, utilities and other daily life expenses is so rewarding, because it allows us to send our love and support from afar. Several times throughout our relationship with the organization “For the LOVE of Mateo, we have done other things too and it is awesome because we decide as a family what we want to do.Then, we go out together as a family to get the things and it has brought our family closer together and it has helped my boys see how giving to others brings true love and joy to their hearts as well.
Being a sponsor for the "LOVE of Mateo" has truly enriched my life and my families! We are so grateful for Valerie Edwards and her vision for this organization and the children, if it wasn’t for her vision we would never have had this life enriching opportunity.
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Laura Harry
Sponsoring children through For the Love of Mateo has been one of the most impactful blessings our family has shared. We have been able to connect with children across the globe who we would have never known otherwise.
Being able to travel to Guatemala to meet and spend time with our sponsored children has been an added bonus we have not experienced in our other sponsoring endeavors. This organization is run from the heart and is all heart. An opportunity to love someone in need and to play a small part in their journey is an honor and a privilege. Our four children are constantly thinking about, talking about and asking how they can improve the lives of these children. "What else can we do?" For the love of Mateo has taught them that they are never too young to be the hands and feet of Christ and to make an impact on the world in a greater way. That is a priceless lesson in a culture of excess and selfishness. It's the best $25 we each spend each month. We simply skip something we do not need to provide for those who truly do need.
What we have received in return could never be measured by a dollar sign. Thank you For The Love of Mateo for giving us this unique and beautiful opportunity!
I have been a sponsor of two children through fortheloveofmateo going on three years now. I immediately starting sending the kids letters and pictures every month and have tried hard not to miss a month. Claudia bless her heart would update me with things the kids would say in response to my letters which helped to have a connection right away (this was before I personally met them) and then through the monthly photos being sent and getting to see them change and grow was so special.
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These children want and need time spent with us more than anything else or a connection to the outside world where they know someone out there cares about them and their well being. Being a sponsor to these children is a gift from God. I have seen and heard the impact it can have in their lives to be a sponsor and it has quit simply changed my life. I have a passion, a purpose and a direction I wouldn't otherwise have if it wasn't for Fortheloveofmateo sponsorship program. There is nothing better then to give without the expectation of receiving in return but I can guarantee for those of you who might want to sponsor for a first time you will be making a huge difference in not only a child's life......but in yours.
I began going on FTLOM mission trips in June 2014 after seeing a Facebook post on a friend's page about The Edwards Family and their Guatemalan Adoption journey.
Although I have been raised in a socially conscious family and have always been involved in nonprofit work with my family, I have never had experiences like the ones from serving in Guatemala. I truly learned to understand what it means to "be the hands of Jesus" and to do what he would do for the amazing children and families in Guatemala.
They are the most loving, faith-filled people even in the midst of devastating poverty. From loving on the children in orphanages, to providing beds, water filters and stoves to families living in the simplest of accommodations, to building a school in an area where there wasn't one, working to provide education and a home for children who otherwise would be lost in the never ending cycle of generations before them, helping provide support for terminally ill children, HIV positive moms and children and the forgotten elderly.
These are just some of the things that FTLOM does. Being a part of this organization both as a missionary but also in an advisory role working to help this amazing nonprofit to continue growing it's reach to the disenfranchised has been life changing for me and for my family.
Two of my daughters and my husband have shared this experience with me a couple of times and I can truly testify that God worked through them and these trips have helped to shape the beautiful souls that are my two youngest children. I am a "Lifer".
Cathy Gunther Williams
