Almost four years ago, a village friend was in town awaiting the birth of her last born child. I had heard via the grapevine that Sandra was a bit worried about the pregnancy, so I stopped by the house where she was staying and prayed with her about the impending birth. A few days later, Tim received a phone call from Sandra’s husband to say that Sandra had safely given birth to a boy and they wanted to name him ‘Matzke’!

I think that if the baby had been a girl, it would have been named Martha but as this was the last child Sandra and John planned on having, they diplomatically named him ‘Matzke’ instead of ‘Tim’.

Anyway, today we heard someone come to our gate – it was ‘Matzke’ and his dad, sister and uncle. We hadn’t seen Matzke since he was first born so it was very fun to meet him today. As is culturally appropriate, we brought him a gift from the USA – a new soccer ball. I guess you can judge from the look on his face how this gift was received! He’s very friendly 3 1/2 year old and easily came to Tim to have his picture taken.

Later when Matzke is ready to attend school, it won’t be a big surprise if his parents ask us to help to pay his school fees. The honor of having a child named after you often comes with some obligations as well. We are honored to have Matzke named after us and will be happy to have a part in his education.