Baby Dylan came to Love Link in the spring of 2022 at two months old, weighing only 6 lbs. He responded well to the care he was given and was discharged from the Baby House three months later. During his admission, Love Link staff also worked with his mother, training her to care for and feed him properly and sharing the gospel with her.
After graduating from the Baby House in June, Dylan received regular follow-up care through Love Link’s outpatient clinic, where he continued to grow and do well at home with his mother. In early January, he reached the target weight for his age and was also discharged from the outpatient clinic!
Because the Lord placed people in his life to care for him – his parents and doctors, Love Link, and his Oakseed crib sponsor – Dylan was able to receive the life-giving care he needed to be able to thrive. Additionally, Dylan’s sponsor has also sponsored three other babies, which means that four babies have received life-saving care through one crib sponsorship!
About Love Link (El Salvador)
According to World Food Program, nearly one in four El Salvadorans cannot afford the food needed for a healthy diet. The consequences of this are far-reaching. Mothers who are malnourished during pregnancy often deliver babies who are already malnourished. They are then unable to provide the nutrition their babies need from breastfeeding because of their own nutritional deficiencies.
Love Link works in the slums of San Salvador and has rescued more than 3,000 children over the past 32 years. Malnourished babies aged one to 18 months are delivered to the center from local hospitals; most are near death when they arrive. Many of their families are poor and also on the brink of starvation. Love Link provides round-the-clock care for up to 25 babies at a time, nourishing and restoring their health. Love Link also shares the gospel with their families, offering hope and comfort and connecting them to local churches for discipleship and support.
Care for Children
Children in the baby house receive a medical assessment and an individualized treatment plan. They are lovingly cared for by trained staff and volunteers. Nutritious formula, clean and engaging play areas, and transportation to additional medical visits are provided at no cost to the family.
Care for Families
Families who bring their babies to Love Link find loving staff who are trained and prepared to care for their child and family. For some, Love Link is the only option for providing the food their severely malnourished child needs. Parents are given education in proper nutrition and medical care and trained to feed their children. Families are given food packets to support the nutrition of everyone in the home.
Crib Sponsorship at Love Link
James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Initially, we got connected with Love Link because God has moved our hearts towards forgotten and unwanted children (or, in these cases, children that need better care). We are thankful that God can use our lives to help save some of these children. Overall, Oakseed has an incredibly biblical and creative approach to joining Jesus where He is across the world: seeking and caring for the forgotten and poor. Our experience as donors has been positive because children are being cared for and families reached! The updates that we get are wonderful to receive.
I would recommend Oakseed because you are faithfully joining the Father in what he is doing and bringing the love of Jesus to people that the world would or has already discarded. As disciples of Jesus, I don’t think we should sponsor charities based on what we get out of it but rather because we need to obediently join in God’s work. What we get out of it is seeking and entering His presence, seeing the kingdom of the enemy pushed back, and the Kingdom of God advanced.
Romans 8:16: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
~Love Link Crib Sponsor
Sponsoring a crib is very different from child sponsorship. While child sponsorship allows a long-term relationship and potential long-term impact with a sponsored child, the sponsor-a-crib program makes a tremendous (perhaps life-saving!) impact on the lives of multiple children each year.
As a crib sponsor, you provide everything needed for the treatment and care of the baby in your crib. This includes Hyper-Caloric meals, formula, medical treatments, diapers, and wipes for most babies. Each month you will receive an update on the baby’s progress and ways you can pray for his/her continued recovery. When the baby in your crib is ready to be discharged, you will receive an exit profile detailing his/her recovery. Your crib will then be available to welcome a new baby, and you will receive a new intake profile along with ways you can pray. The cost to sponsor a crib and save the lives of these babies is $150 a month.
Have questions?
Please reach out to us at sponsor@oakseed.org.
