This is what can happen when I get a "big idea": I get excited, motivated, and if it doesn't materialize right away, I lose interest. My desire to support the people of Africa has not waned. I have been patient as the idea takes shape. It may take five or ten years to develop, whatever "it" is, and I am happy with that. Several times I have thought to myself, and laughed, "Why am I being so patient?" It is a direct result of God's lessons on timing. I cannot will something to happen if it is not His appointed time. I can be diligent and obedient as I prepare, but those ideas that originate in Him will come to fruition by His hand, not mine.
Soon after the fast I was in a bookstore with my daughter. We spent the entire visit in the kids' section. As we walked to the checkout, we passed tables stacked with non-fiction books. One book caught my eye:
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace.....One School at a Time
I read the back cover and took it straight to the counter. My awareness of the plight of many in Africa, although limited, led me to consider how education might help change the course of the next generation. Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, establishes schools in remote villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, with an emphasis on girls' education, with the hope of giving these children a brighter future. The genesis of his organization, Central Asia Institute, is an amazing story. Mortenson attempted to summit K2, the second largest mountain in the world, and as he descended, he took a wrong turn. The path he chose led him directly into a remote village in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan. The villagers befriended him and nursed him back to health (the summit attempt drained him). During his stay, Mortenson came to love the Balti people but was concerned about the absence of a village school. He promised to one day return to the village and build a school for its children. He did. He has since established over 78 schools that have educated more than 28,0000 students.
Mortenson's book is inspiring. It is a lesson in the importance of relationships. It is proof that one person can make a huge difference. It exemplifies the impact of culturally relevant education for people who have never been promised such. It could not have been placed into my path at a better time.
I attended an all-girls' school. I still receive its quarterly magazine. I remember reading an article about the students' desire to devote proceeds of their annual fundraiser to an organization that establishes girls' schools abroad. I received it before I read Three Cups of Tea. The next issue of the magazine, which was published after I read the book, had a larger article that detailed the results of the fundraiser. In it was named the recipient of the money, Mortenson's Central Asia Institute. I saw the article and began to cry. Why? Three Cups of Tea weighed heavily on my mind over the weeks I prayed about specific needs in Africa. I wondered if education was the issue to which God was leading me. Should I attempt to establish a school as Greg Mortenson did? Then the magazine arrived and it just seemed like confirmation. I cried. I read the article and learned the students raised $60,000. It was enough to fund a new school. I really cried.
I have learned a great deal recently. In addition to the books and organizations already mentioned, I have found many others that teach invaluable lessons about Africa, its history, its people, and its challenges. I'm sure you've heard the saying, "The more you know, the more you realize you don't know." That applies to me! But it drives me to learn more, which I love.
This is where I am today.......still learning. My dream is to establish a Christian school in Africa, one that serves the many needs of its community: to teach children, promote public health education, train young leaders, and share with young and old the knowledge of a life in Christ. They need hope, in Christ.
But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish. Psalm 9:18
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