Monday, February 15, 2010

Caught Off Guard

When I have been working in Kenya, both in the past and now, my work involves helping people. It’s usually a combination of helping them spiritually and practically. Every week I have students in my office looking for assistance with fees for the university costs they need to pay. Daystar is so inexpensive compared to its US counterparts, but it’s still a lot of money to a struggling student.

What catches me off-guard is how drawn I am to certain students, not all that come into my office. I keep trying to make a connect to what it is that pulls on my heart. What is the internal criteria that my heart uses to make a student stand out? Is it how geographically or culturally far they’ve come to get admitted to Daystar? Is it how motivated they are, shown in multiple visits or willingness to help in the office without any compensation? Maybe it’s just my mood is more compassionate at the moment I meet them.

Likely, it’s God placing this person on my heart. I watched a quiet but thankful-for-the-help Maasai gal leave my office today and tears welled up in my eyes. She has beat impossible odds to get admitted into Daystar. She has 19 siblings! Her father has 3 wives. Her culture doesn’t usually educate girls, especially past primary, let alone secondary school. She wants to go back and make a Christian difference in her home area.

I’ve coached her on writing her testimony. I told her if she needs more help with her English on school assignments, to come see me. I pushed her to work on getting her GPA up so her chances keep increasing. I wish I could afford an extra $6000 per year for her (and three or four other students God has laid on my heart) to get through university.

But all I can do is pray for her. Pray she gets chosen for a scholarship. Pray for her to really work at getting her grades up. Pray that she makes an impact on her village even in the school breaks. And pray that she doesn’t get married off before she finishes her course. If you are inclined to, pray for her with me today. Your prayer may change a whole village for today and eternity. You never know…

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