In the past few months Larrys has walked with
a family through a difficult time.
Janet, a mom of 3 girls is suffering from severe depression. Her depression is debilitating and she lost
her job. Her husband, a construction
worker, was without consistent work and began to drink. The girls became so concerned about their
mom that they were not able to continue in their normal activities. One of the girls cries all the time. The others take care of normal household
responsibilities. Without a steady
income and with 5 mouths to feed, the girls were going to have to drop out of
school. There was no extra.
Larrys became very concerned. He has known these girls since they were born
and hopes for a great future for them.
He worries that their situation will keep them from their dreams, from
the future they have hoped for.
That’s when Larrys came to me and asked what
I thought of helping them with their education.
He thought more about the idea, and in a more general sense, what if we
offered scholarships to kids that don’t have anyone believing in them,
encouraging them to hope for a better future and those whose parents just
can’t, what if we did that for them?
Larrys has grown up in a country where many
people have stopped dreaming, the result, people live for today and they do
what feels good now. Many end up
pregnant, caught in an addiction or struggle with unemployment their whole life. He knows what it’s like to live without the
encouragement of another and when no one believes in you. But he will never
blame anyone; his father died when he was young and he knows his mom did her
best to care for him and his 7 siblings.
Larrys desire is that we walk with kids as
they continue in their education. We will dream with them, encourage them and
be their biggest cheerleaders along the way.
How?
Of course we will pay their tuition and required supply fees. But we know that giving “everything” rarely
helps, so families will be responsible for transportation, uniforms and
food. We will meet individually once a
month with each student. We will have group activities, for kids to know each
other and be encouraged. We will serve
others together; we will teach them to see the needs of others and how to love
well. And finally, we will encourage
them to make a life long choice to do the same for someone else.
Our mission is to connect others with Christ
and each other, this program fits well. We have already begun supporting Geyzel
and Alejandra, their classes begin the end of January. If you would like to be involved so we can
support other kids in this way, please let us know. We are making a proposed budget at this time
and will have more information soon.
“Education is the most powerful weapon
which you can use to change the world.”
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