Changed people always change circumstances
Our mission statement is…
Loving God and loving people so they have a chance to love God and love people
One way we fulfill this mission is by…
Training and equipping local people who are faithful and able to train and equip others
I would like to share with you about how God is working to bring this about in the lives of two young men being sponsored by the mission. José Rodja Miquissene and João José Wilson have been enabled to continue their studies into high school and recently graduated grade 10.
Jose and João have experienced both God’s love and people’s love through the chance that they had to continue with studies. This love has been further demonstrated by having Joao Benjamim come along side them to give encouragement, extra classes and guidance for their education. They have worked hard since grade 8 and attended and actively participated in all tutoring (extra classes and guidance) given over the weekends. As a result they got over a 70% average which enabled them to be exempted from final national exams.
Their willingness to join me (Joao) to help tutor and prepare other kids (their friends from the same grade) for the grade 10 exams was a huge encouragement. To do so, they had to give up work in their fields which would give their family extra food for the year. Instead, they volunteered more days than they were even asked! This was an amazing and great blessing to see how these young men expressed their thankfulness to God and how they demonstrated our mission and vision.
I really do believe that “changed circumstances sometimes change people, but changed people always change circumstances!” This is so well demonstrated by Joao and Jose who come from uneducated families in rural areas, but who are now moving towards a better future.