Miles In Missions

How it all began….

It was September 2017 and the Global Leadership Summit in Jos was going strong. C.A.R.E. Africa CEO, Emma and I listened to speaker after speaker with growing enthusiasm. I don’t remember the speaker but I do remember the impact of what was shared….“think big and don’t ask HOW just say WOW!” Emma and I looked at each other and said “We really need to start a school!” I immediately wanted to say but “HOW” and Emma reminded me of the speaker and said “WOW” Yup that is how it all started!!

We had no clue where to start but I knew a missionary, Marybeth Oyebade, who had successfully started several schools in Jos, Nigeria. Marybeth maintained standards unlike any other Nigerian school I had seen before. The curriculum had some Western influence. School fees were kept comparable to other schools but the teacher to child ratio was lower. Teachers, parents and students were held to a higher standard than normal. No cheating allowed. Failing students were not promoted to the next grade. Integrity was integral to the foundational values of the school. All of these things seemed like a dream come true! The icing on the cake was when I asked Marybeth to help me take her school to Egbe and she said YES!

I immediately reached out to my Business Coach, Scott Beebe with Business on Purpose https://www.mybusinessonpurpose.com. He helped C.A.R.E. Africa get out of our chaos a few years ago by providing vision, mission, policies, procedures and so much more. When I told him what I was wanting to do he simply asked “Hey you want me to fly to Nigeria and help you with this joint venture?” God is so good!

A few weeks later Scott Bebee, Emma, Tofunmi, Marybeth along with husband Bayo Oyebade and I were all sitting at a desk putting together a joint venture. Scott not only helped us with the legal issues but also helped us with a timeline, org charts, job descriptions and much more. Scott’s time with us was such a blessing and God knew we needed this to jump-start our school.

Since then it has definitely been a learning process. Marybeth and I continue to trust the people God is putting in front of us to catapult this school to its opening Sept 10, 2018. I could write an entire story about all the miracles that have occurred along the way but I will just share a few. With Marybeth’s blessing, one of her staff members has volunteered to leave the comfort of Jos and move to Egbe for a year to provide consultation and mentorship to our new C.A.R.E. Africa school staff. Other miracles include the qualified teachers God has provided that are full of joy; the U.S. mission team who just happened to be teachers and knew exactly how to decorate classrooms; curriculum getting delivered just in the nick of time AND some unexpected donations that allowed us to buy a few more needed supplies.

As with anything good, some spiritual attacks are to be expected. These attacks have been exhausting but we are persevering. We are in our last leg of this race and your help is needed! Please be in serious prayer for the $15,000 U.S. Embassy grant we have applied for to be approved. This $15,000 grant would allow us to finish the schoolrooms and pay teacher salaries for the first year since there will be no income coming from the school in year one.  Please add the U.S. embassy grant request to your prayer list! I hope to hear something by month’s end.

This school promises a bright future for the C.A.R.E. Africa kids and the community of Egbe. We covet your prayers and if you would like to financially support our C.A.R.E. Africa school all donations can be sent to https://give.icareafrica.org/careafrica/careschool

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