Miles In Missions

I am reading a book called “A Framework For Understanding Poverty”. The four things that move you out of poverty are employment, education, relationships, and a future story. C.A.R.E. Africa focuses on education and our programs allow us to build relationships with our kids so we can teach them about Jesus and their future story.

I recently was blessed to get to invest into two of our oldest C.A.R.E. kids, Michael and Toyin. Michael wants to join the Nigerian Army and is an amazing boy with goals and vision. He was brought to me almost four years ago by Shola who worked in our home. He was her neighbor and his mother was unable to pay school fees so he was just roaming about. I paid his school fees and a month later saw him walking in the town during school hours.  I asked why he wasn’t in school and he told me his teachers were on strike b/c they hadn’t been paid in 6 months.  I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t just pay school fees and think that itwould help children like Michael. I had to be involved in their lives. Michael is one of the reasons C.A.R.E. Africa was started.

Toyin is another amazing story. Click Toyin Story 1 and Toyin Story 2 to see past blogs on him.

I brought Michael and Toyin to Jos for some special lessons for their WAEC and JAMB testing. These test are equivalent to the SAT/ACT in the states. These two boys have shown great attitude and perseverance in their time with us at C.A.R.E. We wanted to invest in them so that they can be as prepared as possible for these exams.

I will have to say bringing these two boys out of the village for the first time and into the city was one of the funnest things I have ever done. They had their first ice cream, their first paved roads with paint on them, first traffic lights, their first tall building (taller than two stories), their first indoor market (grocery store), their first movie in a theatre, their first shopping mall, their first zoo with live animals, first pancakes and syrup, and so much more. Their minds were completely opened to how much God loves and values them but also to a whole world out there.

Please pray for these boys to do excellent on their WAEC/JAMB testing. Pray for us to find out how to get Michael into the Nigerian Army School and for the finances for his schooling. Pray for Toyin to discern his calling and make some big decisions on what he would like to pursue for higher education.