For the past 6 weeks since I have been back in Rwanda, I have been sweating and slaving over two rather intense projects (hence my lack of blogging). Working in a developing country is not all joy and smiles and fulfillment all the time….it is extremely hard at times….it is foreign and far from home and there is so much to do and you can’t even run away from it because the need just stares you right in the face. At times I wanted to curl up in a ball and quit because things got so frustrating. I became so overwhelmed with trying to get tasks accomplished that I completely lost sight of why I was doing it in the first place. I allowed myself to get too caught up in the daunting tasks that were before me that I even started doubted that any of it would actually pull through. And then God steps in and slaps me out of it and wakes me back up. He reminds me that He is really in control and doesn’t need me to accomplish His tasks afterall.
One of the projects I have been working on is developing the first US University Test Prep Center in Rwanda. My time teaching at Sonrise High School led to the development of this idea, as we saw how many brilliant, hard-working young Rwandans are pining to go to America to get a great education and then come back to serve their country. I look at them and I feel guilty….because I know that although I embraced my education, I often took my opportunities for granted. I never appreciated what I had in front of me until I saw how badly these students wanted that same opportunity. So, I made it my responsibility to help them get there. This past year, I helped a handful of students take the necessary standardized tests and apply to several US Universities. And then we (my organization, Bridge2Rwanda) started thinking…why aren’t we doing this all over the country? This is a huge need for this country…but no one seems to be stepping up to the plate. So, although we resisted at first, we kept feeling like this was what the Lord wanted us to pursue.
Although it seems as if we have been spinning our wheels for the last 6 weeks, I finally look up today and see what God has done while I have been wasting time fretting about it all. I see that we have recruited several highly qualified international teachers to teach prep classes on SAT, TOEFL, GRE, and GMAT. We have connected with Kaplan Test Prep to potentially partner with us, and it looks as though they are going to provide ALL of the hundreds of books, resources, and curriculum that we have asked for. We have asked for more classroom space from the government, and they have agreed that we can get another entire wing in the same building as our current office. We have started recruiting students and already have a long list of students wanting to sign up the minute we say “go”. And just today, we received a $50,000 check from some incredibly generous donors to build a first-class computer lab/resource center with about 50 terminals. All this in 6 weeks! We hope to launch the program in April….and it sure seems that God is on our side, so I am hopeful that we will actually meet this goal.
Again, it is times like this when I actually see God putting all the pieces together that I wonder how I even have the nerve to worry. God is good and fulfills His promises…and I hate it that I seem to forget this and have to be reminded so often.
Some of the faces hoping for opportunity...
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