Yesterday and today have made me reflect about beginnings.
We were visiting prospective sponsor children to interview in a school yesterday and it reminded me of how Mighty Oaks began. A conversation with a teacher and principal identifying vulnerable children who wouldn't be able to continue in school. Children gathered in an office to meet my parents. A question: how many would you like to sponsor?
My mom's quick answer: "All of them!"
Mom knew the gift of an education to the future possibilities for these children and families. She saw far into the future to a moment like today.
We were scheduled to teach a few classes as a way to sustain healthy connection to schools in the area. Mighty Oaks very first sponsor child was now a teacher that met us outside the high school this morning. Mom immediately cried out and hugged her long and hard. Both were crying openly. It took a few moments for the rest of us to catch up with what we were witnessing. This 'child' has now been a teacher for 17 years. She is a high school English teacher who has two little ones of her own learning English alongside her at home. She spoke English freely with our team with poise and confidence. Mighty Oaks gave her the gift of education that she used to create a beautiful life and legacy.
Those first sponsor children have now become over 233 children whose stories were impacted by sponsors on the other side of the world who cared enough to help them stay in school and find a sustainable path for their future.
Yesterday's interviews with new prospects took place at an elementary school in Fang. Watching the little girls whisper answers to Gan to speak aloud certainly pulled on our heartstrings. All the applications for these little girls came from an area pastor who knew the poverty and needs of these families. All of the parents have insecure work as day labourers for a pittance. We are praying for the right sponsors to love these vulnerable ones to help turn their stories into resilience and hope. There were four other students who are already sponsored at this school through Mighty Oaks. The kids on the playground loved posing for our cameras. They were no longer shy out of the office and with their peers. We left with many waves and smiles as we loaded the team back into the MOT truck.
Today at the ministry centre, Mom pulled out a binder to show us the list of every development project Mighty Oaks supported for families and villages who wanted to have more reliable food sources through gardens, fisheries, frog farms, chickens, pigs and even a cow. Many water filtration systems have been installed to help families not have to purchase bottled water. Mighty Oaks has tried so many different ways to lift families out of poverty.
All of it has been a response to God's great compassion that begins in the heart and looks for ways to help!
From Snow to Sadza: When Canada, Zimbabwe, and Compassion Met
by Selina Mudavanhu
"Wednesday was the day we were scheduled to teach English to three groups of students at a local high school, a fact that felt very reasonable the night before and slightly ambitious by morning. We had prepared well, though. Steve would talk about Canada, I would introduce Zimbabwe, and Carolyn, Peggy, and I would share about the Good Samaritan. With plans firmly in place (and coffee doing its job, at least for Carolyn), we set off.
We arrived at the school around 9 a.m., and the teachers were ready for us. The first group of students was already seated, settled, and waiting, which immediately raised our confidence.
Three times, Steve introduced the Canada team, and three times he launched into his lesson with enthusiasm. The students’ reactions to photographs of Canada’s four seasons were priceless. Gasps, wide eyes, and enthusiastic “wows” filled the room, especially at the sight of snow. By the end of the lesson, they were proudly recalling the seasons, as if winter might be arriving in Thailand any moment.
When it was my turn to talk about Zimbabwe, the students were particularly taken with photos of the “Big Five,” the flame lily (Zimbabwe’s national flower), and sadza, a thick porridge served with vegetables and meat. The idea of eating sadza with your hands sparked both curiosity and delight. Though Zimbabwe and Thailand are continents apart, our shared experiences around food, language, and leisure became the invisible cords connecting us.
Carolyn then introduced herself and the Canadian team as Christians and explained that she would be sharing a story from the Bible, openly naming the faith perspective that motivates our desire to serve and connect across cultures. She read the story of the Good Samaritan to a captivated audience, so still and attentive it felt like time had politely paused. Peggy followed by exploring practical ways to apply the lesson, focusing on the word compassion. She taught the students a simple and memorable framework: see a need, meet a need, with excellence, something even adults might need posted on their refrigerators.
I had the most entertaining role: asking students to give examples of selfishness and compassion. The room buzzed with excitement, though the promise of chocolate for brave volunteers may have played a small but significant role. Their examples were thoughtful and honest, proving that the lesson had landed and that kids everywhere understand human nature remarkably well (especially when chocolate is involved).
By the end of the morning, we were tired, encouraged, and smiling, convinced once again that stories, kindness, and a few good pictures can bridge just about any distance. Being served a delicious plate of pad Thai by the school was the perfect ending, confirming that food, too, is a universal language of welcome."
And so Mighty Oaks keeps creating new beginnings - beginnings of relationships with schools, families, teachers, pastors and children - new paths of support - new ways to spread compassion - and new beginnings to restore what is not working... so we begin again. Cheers, friends, to being committed to new beginnings in us and all around us! That's what hope looks like.
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Find out more about Mighty Oaks here: Mighty Oaks Global Initiatives
Thanks for sharing your journey and I am praying for health and energy as your Days slip by.