Inside Story: Such a Little Thing SSNET Staff Twelve-year-old Yvette walked along the dusty path, carefully balancing the plastic water jug on her head. She didn’t want to spill even a drop of water. She passed children walking toward a nearby school. They were dressed in dark skirts or trousers and white shirts. Yvette’s steps slowed as she thought about the children learning to read and write and do math. Sometimes she could hear them reciting their lessons aloud in the little school. She sighed heavily and walked faster. Her mother was waiting at home. There were meals to prepare, a garden to water, and clothes to wash. Jean [John] Claude walked along the narrow path gently prodding the family’s cow with a large twig. He tapped her away from a neighbor’s property as she searched for fresh grass to eat. His stick kept her safely away from the nearby road where cars and trucks whizzed past. Jean Claude paused and looked up at the green patchwork gardens on the hills that surrounded his home. The honk of a large truck stirred the boy from his thoughts, and he hurried to catch up with the cow. The happy voices of children floated on the warm afternoon breeze. Jean Claude used his branch to nudge the cow off the pathway so the children could pass without getting dirty. He watched them pass and wondered if he would ever go to school. His father explained that they couldn’t afford to buy him a school uniform or school supplies. But in his heart Jean Claude continued to hope that someday he could join the children in the school. Schools in Rwanda no longer charge tuition, but many children, such as Yvette and Jean Claude, still can’t study because they don’t have a school uniform or supplies. Without an education, these children will continue living in the cycle of poverty into which they were born. A school uniform is such a little thing. But it makes a big difference to a child who can’t go to school without one. Recently Adventist children around the world helped provide school uniforms through the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Because of their gifts, children such as Jean Claude and Yvette can now attend an Adventist school. Our mission offerings and our Thirteenth Sabbath Offerings help make a world of difference to people we may never meet by providing schools, clinics, evangelistic opportunities-and even school uniforms-to reach them for Christ. Thank you for faithful support of mission through your offerings.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 11:29:17 +0000
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