Joy
Today was the last day of the first term ever for Good Soil Academy. It has required countless hours of labor from our staff and administrators to get to this point and tremendous sacrifice on the part of our core donors, but today was a moment of great joy! What a joy it is to realize that the birth of an idea in the Fall of 2023 emerged into something tangible. As we sat around the conference table during our regular Thursday Team meeting, we all reaffirmed that none of this could have happened but for divine intervention, direction and guidance. Each one of us have had the privilege of being part of an amazing adventure that was far greater than we could have ever imagined or achieved on our own.
This afternoon we had our “send-off” ceremony for our students. They were excited to go home to see their friends and family, and they were also excited by a surprise announcement; their dorm rooms would be ready upon their return to school in January, and their roommates had been assigned. The room erupted in cheers of unfettered joy! They danced from the academic building to the dormitory, singing songs of praise in three languages, Chichewa, Tambuka, and English! And when they arrived, the celebration was off the charts. I wish you all could have seen the joy and amazement on the faces of these young women as they saw their new rooms.
The picture above captures just a little bit of what I experienced.
Tomorrow morning (Friday the 19th), I leave for home. I am so glad that I made this trip. I’ve had the privilege of seeing the growth of our young teachers. They care deeply for their students and it is showing in their performance. Our Team is reaffirming their values at every turn. Our objectives of delivering entrepreneurship training and leadership training are being realized. I love the fact that our teachers set goals for the term, and they were able to report of their progress in helping the students attain those goals. We’ve seen amazing progress; particularly in our scholarship students. Our leaders have learned and grown a lot as leaders, and it is exciting to see the outflow from their growth in the way that they are respected by others as leaders. Our support staff are working hard and it is evident they realize that they are an integral part of our GSA Team. We have 4 new students sitting for entrance exams over the break, and the school seems poised to grow.
The solar light at night in the academic building made such a positive difference in the outcomes on our students’ final exams. Soon we will be installing solar light poles on the road to the dormitory which will enhance the safety of the students as they walk to and from their dorm at night.
I’m not sure how to measure the return on this Kingdom investment. It seems more than enough to hear our students speak of their growing relationship with God, and even more exciting to hear them talk of such in the flow of learning, such as when they make their business presentations! I could go on for hours about the transformation that I’m seeing in their lives.
So, what can you pray for? There’s a lot! Please pray that God will protect our students over the break. The sad fact is that some who go home will be returning to a world of risk. We have one student who has struggled with chronic illness, and we’d love it if you were to pray specifically for her recovery. Pray that our team will be refreshed over the Christmas Holiday. Pray that our campus will be safe from theft as our crew is downsized for the break. Please pray that our Team designs an effective sustainability plan for the 2026-2027 school year. Please pray that over the course of the next year, we are able to raise the funds necessary to provide solar back-up lighting for our dormitory. I’ll tell you more about that need in the future.
Please pray that our team will continue to model the values of GSA; to love God, live generous lives, add value to others and always do the right thing! Finally, please join me in thanking God for what He has achieved and will do at GSA.
For His kingdom,
Dean