Giving Thanks...
Crossing the Zambezi River Bridge today, I gave out about 10 "Stick together" books. The line was slow, so we sounded out the words through my open window. There are always kids selling peanuts in the bridge line. They laughed. The one kid who could read continued to sound out words and the others grinned. I could move on. He's leading his little reading group now. They love it!
You know how it makes you feel when you give just the right gift? You notice that the person really lights up and knows that you thought of them when choosing it. I'm not a particularly gifted gift-giver, but I've been able to make a lot of kids smile this past year. That makes me happy!
I am so thankful for the part I can play in making someone's day! I'm not the one handing out books most days... I might be editing text or organizing shipping. Some days our team discusses strategy for reaching a new area. Some days my team leader, Veronica, and I discuss how best to monitor our groups. I visit local authorities to get permission to do what we do. Then I'm back at the computer downloading illustrations to do a cultural check with people here... do these pictures speak to them? Do they "get it"? It is all for the the kids, though. Each step of this process leads to having materials that will enrich a child's life with a story that recognizes how important she is... because it is in her very own language! Watch their smiles... they see and hear their own stories in these books.
That's a lot of books! The red ones are "mine"! OH my, as silly as it sounds, I am so choked up right now I can't see my screen. This is my Thanksgiving present this year. A couple of these lovingly-packed parcels will be shipped next week. I'm hoping to have them in hand for giving away before Christmas. I'll just get one box of each for now. I don't have room in my hallway for all 20,000 Nyungwe books at one time. I'm thankful for the office in Cape Town. I'm thankful for the shipper. I'm thankful for the illustrators ("Make the flowers stragglier and the hills less green" we told them). I'm thankful for Mikael and the translation team that prepared Matthew and Luke with such care over the years so we have Nyungwe books that speak right to kids' hearts from God's Word. I'm thankful for David and Hilary who have sacrificed much and poured so much love into this thing.
We all do it for the kids. You might make your contribution to our work because you care about us. That's cool. Do it for me if you want. As long as the books are taking up space in my hallway, I know that kids will have a story to tell. My volunteers feel like me. They thank you, too. Each of them is so excited about each new book!
Yes, that's a lot of books! But.. it is probably enough books for us to use in two months! We introduce a title each month. We have 13 registered groups and each one reaches at least 200 kids. Then there are the school visits or the church visits where 500 books are gone in one go. So you begin to understand why I'm plaguing your Facebook feed with posts about donating for the next 10,000 books... that means March, or April... that's more printing and shipping and organizing! I'm so thankful for the chance to do the job I do!
Happy Thanksgiving!
You know how it makes you feel when you give just the right gift? You notice that the person really lights up and knows that you thought of them when choosing it. I'm not a particularly gifted gift-giver, but I've been able to make a lot of kids smile this past year. That makes me happy!
I am so thankful for the part I can play in making someone's day! I'm not the one handing out books most days... I might be editing text or organizing shipping. Some days our team discusses strategy for reaching a new area. Some days my team leader, Veronica, and I discuss how best to monitor our groups. I visit local authorities to get permission to do what we do. Then I'm back at the computer downloading illustrations to do a cultural check with people here... do these pictures speak to them? Do they "get it"? It is all for the the kids, though. Each step of this process leads to having materials that will enrich a child's life with a story that recognizes how important she is... because it is in her very own language! Watch their smiles... they see and hear their own stories in these books.
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| 70,000 in the Little Zebra Books office in South Africa... TODAY! |
That's a lot of books! The red ones are "mine"! OH my, as silly as it sounds, I am so choked up right now I can't see my screen. This is my Thanksgiving present this year. A couple of these lovingly-packed parcels will be shipped next week. I'm hoping to have them in hand for giving away before Christmas. I'll just get one box of each for now. I don't have room in my hallway for all 20,000 Nyungwe books at one time. I'm thankful for the office in Cape Town. I'm thankful for the shipper. I'm thankful for the illustrators ("Make the flowers stragglier and the hills less green" we told them). I'm thankful for Mikael and the translation team that prepared Matthew and Luke with such care over the years so we have Nyungwe books that speak right to kids' hearts from God's Word. I'm thankful for David and Hilary who have sacrificed much and poured so much love into this thing.
We all do it for the kids. You might make your contribution to our work because you care about us. That's cool. Do it for me if you want. As long as the books are taking up space in my hallway, I know that kids will have a story to tell. My volunteers feel like me. They thank you, too. Each of them is so excited about each new book!
Yes, that's a lot of books! But.. it is probably enough books for us to use in two months! We introduce a title each month. We have 13 registered groups and each one reaches at least 200 kids. Then there are the school visits or the church visits where 500 books are gone in one go. So you begin to understand why I'm plaguing your Facebook feed with posts about donating for the next 10,000 books... that means March, or April... that's more printing and shipping and organizing! I'm so thankful for the chance to do the job I do!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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