Tuesday, May 22, 2012

WE DID IT!

You know applying for these scholarships is a LEARNING EXPERIENCE.  Those who apply must follow directions; if they don't no matter how qualified they are, they won't get selected.  If they don't turn in a complete packet on time, they lose out to others who do complete all the parts required.  If the church really does want them, they have to write more than a 3 line recommendation. (and there has to be TWO recommendations.)  They must put effort into communicating and yes, communicating outside their culture.  IF they want to work with EAFC the church must demonstrate their accepting the responsibilities of a partnership.  God has given all of us resources; we can't just take and not give when we have something to give.  Jesus showed that "amount" isn't the criteria, but a heart attitude is.  


Sometimes though good men and women have dreams that are outside of our ability to even dream with them.  When they live in West Africa and want training at an expensive university in East Africa, someone has to pay for airfare to cross the continent.  EAFC is just "part" of their solution for needs.  THEN we've discovered that the cultural adjustments for a West African in East Africa can be significant too.  The expense of living in Nairobi, for example, can put strains on them when they are in a part of the world away from their mentors.  Once they get established within a church and the international community, they seem to be OK, but those adjustments are real and painful.  


All this has to be factored in.  Do we choose 3 or 4 who need a lesser amount or put lots of resources in the one who needs a lot?  How many post graduate degrees do we participate in?  Do we accept those who have just finished one degree and then apply immediately for a second one?  See what a learning experience it is for US TOO?


So, we learned about them as we read, evaluated, emailed back and forth.  Now, the office will communicate with those who have been provisionally accepted, sending out agreements that demonstrate that all parties understand what we can do to help.  Once the church understands how much we are offering, they have to determine whether or not that is enough for the student to go forth.  We don't want to send money just to have it insufficient to complete what they have begun.  After they return acceptance agreements, they move from being provisionally accepted to  being CURRENT STUDENTS.


This is the PROCESS.  In time, I'll give you names and small biographies of our newest members of the EAFC family.  Maybe you can pick one or two of them to pray for and get updates on.


For now, it feels good to be able to say We DID it!  We selected a new class of EAFC students!

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