Tag: Haven of Peace Academy Page 8 of 23

Kyungho was 11 years old when he first came into my life.  He was in fifth grade, and it was my first year teaching at HOPAC.  Then I went on to be his sixth grade teacher too.

He was the class clown, and really only interested in soccer and making people laugh.  But that smile was infectious and he wormed his way into my heart.

Kyungho is Korean in ethnicity and culture and passport, but born and raised in Tanzania.  He attended HOPAC for all thirteen years of his education, which gave him an American accent.  Truly a Third-Culture-Kid, if there ever was one.

Throughout all of high school, Gil was his Bible teacher.  And basketball and soccer coach.  And youth group leader and mentor.

Gil and Kyungho shared a love for Manchester United and photography.  They spent a lot of time together.  And sometime around 10th grade, Kyungho got serious about life.  And God.  And loving people.  And he got really good at all of those things, including his school work.

We had the joy of seeing him graduate in 2009, and Gil had the joy of presenting him with the Christian Character award that day.

Then he went off to Wheaton College in Illinois and studied business.  Most people were probably convinced that he was American, except for the couple of times he instinctively used his Tae Kwon Do and accidentally landed a couple of big football players on the ground.

Kyungho would always come and visit us in the summers.  I can remember the time he sat in our living room a year or so ago and told us about this girl he liked named Shelby.  We cautioned him, Make sure she’s internationally-minded.  Make sure she is not set on living her whole life in the States.  Make sure she understands that you are part Korean and part African and all TCK.

Then he married that girl just a few weeks ago in Michigan.  And just a few days after, she picked up her life and moved with him back to Tanzania.  And she’s learning Korean and wants to attend an African church and she loves that he is international.  She is perfect.

Last weekend, we got to celebrate with them at a reception here in Dar.

Such an amazing, incredible joy, to see this young man loving God and loving people, serving Tanzania and now starting a new life with a girl who loves all of that about him.

HOPAC is a young school–only 20 years old–and it has only graduated 5 classes.  So it’s only now that we are starting to see our alumni, now college graduates, find their way in the world.  How it satisfies our hearts to see so many find their way back here, to the country that raised them, with the goal of making it a better place!

Because there were others there that night too.  One who wants to start a business to help other businesses learn customer service.  One who is working for a TV station here in Dar.  One who still has the goal of becoming Tanzania’s president someday.

And there’s this one who was there that night, but I’ve already told you her story.

I think of all the years we spent investing in these students, and now we have the pleasure of standing back and seeing the fruit.  How great is our God.  

This story is about Dorothy, and about Karama.  And about Mother’s Day too.  Don’t worry, it will all make sense.

(in front)

I met Dorothy back in 2001, when she was a student in my fifth grade, and then sixth grade class at HOPAC.  I loved that class and all of us got very close.  

Dorothy was bubbly and radiant and I loved that when I was her teacher, she would write me long notes and schedule lunch meetings with me where she would pour out her 11-year-old soul.

(in center, sixth grade)

(10th grade and Grace, age 2)

When we returned to Tanzania in 2005, Gil became her Bible teacher for all of high school.  She was one of Grace’s main baby-sitters and Gil was her basketball and soccer coach.

(far bottom right)

She was also a part of our youth group and she attended our summer camps.  Basically, she couldn’t get away from us.  Like many of our students, she felt like our own kid in a lot of ways.  We had the privilege of watching her grow into an incredible young woman.  

(sitting to my right)

In 2009, we got to see her graduate from high school and she went off to college in the States on a big scholarship.

Gil and I visited Dorothy (on the right) and Aishi (whom we also love) in Minnesota during their freshman year of college.  

Dorothy graduated last year and started praying about where God was going to take her next.  

She knew she loved Jesus.  She knew she loved Tanzania.  She knew that God had given her the precious gift of a college education, which very, very few Tanzanians receive, and that she had a unique dual understanding of both African and American perspectives.  

Meanwhile, back in Tanzania, one of our good friends, Dyan, started a non-profit organization called Karama a number of years ago.  Karama is dedicated to helping women develop micro-enterprise skills and helping them sell their products to women in the west.  It is entirely and completely fair trade, and works to improve women’s standard of living while maintaining their dignity.  Any additional profits go directly toward sponsoring African teens to attend Young Life camps.  

They sell amazing stuff, don’t they?

A couple of months ago, Dorothy called me to say that she had been hired to work full-time with Karama.  She would be working with women all over Africa.   

I was happier than a bird with a French Fry.  Perfect for her because she loves Jesus and Africa.  Perfect because she understands American fashion and African social issues and she studied political science and business.  She couldn’t be more perfect for the job.

Our prayer for our students over the years has always been that they would love Jesus and love Africa.  We knew that it wouldn’t be true for all of them, but we sure hoped it would characterize a lot of them.  

So the joining of Dorothy with Karama is a dream come true for us and for her.  And I think God delights in doing that.

And since we’re on the subject of Karama, and since Mother’s Day is right around the corner, why not check out this amazing website-store?  Want to help African women?  Want to give your Mom a really unique gift you won’t find anywhere else?  

Here’s your link:

And just in case you’re not convinced yet, here are a few samples I stole from the site:

I’ve got you hooked, don’t I?  What are you waiting for?  Visit Karama!  And praise God that He continues to work in our students’ lives.  

I took this picture on the last day of school.  I was already crying, and seeing these boys just put me over the top.  Because this is why I love HOPAC.

Today was the first day of school at Haven of Peace Academy.

And we weren’t there.  

I didn’t make muffins the night before for the Welcome Breakfast for the new parents, we didn’t buy new uniforms for Grace, Gil didn’t give the first-assembly message.  

It would have been Josiah’s first day of kindergarten, Instead, his first day started a couple of weeks ago when I slapped his math book down in front of him and said, “Let’s whip out 10 pages of math so that we don’t have to take this giant book on our road trip.”  Yep.  Happy First Day of School, Josiah.

There was a time in my life when I couldn’t imagine a life after HOPAC.  And now it has come.  Life always does that, doesn’t it?

Thinking about you and praying for you today, our dear friends.  You are in our hearts, forever and always.