Browsing Tag

Education

Belize, PathLight,

Off to Belize!

I’m off to Belize tomorrow for the first ever PathLight International graduating class! Hard to believe it was four years ago that we selected our first group of students. They have put in a lot of hard work leading up to the commencement ceremony.

The ceremony is on Tuesday night, but our big PathLight blowout graduation party is Sunday night. It’s going to be fun to see the proud parents and excited students! Hopefully I can post pictures soon afterward.

The kids have overcome a lot of odds. Born into poverty, living in a rural setting, and attending poor schools …

Belize, PathLight,

Belize Program Director

PathLight is searching for a program director to run all the field operations in Belize. Below is a brief job description, along with a link to the more detailed description. Do you know anybody who might be interested? Are you interested? Let me know!

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Program Director, Belize

Join us in our mission to bring hope to children in Belize. PathLight helps at-risk children break out of the cycle of poverty by enabling them to receive a secondary education that integrates faith and learning. Our program is unique in that we provide not only financial aid, but also tutoring, mentoring …

Belize, PathLight,

Belize Trip

I just returned home from Belize last night.  D’Aun and I led a group of about 10 people on a five-day four-night trip.  We call these “vision trips” because they are designed to show people what PathLight does and why we do it. It was a great group of people who wanted to learn more about poverty, educational issues, and Belize.  By the end of the trip we had done and saw so much….and I saw a few hearts molded by the experience.  Thought I’d describe some of the trip here.

We arrived at Belize International Airport on Monday about …

Belize, PathLight,

PathLight's Impact: 1% to 10%

I often like to think of God as an artist.  We offer him a canvas to work with, which is sometimes blank and sometimes has parts already filled in.  The analogy only goes so far, of course, but it seems like our primary role is to be the easel that holds the canvas!  This blog entry is about being that easel.  Bear with me as I explain.

Three years ago this month I flew to Belize with my friend Mike Egusa.  Mike is the pastor at Mission Springs Community Church now, but about 15-years ago he and his family lived …

Random Thoughts,

Ancient Nation Building

Ever been to a failed state?  I’ve been to a couple and have friends in several others.  These places aren’t a lot of fun.  Failed states are broadly defined as places where the government has failed to serve their people with basic services.  The result is chaos, from civil disobedience to massive refugee issues.

I was recently reminded of an insight from the Old Testament about failed states.  When the nation of Israel was in Egypt, enslaved by the Pharaohs, they were a nation of people with little identity.  There was no written code for their religious system and they …

PathLight,

Integration of Faith & Learning from Philippians 4:8

Philippians 4:8 speaks right to the heart of PathLight, “… whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praise worthy – think about such things.”

An education that integrates faith and learning should take this verse to heart.  It speaks to the purpose of PathLight because it is about the development of a mind that embraces the heart of Christ.  In all academic fields, from math to writing, there is truth, nobility, justice, purity, and beauty.  Focusing on that will create transformation in the …

Belize, PathLight,

Literacy as Oppression

I recently read a book on ancient Greek history, and the author asserted that in the early days literacy was used as a tool of oppression.  I had to think about that for a few minutes.  But it does make sense.

The early alphabet was used as an accounting system.  Prose and poetry as we know them today did not exist in a written form.  The only thing written were entries about who owed who how much, or what weight a specific load of grain was.  It was all kept by officials to record financial transactions and, presumably, keep track …