Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Pray for growth that is both fast and slow

In working with Anthony on our programming course, he had a lesson to teach me. Basically, I had been taking a shortcut that would teach some habits that would lead to problems down the road. He gave me an elaborate exercise defining and changing global, class, and local variables make sure I learned that there's a better way, and we need to make a habit of doing it right from the very beginning. That very much reflects TEN3's overall strategy. There are much faster ways of going about bringing education. Lots of organizations are using them. But they don't bring about lasting results in Africa. Why?

  • They don't advance students to comprehension of the information they absorb.
  • They don't take into account the realities about resources. If a course requires a daily or even weekly internet connection, there are lots of places it won't work. If it requires a library, there will probably not be one available.
  • They don't use pedagogical principles like learning by doing, immediate practical application, and oral transmission, and mastery learning. 

The Lord told us that for education to be truly valuable in Africa, it would have to be built from the ground up. That takes time. Yet we also sense the urgent need for it to spread on a large scale before certain irreversible changes happen that will take over all education worldwide - and which the enemy will be able to use to capture minds across the world.

So fast or slow? Careful or quick? We have a great program in the Computer Training Outreach, but as we try to get it implemented and develop new material, please pray it will be simple enough to spread quickly, but solid enough to endure and enable young people's minds to be rooted and grounded in Christ. Please pray for its implementation in countries across Africa and the Caribbean, that it gives the world an education that is based on the real beginning of knowledge - the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7)