Fertile Soil, Meagre Yield

In the darkness, shortly after five o'clock, little Asante* sets off from his home on a mountain to get to his school on the plains on time. There is a clattering sound as he puts down his school bag, but he has brought nothing with him for class. He has no pen, paper or book. It's not until lunchtime that the schoolboy opens his bag to take out an empty bowl. There is nothing in it to eat.

Some children walk more than three hours a day to get to school. At first, many of them nodded off during class, because concentrating is difficult on an empty stomach. That's why our local partners introduced a programme to provide a filling meal every day at this school. The children get fed and the burden on their families in need is eased.

A Seed Sprouts

Said to be the most evil man on the mountain, Jabari*, a known drunkard, thug, cheat and thief. As she looks up from her vegetable patch, the ACP employee is unaware of any of this. All she sees is a pitiful figure, unkempt and clearly not sober. She is seized by an inner rage: "How long are you men going to consider yourselves unworthy of heaven?" she asks the man.

The stranger freezes, but she continues her speech. "You refuse to listen to God. You only do what you feel like doing. And in the end, you'll kill yourselves. Yet you could remedy your misery in a completely different way. Give it to Jesus!‘ The man agrees with her frank words: "I could get used to the idea of faith. But not religion. I don’t want to go to church!" "But you can also pray under the trees." The man kneels down on the spot and asks God for forgiveness for his sins.

It is only later, when the people living on the mountain tell her about the changed life of their feared neighbour, that the missionary learns who she was dealing with that evening. Now Jabari stays sober. His family now has a loving father who is able to provide for them. May his fields be well cultivated and his children's school bags filled with enough food.

* Names changed