I, like so many other people, was told growing up that I could be whatever I wanted to be. This is an inspiring and motivating declaration told to children to remind them that if they work hard and do what they are supposed to do, they can achieve anything…. that they can really have the life of their dreams.

We live in a country with so many blessings. We live in a place where we have so many opportunities to shape our future, as long as we are willing to work for it. Recently I have had a first hand experience that revealed to me just how blessed we truly are to have such opportunities.

Last year I went down to Ensenada, Mexico with my church to build homes for the working poor. This experience opened my eyes to a world of blessings I had overlooked for most of my life. I have always thought of myself as a pretty grateful guy, but to see these people with no running water, no electricity, homes that consisted of 4 rickety pieces of plywood for walls and a tarp for their roof…. I couldn’t help but realize that I have been taking a lot for granted..

This trip was one filled with many humbling moments, as well as many blessings. I remember looking around the neighborhood while I was taking a break one evening.  I turned to the person next to me and said, “I had no idea, I can’t imagine living in these condition”, and I began to praise God for all my blessings. Then the man said something to me that broke my heart.

He explained to me the real hopelessness of their situation. What he told me was that school there isn’t free, like it is back home (US). He explained to me that everything costs money to attend school; from books, to supplies, to uniforms.. everything. As I am listening to him say this, and I am looking around at a level of poverty surrounding me, my heart just broke.

My heart broke because these people are so poor that they cannot even afford the basics. There is no way that they would be able to afford to send their children to school and be able to survive. What this means is that this is a cycle of poverty that will never end! In order to break free from a life of poverty they need to get an education, but they cannot get the education because they are in such poverty they can’t afford it.

Think about it, these shackles of poverty are passed down from father to son, mother to daughter. No matter how hard they work, they are always going to be trying to just keep their heads above water. Generation after generation of people desperate, poor and stuck, with no end in sight.

This is why I am writing you this letter. I am presenting you with an awesome opportunity to affect real change in this broken world, and not just for one individual, but for an entire family line. By sponsoring a child’s education, you have just helped to change an entire family’s future by breaking the never ending cycle of poverty and hopelessness. By sponsoring a child, he or she gets the chance to build a future that they otherwise would never have been able to have.

This right here is a chance to begin a chain reaction that will continue to bless long after your donation has been spent. Think about it, the child works hard, earns their degree, now they will be able to afford to send their children to school, and so on, and so on. The donation you give now will still be paying off and blessing  people generations down the road because you helped set them free from this cycle! Talk about a worthy cause!!!

This ministry is a perfect picture of the saying, “Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and they are fed for a lifetime.” This is one of those life changing opportunities, and I want you to be a part of it. No donation is too large or small. This is an opportunity to be a part of the change that this broken world so desperately needs.

Please join me, and be the change that we wish we would see in the world. Below are the links if you feel led to donate as well as links with further information on this ministry

 

Baja Educational Initiative website:   http://bajaed.weebly.com/

Donation Website: https://goo.gl/BIjLl6

Facebook Donation: https://www.facebook.com/BajaEducationInitiative/

 

Written By: Justin Ludwig