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By Scott Hafemann, President,
Mission:Chad
Though we take it for granted, we all know that there is no future for the church or for society without education. Mission Chad is committed to the education of the next generation of leaders of Chad, for a country that was ranked in 2009 by the CIA at 212th out of 213 countries for literacy (74% over the age of 15 cannot read; the U.S. is tied for 27th, with only 1% illiterate). And that is just reading. What about life-changing understanding? Mission Chad currently supports Christian, life-changing education for approximately 440 students throughout the country, from the highest levels of leadership training (ESTES), to mid-range pastoral-training (Bebalem), to vocational and management training (our new project: the Christian business school,) to the all-important beginning (K-12 at Village Altonodji).
 In this light, Christmas reminds me this year that we owe our lives to being a student. We owe our lives to the fact that we, or someone whom God sent to us, could read and understand God's word, now incarnate in Jesus, the living word of God. The first thing that happens in Matthew's gospel, after the genealogies, is that Matthew begins to explain that the birth of Christ "took place in this way" (Matthew 1:18). The last thing that happens is that Jesus instructs his disciples to make more disciples by teaching them to observe what Jesus has commanded us (Matthew 28:20). We could not understand who Jesus is or what it means to follow him if someone could not read and understand this Gospel. With your help, Mission Chad will stay the course in 2012.
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