| During our annual planning workshop with the staff, we took time to celebrate a significant milestone in the life of Pulane Children's Centre: One full year of our local Basotho staff managing the day-to-day operations without the directors living on-site. Lesotho is a country that receives a significant amount of foreign aid. But there is a reputation here of the handover of a project from foreign to local hands going poorly. The countryside is littered with ruined buildings, defunct projects, and cautionary tales of what happens when the foreign missionaries leave. We were determined for PCC to be different, taking time to make sure all of us were ready for the transition. From the time our family arrived in 2016, Grant and I began focusing our efforts to this end. By the time December 2017 rolled around, we had all developed confidence in our new systems, roles, and communication. It was time to take the training wheels off! Throughout 2018, the Basotho staff at PCC rose to the challenge of managing the center without us present. Many times they not only met our expectations but exceeded them. During our December workshop, we took time to remember the faithfulness and goodness of God during the past year. We talked about how in the book of Joshua, God did something incredible in the midst of His people (parting the Jordan River). He then commanded them to make a memorial of the event by stacking stones so that future generations could point to the stones and recall the goodness of God to His people. And then we did just that! We gathered stones from the nearby river and with much laughter and singing made a small tower at the entrance to PCC. Each staff member placed 2 stones, and there are some extra stones in the foundation in honor of PCC founder, Jill Kinsey, without whom, we would not have been in a position to take this next step. |
