Who will be first?

What year of school did you finish? Perhaps high school? Community college? University? Do you perhaps have a Master's degree or a PhD? What would your life be like if you hadn't even finished middle school?

Yesterday I had the opportunity to drive out to a community about 30 minutes from the city of Oaxaca. It is an area that was begun when people from the mountains moved into the valley of Oaxaca and illegally claimed land that used to be the city dump. Over the years, the government did pave the way so that these people could legally be living on this land; however, there are few city services available. There are no paved roads, there is no water or drainage, some of the houses have dirt floors and are made of corrugated tin.

The rainy season has begun in Oaxaca and it happened to be pouring yesterday afternoon. This made for difficult navigating of the dirt roads but we did finally arrive at our destination--a community center that a former Covenant pastor runs. After a brief introduction to the couple that I had brought to Vicente Guerrero--the neighborhood where the community center is located, we set out in a truck to visit a meeting that was taking place that afternoon.

Dodging raindrops, a literal "river" of water flowing through the street, and puddles the size of small lakes, we entered a small church building where about 50 people waited for the meeting to begin. The meeting was to give the details of the one time a year opportunity for people to take a test that, if passed, would give them a certificate saying they had the equivalent of a sixth grade education or a ninth grade education.

The majority of the people at the meeting were women and the majority of them had left formal schooling before fourth grade. The women were asked what their dreams were for their children and most of them said that they wanted their children to finish the equivalent of middle school and go on to high school. They were asked "what if they could get their education even if they had left formal schooling long ago?"

Then the leaders that were running the adult program explained what was needed for this to happen. Even if an adult didn't pass the test, the community center was offering classes for adults that would allow them to complete their schooling in as little as six months.

After all the facts were given, the big question was asked -- "Who will be first to sign up for this opportunity". All over the room, women came forward to stand in line and register for this opportunity. You could visibly see hope written on their faces. Hope that they would soon be able to read, hope that they could get a job because they had finished school, hope that they would be good examples for their children so that their children would stay in school.

What if you didn't know how to read? What if you couldn't get a job because of a lack of education? God is working in Oaxaca to provide a better life with more opportunities for people.