As Buck Denver so sagely observes, Sonlight "won't make your plants grow." But as I spent this afternoon with Henry Reyenga of Christian Leaders Institute, I was reminded that things do grow out of Sonlight. And I'm not just talking kids and their education, or families and their bonds, or a love of learning. I was reminded of all the organizations and families we've been privileged to partner with in our giving opportunities. In fact, I got to meet Henry because of a guy we both knew over at Mission India, which hosted our first giving opportunity. Henry also talked a lot about how much his family loved using Sonlight, how successful his kids are today, and how one has already published a couple of books!
Hearing about how successful and bright and talented and amazing and world-changing and accomplished his five kids are made me wonder about my own life. But only a little. <cough>
"You should really start something that talks about all the books written by Sonlighters," he said. And I was immediately reminded of my Alma Mater's Books by Biolans. But then I remember that we already have something a little like that in the Sonlight Moments and Student Recognition forums.
Henry also said that without Sonlight showing him that there was another way to educate, he never would have had the idea to help start the Christian Leaders Institute. "This ministry, that trains indigenous ministers, literally wouldn't exist with what you do," he told me. ...granted, not me, of course. But us, here at Sonlight.
So, now I'm curious, what have you been a part of that Sonlight could help grow?
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester
I'm going to assume, for the moment, that you're a human reader and not a clever bot that's commenting for link bait. <smile> If you are, your mission failed as I stripped the fancy URL you had in there. If you're a reader, thanks for reading, and I'm sorry for stripping out your SEO link.
I chose the title that I did because it fit nicely with our 2012 Christmas Sale video and was directly related to the ideas Henry had been sharing with me. I try to keep these blog posts relevant to what I've been up to, so that fit. I realize that my titles aren't always the most optimized for readers, but I do try.
Hope that helps!
~Luke
I just want to say how much I enjoy this information. Luke, What motivated you to call this blog "What Has Sonlight Helped You Grow?", not that the title does not go with the content, I am just wondering. I appreciate you sharing this with the rest of us Luke.