Labels

We tend to label people. I know this is a sin I regularly commit. I think I see it more in myself when I am victimized by being labeled. It is when I am being held bondage by a preconceived notion by someone else that I fully understand what it is like for others when I do that to them.

Well today was all about labels… but a different kind of label. As the big group went off for tours of some of the ministries of the Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT), Tom and Linda Gapp, Rose and I went to the ELCT bookstore to get the books set for deliveries to our Lutheran High Schools.

The story of how all of this came about is very long and involved. Tom and Linda know much more than me, so if you know them, ask them! Suffice it to say, they have six years of journeying that is quite remarkable. The first year was meager (few hundred dollars spent), but this ministry has grown beyond Sheridan. It is Synod-wide and it is amazing.

Six years ago the average student to textbook ratio was 50-1. Think about that. One book for every 50 kids. A concerted effort was made to raise funds for books. This year we will eclipse 30,000 books delivered to the Lutheran High Schools in Tanzania! Amazing!

Today we arrived at the Bookstore and Tom and Linda sprung into action. They cross-checked the order forms and organized their handwritten labels. For four hours today (in 95 F temps with no AC) we placed labels in hundreds of books, boxed and bound them. We only got half done and will return on Saturday. The result? Dozens of children will have the tools they need to grow in knowledge and faith.

The labels were quite heartwarming. Written by hand, in love, as a sign of the desire to bring honor to a loved one or church. These labels also bring a reminder to the students, that someone from far away is joined to them in faith and dearly cares about their education.

To me, that is a label worth wearing…

~PG