December 2020 Training Institute
Bram Ritsema and Bruce Gregory, representing VESA, traveled to Betty Memorial Institute (BMI) to deliver its fourth Teacher Institute, December 8 through 17, 2020. The general trip purposes were to introduce The Smartbox (www.thesmartbox.net), provide welding training, present the first BMI Senior Capstone Project Challenge, work with teachers to finish various course outlines, and meet with Westcoast Energy Liberia to discuss the BMI Solar Power Project. One unplanned opportunity was helping the agriculture teachers create the BMI Farm Project Proposal. The Lord directs.
As with any trip like this, the most important aspect was meeting new people and further developing existing relationships. From this standpoint alone, this Teacher Institute was a success. The Lord networks.
Bram Ritsema provided world class welding training to teachers and students. Interestingly, it was the students who really threw themselves into this training. Proper use of PPE was required and witnessed in Africa! Gone was the use of sunglasses at BMI when welding. VESA sees welding as a base technology in manufacturing. Well done Bram. The Lord uses His people. Well done students. The Lord prepares His own.
Attending were the six seniors who will comprise BMI’s first graduating class, planned for August. Please realize that this December trip was the result of rescheduling the November trip, which had been cancelled due to Covid-19. The Senior Capstone Project Challenge was conceived AFTER the cancellation. Hence, the Challenge would not have been included in November! It would not have been presented, received, understood and ACCEPTED had we gone in November. God is Providential.
Consider what this Capstone Project represents. In short, it requires seniors to “identify a local problem that can be solved with a consumer product BMI can produce.”
Requiring Africans to identify and arrive at their own solution requires a serious paradigm shift, from being helpless to providing answers. Let that sink in. Possibilities for enterprise are nearly endless. Pray for these two teams of three, as they take their skills to local villages, involving them in identifying great points of need that, with a little ingenuity, they can solve. The Lord will push these students beyond what they alone could do. An integral part of the assignment is to pray and petition the Creator for wisdom and guidance. The Lord will hear their prayers.
What are they working toward? The project is extra-curricular, meaning they will not receive academic credit for it. Instead, the names of members of the winning team will be etched on the BMI Capstone Trophy prominently displayed on campus. And future winning teams will have their names added to this trophy, year by year. God motivates and rewards good work.
While the other trip accomplishments are worthy of discussion, it is the Senior Capstone Project that most requires your prayer and consideration. The assignment is posted on the website for your further review.
We are grateful to God for these opportunities to serve Him. Amen.
For the King and His Kingdom,
Bruce