Mpola Mpola

“This is where I belong. This is what I was made to do.” I was on the back of a moto in Rwanda and my heart was full.

I had just left Scovia, my beloved partner in ministry at the These Numbers Have Faces office and I was off to meet some of our students. The day had been spent working on some budgeting and writing status reports.  We also had 2 students visit us to discuss some challenges and opportunities.  I gave one student a Bible to give to her father who was having surgery the following week.  She held the Bible to her chest and hugged me deeply. I was en route to meet students at Mr. Chips, the local fast food spot, to check in and hang out.  I ended up showing them some cool photos of Mandela on my kindle and talking about the joys and hardships of sacrificial leadership.

The day had been a combination of program management, discipleship, mentoring and iphone selfies.  After the students left, I decided to walk up the hill to my apartment and as I walked I thought again, “This is where I belong. This is what I was made to do.” As I walked this settled in as truth.  I love Africans. I love young adults. And I love working with people to develop their real potential. It was liking finally coming home.

Working with These Numbers Have Faces, I have been able to combine all of those loves with my more administrative nature. It’s kind of a perfect union. At that point, I had been working as a contractor with These Numbers.  We both had been evaluating one another and trying to decide if there was a fit.  I had fallen in love with the students—but you all know that I am sucker for a smart young person.  Yet beyond the students, I had fallen in love with the vision—with the audacious idea that young African leaders could be supported to change their own futures and to reshape their own countries!  As a small town girl that was given an opportunity to learn and grow at Yale, I know what it means to have folks believe in you and invest in you.  I want that for these kids!

And I’m made for the work.  This role fits me like nothing else I have ever done and there is something amazing about doing work that you were created for—it uses every piece of you—not just your skills or abilities, not just your life experience to that point, nor your temperament or personality but a blend of all of those things.  And it feels pretty awesome.  At the end of every day, I find myself filled with joy and thanksgiving and love.

So, after some prayer and discussion, we have all agreed that I should stick around at These Numbers Have Faces.  I have been asked to manage our International Programs.  I cannot begin to express my excitement at this opportunity!!

To learn more, check out our website: thesenumbers.org.  In particular, I love this video that we made earlier this year:

So stay tuned. I know there is a lot of great stuff to come!!