
I've been the Student Services Coordinator of IGSL for more than ten years now. One of my responsibilities is finding scholarships for our students who need financial assistance. I'm a very visual person, so I need to be able to look at what I am working on. Each year there are about 150 students who need scholarships. At the beginning of the year I put their names and photos on the wall in my office. The red squares are for our newest students. I'm still working on their photos.
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Then when a potential donor calls and says, "I am interested in supporting a young couple from India or Myanmar," I go and look at the board and try to match them with someone.
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Once I was asked to bring ten students to a party to talk with some of our donors. I stood in front of the board with a note pad, looking at all the smiling faces.
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Some are shy, some don't speak English well. Others are very talkative and friendly -- good "party people". It was easy to select who to bring with me to the party.
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Because it is so visual, it is easy to remember. Sometimes when James and I visit our graduates in other countries, they will ask me, "Ate, do you still have the board in your office?" It used to have only about 20 faces . . . it keeps growing as our school grows. Sometimes, when our president has visitors, he brings them to my office to look at the board and give an overview of the people we work with, then zeroes in on one or two and tells their stories.
.Aside from the names and faces, I keep a running tally of how much money we have raised each year. A few weeks ago it was at 22%, and now it is already at 50%.
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That's exciting and encouraging. It reminds the students and me to keep praying, and we all get excited when we can change the number.
.So that's my scholarship board . . . a visual reminder of the way God provides as we equip laborers for the harvest.
2 comments:
Great idea-- I love the board and wish I could see it in person!
Theresa,
I didn't know that you had this board, but the faces look so enthusiastic! I will pray that the rest of the scholarship money comes in soon.
Linda D.
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