This past weekend I spoke at a youth camp for three combined churches from Montgomery, and driving home yesterday I began to think about how different the Alabama they are growing up in is from the Alabama I grew up in, and especially the Alabama my parents grew up in. First of all, the camp was held this weekend because it was a holiday. The kids were out of school to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Do you think Alabamians in the 60′s or 70′s would have ever thought one day Dr. King’s birthday would be a national holiday? And the kids – black and white and Asian – road buses to camp together, from Montgomery of all places, this time all of them wanting to sit in the back, because the chaperones were sitting in front.
I love spending time with students, though sometimes I want to shake them and tell them not to throw away the opportunities they have to fulfill their dreams. But sometimes their dreams feel unreachable, unattainable, and that’s where we step in. Many of you reading this went to college, many of you are doing the work you’ve always wanted to do, many of you are realizing your dreams, but there are dreamers out there who need our help, and that is why I love These Numbers Have Faces.
This week, in honor of Dr. King’s birthday, These Numbers is presenting their We Have a Dream campaign, spotlighting the dreams of their amazing scholars in South Africa. I hope you will check it out, read some of the stories, and consider helping These Numbers with their simple goal of changing the world.
Dr. King’s dream changed the world for the better. And sure we still have a long way to go, but I grew up in a much better Alabama than my parents did, and my children will grow up in an even better one, thanks to the dreamers.
How are you going to change the world?
