The Galileo School

I’d like to share with you a little more about the organization I’m going to Uganda with: The Galileo School.  It’s been really neat for me to hear over the last few months about how God has been working in people’s lives to bring the Galileo School into being.  What I will share here comes from conversations with the founders (Scott and Georgianna Noel) and from what I read on their website (http://www.thegalileoschool.org/Default.aspx). 

Scott Noel is a businessman from Dallas.  Georgianna is a “missionary kid” who grew up in Kenya.  After they met and married, God brought a refugee family from the Sudan into their lives.  As they became involved in this family’s life, Scott learned that they had a great desire to return to their home in the Sudan.  Out of curiosity, he tried to find their village on the internet.  Because of the terrible conflicts that have gone on in that country, all he could find were pictures of destroyed, burned, and bloody villages.  As Scott said when he saw all this destruction, he realized that he “couldn’t let this sort of thing happen on his watch.”  God was working in the Noel’s hearts to somehow help war-torn communities in Africa.

Scott and Georgianna decided that one way they could help with the huge needs in Africa was to provide education to children in war-torn communities.  They believe that by providing top-notch education, they will be giving the community an opportunity to rebuild itself from devastation.  One of the things I love most about their vision is that it is holistic and involves the participation of the community.  Not only are they building schools and providing education for children, but they are partnering with villages and helping the community to get back on its feet with farming, clean water, and health care.

The most visible and exciting part of their ministry right now is that the first school has just been completed in Bul Kur, Uganda.  The Noels picked Uganda because of its history of having the longest running civil war in Africa.  The war is over now, but northern Uganda was devastated by it and most of the schools were destroyed.  Most children must walk 3-5 miles to go to school.  Some of the older children are able to walk that far, but it is a struggle for the younger children who need a good start in their education.  So the first school has been built in the remote village of Bul Kur, and now 200 children will have good education close to where they live!

Isn’t God’s grace wonderful?  I can’t help but delight in stories like this where He graciously works in the lives of regular people, just like me, and uses them to do His work!

I would highly recommend going to this link and watching the short videos where you can see some of the progress on the school in Bul Kur:  http://www.thegalileoschool.org/video.aspx.  And here you can see pictures:  http://www.thegalileoschool.org/photos.aspx. 

And when I come back, I’ll bring you more pictures of the completed work!