Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortenson and Pakistani students
I read a great book on vacation, called Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson. From the book’s jacket cover:
“One day in 1993, high up in the world’s most inhospitable mountains, Greg Mortenson wandered lost and alone, broken in body and spirit, after a failed attempt to climb K2, the world’s deadliest peak. When the people of an impoverisehd village in Pakistan’s Karakorum Himalaya took him in and nursed him back to health, Mortenson made an impulsive promise: He would return one day and build them a school. Although he was a homeless “climbing bum” living out of his aging Buick in Berkeley, California, Mortenson sold what few possessions he had to launch one of the most remarkable humanitarian campaigns of our time…Three Cups of Tea traces Mortenson’s decade long odyssey to build schools, especially for girls, throughout the region that gave birth to the Taliban and sanctuary to Al Qaeda.”
I really resonated with his story. I was struck by how his mission chose him, reinforcing how often serendipity plays a part in calling and purpose. He did not set out to find this remote village. He got lost and stumbled into it. He did not set out to build schools in that part of the world. He was pursuing his passion of climbing mountains. I would contend that this was God at work, shaping and molding his life world, passion, and calling.
The sub title of his hard cover book is, “One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations…One School at a Time”. He goes on to explain in a podcast that this sub title was the idea of his publisher to help market the book. But, in the book, he talks about his compassion for children as his driving force.
Charlottesville Podcasting Network
For the longest time, he and his wife made great financial sacrifices to support this work. It was difficult to get the attention of people in the United States about educating children in Pakistan and Afghanistan, until after 9/11. Then once again, in circumstances not of his choosing, the world awakened to the idea of education as a way to counteract terrorism. He did not choose combatting terrorism as his mission. It has chosen him.
Central Asia Institute web site
I so resonated with this book because it so closely resembles the way I have experienced God at work in my life. I did not choose City House as a place to work. It was synchronicity that I was their consultant in 2002. I did not choose an economic slow down in 2002 that opened my eyes to even look at this opportunity. I did not choose the passion for this mission that has overtaken me. I would not choose to be working full time for half time pay and not feeling cheated about it.
Greg Mortenson’s journey is very inspirational to me, and I come back from vacation more committed than ever to my passion for City House’s mission, regardless of the costs. It is my life world that has been created by God and to which I have chosen to surrender. I am grateful for the way in which God spoke to me on vacation through Greg Mortenson’s life and book.
