Theme:Living the Dream
One of my favorite inspirational stories is of a young African
boy who crossed over 3,000 kilometers of hostile jungle
territory on foot because he had a vision and determination.
Legson Didimu Kayira was born in the 1940s to a life of total
poverty in the Tumbuka tribe, Malawi, but he dreamed of
studying in the United States. When he was 16, he decided to
make his way on foot to Egypt and find work on a ship sailing
to the U.S. He left home with only a small ax, a blanket, a
map of Africa, a map of the world, and two books—a Bible and
a copy of The Pilgrim’s Progress.
Fifteen months later, Legson arrived in Kampala, Uganda,
where he came across a directory of American colleges. He
wrote to Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon explaining his
situation and asking for a scholarship. The dean was so
impressed he granted him both admission and a scholarship,
while the student body collected $650 to cover his fare. In
December 1960, Legson finally arrived at Skagit Valley
College, still carrying nothing but what he’d left home with
two years before.
Later, Legson became a professor at Cambridge University
and authored six novels and the prize-winning
autobiography, I Will Try.
Here’s another: In 1938, Soichiro Honda began developing a
new piston ring, which he dreamed of selling to the Toyota
Corporation, but it was rejected.
He went back to the drawing table, and two years later he
had a new piston ring. This time, he won the contract with
Toyota, but he had no factory, and concrete was rationed due
to WW2. Undaunted, Mr. Honda invented a new formula for
making concrete and got his factory built. Unfortunately, it
was bombed—twice—and finally leveled by an earthquake.
After the war, Japan suffered a gasoline shortage. Mr.
Honda couldn’t afford to drive his car, so he attached a small
engine to his bicycle. His neighbors were soon asking him to
make “motorized bikes” for them too and encouraging him to
build a plant to manufacture his engines.
Because he had no capital, he wrote all 18,000 bike shop
owners in Japan a personal letter, explaining his vision and
asking for financial contributions. Five thousand of them
agreed to advance him capital for his invention … and the
rest, as they say, is history.
What these men, and others like them, have in common is that
they refused to let the limitations of their circumstances limit
their dreams.
—
Psalm 31:24 ESV - Be strong, and let your heart take
courage, all you who wait for the Lord!
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV - For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give
you a future and a hope.
2 Chronicles 15:7 ESV - But you, take courage! Do not let
your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.