Krissi Bucholtz first came to Kabala, the headquarter town of Koinadugu District, in 2008 as a student ambassador for Fraser Valley Christian High School in Surrey, B.C, Canada. Fraser Valley had raised funds to build the CRC Primary School in Kabala during 2006 and 2007, so in March 2008, Krissi came to work for one month as a student teacher for CRC Primary school. Nearly as soon as she stepped foot in this country, she said she knew that she had found God’s calling for her life.
There was something in Sierra Leone, especially in Kabala, that captured her heart and wouldn’t let go. After just 3 weeks of working at CRC Primary, she was confident that she had seen where God wanted her to be and what he wanted her to do with her life, so she began to pursue that with all her heart. After graduating from high school, she pursued to sell her horse and change her previous university plans in order to enrol in an NGO Management and International Development course so she could be more prepared to work in Africa.
In 2009, Krissi came back to Kabala for four months to work with C.E.S, a local NGO, as well as the CRC church, and teach at CRC Primary again. During those four months, God really opened her eyes to the need of the youth in Kabala – a need for higher education, a need for recognition of their own value and self-worth, and a huge need for purity and integrity. She describes the situation by saying, “Every time I saw teenage pregnancies or bad relationship aftermath happen in Kabala, God caused my heart to ache more than I had ever thought possible.” Krissi realized that this empathy she felt was God placing a call on her life for the youth, so she started purity and integrity bible studies with them, focusing on the issues of sexual abuse and HIV/AIDS, and looking to God’s word to see how youth could brighten their future and respect themselves in everything they do, by accepting God’s promises for their lives.
Since Krissi started these bible studies, God really placed a call on her heart to start up a permanent program in Kabala, to provide youth with somewhere to go when they need advice, a place where they could talk and still feel safe. At this time, Krissi’s Canadian friend, Katie Jenkins, was also working in Kabala for a month, and she willingly and lovingly opened up her heart and helped Krissi to realize this dream and make it a reality. So, together they were able to come up with the idea of starting a mentoring and counselling program for the Kabala youth, a program that would continue to encourage and shape them by providing them with University Scholarships. The program is called “The People’s Foundation for Sierra Leone” and PEOPLE stands for:
P lanning the
E limination
O f
P overty through
L ove and
E ducation
This name is fitting because the only way to break the cycle of poverty is through education, and the most worthwhile education takes place once youth have recognized their own unique value and begin to respect themselves as well as one another. Krissi and Katie are now working on partnering this program with the CRC church in Sierra Leone as well as the CRC churches in B.C, in hopes this dream can grow and serve as a light shining in the darkness in Kabala (John 1:5). As far as I see it, Krissi’s calling from God is firmly rooted in this country, and I can only hope and pray God will continue to strengthen that call and keep her focused and eager to do His work. I have confidence that this program will bless many young people in the Koinadugu District in particular, and Sierra Leone in general.
Compiled by:
MAIBOCK MARAH
Secretary of BC and SL Partnership
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