Empowering Dreams

For most Westerners like me, we grow up with a sense of accomplishing our dreams. It is in our movies, billboards, and classrooms. It is a part of our culture and a part of the way we think. But, for most Kenyans, this is not something regularly talked about.

I recently finished a book called, “The Dream Manager” by Matthew Kelly. It is a fictitious story, but the message of the book is that leaders, administrators, and managers need to be more involved with the people they lead. It’s not enough to be a boss and tell people what to do, even if you are getting the work done. What I took away is that it should be the role of managers to help their staff accomplish their dreams: professionally, economically, physically, socially, etc. It is their job to create an environment where men and women are encouraged to dream big and are given the encouragement and tools to pursue them. I think this is especially needed in Kenya.

Since reading it, I cannot stop thinking about it. It may be a foreign idea to many people, but there is so much truth and wisdom in the message. So I decided to begin this process of “dreaming” with the CFA staff in Kenya. It has been incredible! Last week I challenged our staff to write down all their hopes, dreams, goals, and desires in various aspect of their lives. And this week at our staff meeting we went over each person’s dreams. I will not share them with you, but I wish you could hear the excitement and joy in their voices as they explained their dreams. Have you ever asked someone to share their dreams? Hearing someone’s hopes and dreams is like shining a spotlight into the deepest parts of who they are.

I know there are people and organizations out there that help empower people, and that is a part of what CFA is doing. But…I think CFA can take this idea of empowerment to another level. Empowerment is more than just teaching someone to farm and then giving them a loan. Empowerment is about teaching someone to dream, dream big, and then equipping them with the tools to reach those dreams. This kind of empowerment reaches far beyond just the CFA staff, it reaches the clients and churches and communities of Kenya; many of whom have lost hope in their future and never revisited the exciting dreams of their childhood. Then again, maybe you have never sat down down and wrote out specific goals and dreams for your life…

So, what are your dreams?

I hope you don’t just read this and move on. Stop and think for a second. I would love to hear what you have to say!