I have nothing but the highest of praise for “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Think you can’t change the world? Read this book.What I love the most about Greg’s story is that he essentially failed at his original goal, which was to reach the summit of K2. Not only did he fail to summit, but he then got lost and managed to separate himself from his porter carrying his clothes, his tent, everything!

You might be thinking that Greg sounds like a buffoon, but I would argue that God had another plan in mind for Greg. As Greg wandered into a small village in Pakistan by accident, he set about a chain of activities that would change thousands of lives.

Greg decided to build a school for the tiny village that he “discovered” that day, and eventually he turned his idea into an entire charitable organization. He faced extreme challenges – financial, relational, physical, lingual – and he rose to the challenge again and again. He’s since built schools across Pakistan and in Afganistan as well.

Everyone should read this book and think about what they can do to help. Do we believe that all children around the world deserve to learn to read and write? Are we willing to take action to make sure that they all have the same opportunities that we take for granted?