students of jesus

As Steve and Nancy Peifer painted the nursery for their newborn son, they also planned his funeral. Their son, Stephen Wrigley, had been born with Trisomy 13, a genetic defect described in the medical literature as “incompatible with life.” This suburban family of four welcomed Stephen into the world March 4^th, 1998, and said good-bye to him eight days later, March 12^th.

Amazingly, Stephen’s funeral was the beginning of the Peifer family’s story, not the end. Steve and Nancy, along with sons, JT and Matthew, found God’s loving restoration as they forsook their middle-class American life and poured themselves into the hungry children of Kenya. Their story, A Dream So Big, Our Unlikely Journey to End the Tears of Hunger releases tomorrow from Zondervan publishing. It’s the story of how this grieving family followed God’s lead to Kenya, and today feed 20,000 Kenyan schoolchildren—enabling these children to stay healthy, and get an education.

This is a breath-taking story. The Peifers made a one-year commitment to work as dorm parents at Rift Valley Academy, a school for missionary children tucked in the high elevations north and west of Nairobi. During that one-year posting their attention was gradually turned beyond themselves and toward the children of Kenya. The process was a gradual awakening, but one significant turning point was when Steve visited a Kenya school shortly before he was scheduled to return to the United States. He saw schoolchildren, in the classroom, lying on the dirt floor. He asked why. The teacher said, “This is Thursday. Most of these children haven’t eaten since Monday. If they try to stand, or even sit up, they will faint.” 

The Peifers returned to the U.S. only long enough to realize their hearts had already taken root in African soil. The one-year posting became a calling, and the calling reached beyond the walls of the school for missionary kids to the children of Kenya. A Dream So Big describes the growth their inspiring ministry and mission—to break the back of poverty in Kenya within a generation by feeding children through their local schools. Over the last 13 years the ministry has grown to include solar-powered computer centers—enabling children in the African bush to gain the skills needed to navigate the 21^st century world.

I cannot recommend this book more highly: it contains Steve's wit and Nancy's wisdom. It never preaches but gently directs our gaze toward God's continual grace in our lives--even lives that have suffered unspeakable grief. If you want to discover the path from selfishness to selflessness, A Dream So Big will point the way.