Investing Wisely–A Unique Strategy
It doesn’t seem very wise to spend your retirement savings before you retire, but I met two people in one day who had done exactly that.
Amos Ireri gave up all of his savings to buy a farm to raise crops and chickens. No, the property wasn’t an investment for the future. It was an investment for right now—only it wasn’t for Amos. He invested his life savings in a farm to feed orphans.
Rose Chore, we call her Mama Rose, did the same thing. She took all of her savings for retirement and bought some land to build a big house. No, it wasn’t a dream retirement home. It was a home for orphans.
Amos and Rose both felt called to invest everything they had to save a group of orphans who needed to be rescued near Kitale, Kenya. Many of these children fled Uganda, because renegade soldiers were kidnapping children and enslaving them. Others became orphans during a tribal war on Mt. Elgon, where they witnessed the deaths of their parents.
It would take a lot to save these children. Yes, it would take all of Amos’ and Mama Rose’s savings. But maybe they are the wisest of people. They invested in children. They invested in the future. They invested in eternity.
CRF started a school and sponsorship program for the orphans taken in by Amos, Priscilla (his wife) and Mama Rose. They are precious children. When you see their smiling faces, it is hard to believe they have experienced so many atrocities in their lives. I think Amos and Rose would say that the love they experience is worth the loss of their savings. Maybe they wouldn’t even count it a loss.
It’s true—isn’t it? You never lose when you invest in children.
