Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Pennies Can Move Mountains

Mortenson was trying to get funding for the school he promised to build in Korphe and had written senators, celebrities, and everyone he could think of to ask for money. He sent 580 letters and the only response he got was from his mother. His mother worked at a school and had presented the issue to the students who then launched a "Pennies for Pakistan" drive. Commenting on the generosity of the students, Mortenson says, "Children had taken the first step toward building the school. And they did it with something that’s basically worthless in our society-pennies. But overseas, pennies can move mountains” (52). The children had collected $623.45 to help the other children. The phrase “pennies can move mountains” really speaks to the character of Mortenson and how appreciative he is of the dedication and generosity of the students. I picked this because it reminds me of a bible verse that says something to the effect of having faith as small as a mustard seed and saying to a mountain move from here to there and it will. This connects to the ongoing idea of helping the kids, but this time the roles are reversed.

3 comments:

  1. This passage stuck out for me too! I love how it took children and pennies rather than celebrities and millions to donate. There's another verse in the Bible that talks about how it is necessary to have child-like faith to enter heaven. I guess this act of charity took some child-like faith also.

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  2. Jarisah, I picked the same one as well! I just thought it was amazing the the children were the first ones to help Greg with reaching his goal of $12,000. It just shows that even the kids can help out anybody!

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  3. Correlating pennies to the mustard seed is a great insight. Hardly anyone will stop to pick up a penny, yet "overseas, pennies can move mountains" and we take our smallest amount of money for granted. The mustard seed, being the smallest of all the seeds, is only accepted into the ground with the correct land type..If you think about it, the pennies are also only accepted for nourishment and possibilities within certain lands, like Pakistan.

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