Choose Life: Roots
Choose Life has its roots in an encounter in Masvingo, Zimbabwe in 2002. There, Dave Traher, the then-Director for Scripture Gift Mission in Africa, met an eight year old boy whose whole family had died or were dying of HIV/AIDS.
The boy was meeting friends at a tiny "choose life" club which had been started as an outreach to the young people of the area. Sitting under a tree to escape the heat of the afternoon sun, the young boy was asked what he wanted most in his life: "I want to live to grow old!" he said.
His words could stand as the heart-cry of a generation in a continent where more than half the population is under 15 years of age ...
From that beginning, the Choose Life vision has grown. It grew from the streets of Zimbabwe and Zambia, to the hearts of educators and Bible workers in Congo, Kenya, and the UK.
Slowly, through the work of committed teachers, writers, and crucially through access to Kenyan classrooms, this vision has taken shape as Choose Life - a Bible-based educational programme to help children internalise the values they are taught, and really understand the consequences of the choices they make; empowering them to make good decisions for themselves and their communities.
Listen to the students and teachers involved in Choose Life - click here.
Choose Life was developed by SGM Lifewords together with Wycliffe International and the Christian Churches Educational Association of Kenya.