How TOLI clients teach us the risks — and rewards — of dreaming big
Ah, January. The month of new starts, do-overs, goal setting, and dreaming about the year ahead. I’ve always loved the clean slate a new year brings. But goal-setting? DREAMING? Well, those are things I’ve had to learn.
And no one’s taught me more about dreaming than TOLI clients.
“When I think about my dreams, I like to remember Genesis 8:14, ‘Is anything too hard for the Lord?’”
// Yodit, Ethiopia //
One of the first things participants in TOLI’s Business Basics Course do is write down or draw their dreams. Sometimes it takes a minute for them to warm up, but given a little time, a blank sheet of paper, and lots of encouragement, soon big audacious dreams are flying around the room like fireworks:
Dreams for their handful of chicks to become a huge poultry farm.
Dreams for their kids to be the first in their family to go to university.
Dreams to own land and a home built of stone, not tin.
Dreams for their community to have clean, running water in every home.
Dreams for their country to experience lasting peace.
These are bold dreams for anyone to put down on paper. Even bolder for those living in broken systems and environments, where the odds and resources are stacked against them.
So yes, TOLI clients absolutely school me when it comes to dreaming.
But why? Why does ‘dreaming big’ not come naturally for me? Me, with relatively easy access to all the resources and connections I’d need to bring so many dreams within reach?
If I’m honest, maybe the answer is I haven’t been dreaming at all. Maybe I’m too comfortable. Maybe a little too attached to my present to open up to dreams of an unknown future.
Dreaming — if it’s dreaming at all — should be risky, feel vulnerable, maybe even seem a bit foolish. For most of us, it’s just easier to play it safe.
But for most TOLI clients, life is not safe. Vulnerability is a given. Possessions and pride are not something to cling to.
“People discouraged me from following my dreams, but I didn't listen. I looked forward and pressed through the hard. God gave me strength.”
// Isis, Egypt //
I am reminded of this prayer by M. K. W. Heicher. When I came across it a few months back, it both sang and stung in my heart:
Disturb me, Lord, when I am too well pleased with myself,
When my dreams have come true because I have dreamed too little,
When I arrived safely because I sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb me, Lord, when with the abundance of things I possess
I have lost my thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life, I have ceased to dream of eternity
And in my efforts to build a new earth, I have allowed my vision of the new heaven to dim.
Disturb me, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, I shall find the stars.
I ask You to push back the horizons of my hopes;
And to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.
So in this new year, my goal is to practice what I’ve learned about dreaming from TOLI clients.
To remember that dreaming is less about fantasy and more about faith. To ask God to “push back the horizons of my hopes.” And to find ways to help fulfill the dreams of those he puts in my path.
Want to join me?
Abigail McConnell
Executive Director, TOLI
"I have always dreamt of rearing pigs. What was lacking was resources to fulfill the dream but I'm happy TOLI helped me fulfill it."
// Lucyline, Kenya //
"I learned through the program to dream big, and that gave me many ideas, so this helped me overcome many obstacles that overcame me before. This helped me to be a successful woman in my business."
// Angelica , Nicaragua //
“I dream of having more inventory and a store like one in America.”
// Samia, Egypt //
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