Plumblines A L ITERAL CHAL L ENG E 44 225 70 1 4 1 5 $ % IN IN MILLION BILLION people in the USA cannot read well enough to fill out an application, read a food label or read a simple story to a child. The estimated cost to U.S. businesses due to lost productivity resulting from literacy problems. of American inmates cannot read above the fourth–grade level. Two–thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of the fourth grade will end up in jail or on welfare. children in America grow up without learning how to read. American adults (20%) is functionally illiterate. Sourc Sources: National Adult Literacy Survey, United Way, U.S. Dept. of Labor Kianna and Cheyenne, first graders in Coolidge, AZ. ON A MISSION e Nothing to Offer? by ANDD BECKER very morning on my 40-minute drive to school that October through April three years ago, I sang the first part of the prayer of Jabez. “Oh God, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory!" (I Chronicles 4:10). As a teacher, I wanted to influence children in a positive way beyond the classroom, but I didn't know how to go about it. That April the superintendent of schools sent me an e-mail that ended with “you have nothing else to offer." Had God deserted me? I decided to retire, intending to substitute-teach one day a week. However, my immediate supervisor refused to write a reference letter. So I continued doing what I had been doing while teaching—buying children's books from The Salvation Army in Casa Grande, Arizona so I could share them with my students. Soon I had too many books and no one to share them with. Taking the advice of a local librarian, I delivered books to six schools. Teachers and students from kindergarten through grade ten responded with thank you letters and cards. That's when I knew that God had answered my prayer, the prayer of Jabez. God gave me a mission to supply teachers with books for their classroom libraries to help kids read and succeed. Between October 2011 and December 2012 I donated 7,500 books. No longer did I feel useless. God sent several benefactors to support this effort. Financial aid came from corporations including McDonald's and local businesses such as Molar Magic and Garrett Motors; the Chandler Library and the MASH-Unit donated books; the Coolidge Chamber of Commerce and the Coolidge Public Library supplied bookmarks; Target contributed a gift card for reading prizes. That negative statement, “nothing else to offer,” could have devastated me. But through the power of prayer God transformed it to bring new possibilities for thousands of children. Andd Becker lives in Coolidge, Arizona. The War Cry | JUNE 2013 29