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The seeds of Grace Missions Mali began in January 2012 when Dr Brandon Pomeroy visited Mali for a medical mission with KC based Medical Missions Foundation. It was his first surgical mission and where he met Ibrahima Kodio. Ibrahima was one of the interpreters for the group and had traveled hundreds of miles to join them. The days were long and busy but one night the two of them had a fateful conversation about life and God. This led to Brandon inviting Ibrahima to visit the US that summer.
Certified nurse anesthetists, Josh and Josie Uecker, had met Ibrahima on a previous mission trip and were instrumental in hosting Ibrahima. They introduced him to Josh's father and his wife, Dennis and Judy Uecker, who were taken with his charisma and spirituality.
During that visit, the five of them learned that Ibrahima, a public high school physics and chemistry teacher, had begun a Christian school in his hometown of Koro. It was only two grades in a rented shack, self-funded with a few hundred dollars a year with money he made interpreting and acting as a travel guide. Although the dominant religion in Mali is Muslim, there are a few areas where Christianity has taken hold, the Dogon area among them. By the time he returned home he had several thousand donated dollars in his pocket and Grace Missions had begun.
It's been an amazing journey with a singular purpose: to help provide a Bible-based education to the children of Koro and surrounding communities. From the humble beginning with 17 students, Grace School has grown to over 600 students in grades K-9, and has acquired several plots of land, constructed multiple school buildings including classrooms for Grace High School for grades 10-12 which will open soon.
In addition to Christian Education, Grace School employs a school nurse to supply medical needs to the students. During our growth, besides employing more and more teachers, we have provided employment for many local construction workers and drilled 3 deep wells which, during the dry season, supply free water to a significant portion of Koro when the hand-dug wells run dry.
Brandon's book Grace upon Grace, available from Amazon, has more details of the formation of the project.
All donations to Grace Missions go toward the operation and capital expenses of Grace Elementary School and Grace High School. Grace Missions is totally volunteer run, and all domestic administrative or marketing expenses are donated by the founders.
(Grace Missions Inc. is an IRS approved 501(c)3 public charity - all donations are tax-deductible.)
Certified nurse anesthetists, Josh and Josie Uecker, had met Ibrahima on a previous mission trip and were instrumental in hosting Ibrahima. They introduced him to Josh's father and his wife, Dennis and Judy Uecker, who were taken with his charisma and spirituality.
During that visit, the five of them learned that Ibrahima, a public high school physics and chemistry teacher, had begun a Christian school in his hometown of Koro. It was only two grades in a rented shack, self-funded with a few hundred dollars a year with money he made interpreting and acting as a travel guide. Although the dominant religion in Mali is Muslim, there are a few areas where Christianity has taken hold, the Dogon area among them. By the time he returned home he had several thousand donated dollars in his pocket and Grace Missions had begun.
It's been an amazing journey with a singular purpose: to help provide a Bible-based education to the children of Koro and surrounding communities. From the humble beginning with 17 students, Grace School has grown to over 600 students in grades K-9, and has acquired several plots of land, constructed multiple school buildings including classrooms for Grace High School for grades 10-12 which will open soon.
In addition to Christian Education, Grace School employs a school nurse to supply medical needs to the students. During our growth, besides employing more and more teachers, we have provided employment for many local construction workers and drilled 3 deep wells which, during the dry season, supply free water to a significant portion of Koro when the hand-dug wells run dry.
Brandon's book Grace upon Grace, available from Amazon, has more details of the formation of the project.
All donations to Grace Missions go toward the operation and capital expenses of Grace Elementary School and Grace High School. Grace Missions is totally volunteer run, and all domestic administrative or marketing expenses are donated by the founders.
(Grace Missions Inc. is an IRS approved 501(c)3 public charity - all donations are tax-deductible.)