We read quite a bit I guess and clearly have not much else about which to blog these days. After I finished catching myself up on “television that you read” books (I know it’s not mentally stimulating, but so entertaining!), I threw myself full force into a book I began on the plane way back in December.

Three Cups of Tea is the story of Greg Mortenson, an American who flew to Pakistan to climb K2 in 1993. As he was returning after his failed attempt to climb the mountain, Greg was separated from the rest of his group and ended up in a village in the Karakoram mountains. After relying upon their hospitality as he recuperated, he promised the villagers that he would return to build them a school. In the States, he was essentially homeless, living in his car and working as much as he could to raise the money necessary to build the school he promised. This book, which gets a little long on details at times, is a delightfully human look at life in this mountainous part of the world. It gives faces to those that we hear about in the news an provides new perspective on the “war on terror.”

The primary message of the book and Greg Mortenson’s Central Asian Institute is that education changes everything. Whether this means having a physical place for children to gather under the direction of a teacher and ensuring they have supplies like books, paper and pens or informing others around us of the life experiences of people in other parts of the world, country, state or even city, education is the answer.

There are parts of the book that were slow and I’ll admit that I couldn’t keep up with all the names mentioned of each person responsible for various aspects of the mission, but the message hit home. While we need to maintain our concern for American children’s ability to compete in the global marketplace and provide each child here with the opportunity to read, write and obtain the skills necessary to be productive members of society, there are also parts of the world where it is frowned upon or even illegal for girls to receive any sort of education. Greg Mortenson started with a plan to build one small school and (according to their website) has now been part of the construction of 52 schools. 52.

We’re not all called to live out of our cars and spend half of our time in another country, but we are called to serve others. What does this look like to you?

If you’re interested in more information about the Central Asian Institute (based out of Montana), click here for their website. There are a ton of ways to help their cause. I would also recommend reading this book!

What about you? Have you read anything good lately? I’m looking for recommendations!