For several years, I’ve been active in an American 501(c)3 organization that supports a number of high-quality schools in the Punjab region of Pakistan. You can read about it from the link in my Interests and Activities.

For the record, I’m placing here the message I wrote for the 2015 Annual Report of the Friends of PEB, where I have just completed a term of service as board president.

When people find out I’ve been to Pakistan, they often react with astonishment. Why Pakistan? Sometimes I ask myself the same question. The quick answer is, ”Because someone invited me, and I said Yes.” The “someone” in my case is actually three someones.

 The first is my friend, Renee Neff-Clark. Renee, a member of my church who first caught the vision of PEB, invited me into a helping role when the Friends of PEB was in its formative stages. I was, in a sense, an innocent bystander. Renee introduced me to Mrs. Veda Gill and other PEB supporters. While learning about the schools and the many organizations and individuals already committed to them, I found myself moving along a new path in my life without really knowing where it would lead.

 The second “someone” is Mrs. Veda Gill herself. To know Veda is to fall in love (that’s the only way I can describe it) with her and with her unrelenting vision. She exemplifies the meaning of commitment and service, energy, and hard work. Her faith in the goodness and providence of God is a shining light.

 The third “someone” is God. I know beyond a doubt that God has invited me or called me into a relationship with God’s children in Pakistan. Clearly there are many—even endless— ways to serve in the world. I simply trust that this is the one that has been given to me by God, and I try to stay focused. I just keep on saying YES day by day.

If you’ve been wondering how you can step up the effort towards world peace in a meaningful way, please consider becoming a Friend of PEB. Education for children everywhere is, to my way of thinking, the key to hope.