Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
How often do American college students have such a driving desire to attend college that they work and save money, take classes for a bit, then take time off and work to save more money, then go back to their degree a bit more and keep repeating this cycle? In the U.S. we have other ways of covering higher education. Some students put away money during summers, but that’s not enough to cover much. For anyone it would take like 10 years to finish a degree!
This is Felycia’s story. Growing up she had varied interests: art, music, dance, sports, architecture, and more. She attended a Japanese Christian mission high school in her home area in a Nairobi slum. They used an American curriculum called Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). Along with excellent education, she learned extras such as like how to read music and play instruments. She participated in sports and more. It gave her a wonderful Christian foundation. She volunteered at the Sunday school leading activities with the kids. Felycia knew the privilege she received in her high school education, but there was a problem, she was limited in what universities she could attend. No public university in Kenya would accept the accreditation of ACE. Fortunately Daystar would!
She knew her parents couldn’t afford to pay tuition for a private university, so she leaned into Hebrews 11:1 which says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Once Felycia finished high school, she found a music student who wanted to learn to play the flute. She also jumped at the chance for being a part of the “Work for Young People” program rolled out by the Kenyan Government during Covid. (This meant spending hours picking up trash and cleaning streets.) If she had the opportunity to work she would do it. She scrimped and saved until she had enough to enroll in university. Once she started an associate degree she realized that if she wanted to teach music professionally she’d have to finish a bachelor's degree and then do another year after that to get a certification for teaching. But it would take some time working many jobs while taking off school for a term, then going back to take another semester of classes and so on. Since this plan was taking her more years than she’d hoped, so she applied for financial aid and became a scholarship student through Daystar U.S.
Besides the flute, Felycia also plays the violin, recorder, and chivoti (a traditional wind instrument similar to the piccolo) plus she’s learning the guitar. Recently she competed in the Kenyan Music Festival representing Daystar on chivoti and won! She currently has a couple of private flute students and about seven violin students through a local music school. Once Felycia finishes her course work in December she will have a bachelor's degree in music. She still needs another year of coursework to get a graduate certificate to teach at a university level. Her side gigs will help her to keep going to accomplish this dream. She’s been active in music and dance clubs at Daystar. She loves art and reading and sports. Maybe one day she will be teaching music at Daystar University and influencing others. Her faith has brought her this far!
Students like Felycia are focusing on what they can do to help get themselves through Daystar, while also putting their faith in God to carry them along. There are well over 5,300 students doing bachelor degrees at Daystar. God works through our friends and partners to help students realize their potential and see their dreams come true as they go on to change Africa through their witness in their chosen profession.