|   Posted: June 01, 2019

Every week Gibson faithfully shows up at his church to teach welding skills to children in Compassion’s program. He acts not just as an instructor but also as a mentor and father figure, believing God has called him to leave a legacy in the next generation.

Gibson's Legacy

Every week Gibson faithfully shows up at his church to teach welding skills to children in Compassion’s program. He acts not just as an instructor but also as a mentor and father figure, believing God has called him to leave a legacy in the next generation.

Gibson

Gibson has earned the right to retire. For years he worked as a welder just outside of Mwanza, Tanzania. He is a master at his craft, taking great pride in the work that he does.

But Gibson knows the reality that 80% of the people living around him are unemployed. He sees the fatherless homes, the young men with nowhere to turn, nobody to turn to. He believes that if men like him don't step up and mentor the next generation, the cycle of poverty will never be broken.

That’s why Gibson loads up his welding tools every week and travels to the Anglican Igoma Student Center. He spends hours training teens there to weld. But even more than that, he encourages them, challenges them and mentors them. For many being raised in broken homes, he is even a father figure.

“He has the heart for children,” says the Compassion center director. “When he gives his time, when he gives his knowledge, when he gives his precious tools, he is doing that because he is compassionate with children.”

Students welding
Gibson instructing some students

Anglican Igoma Student Center has a goal that 90% of those who graduate from the program will have participated in some kind of vocational training, and Gibson’s welding class is a major part of the classes they offer.

So every week, Gibson shows up. Because he knows that, for true change to happen, there must be sacrifice. And he believes the next generation only has a chance if his generation pours into them.

“My joy would be that when I die, I die empty, having passed on what I know, knowing that I have empowered other people.”

Watch Gibson's full story below!