Margo Day: Empowering Women in Kenya

Margo Day empowers women on the other side of the globe, in Kenya. That's her passion. That's what happens when you reach the height of your career....but somehow know there is something more?

Margo Day was clearly at the top of her game as a Vice President at Microsoft but somehow didn't feel fulfilled. She knew there was something more for her. She kept praying for what God had for her....but no answer. As much as she struggled with what was next, nothing seemed to click....until....until....she went on vacation.

That vacation changed everything and the course of her life took a big turn from that point forward. Now she describes her success and happiness as 1000 times greater than ever before. You'll feel her energy and passion as she tells her story, on this very special episode of AMAZING GREATS.

To help support her mission in Kenya you can go to http://www.mekunoproject.org

Or to reach her great work through World Vision https://www.worldvision.org/kenya-big...

Thanks for listening, liking and sharing. Check out our entirely library of podcasts plus some compelling videos, featured books, the hottest Contemporary Christian Music this week, and other similar podcasts you might like. http://WWW.AMAZINGGREATS.NET

MARGOT DAY AT A GLANCE

Former Microsoft vice president • Technology executive • Christian philanthropist • Advocate for vulnerable girls in Kenya

Topics

Microsoft • technology • women in leadership • faith • World Vision • Kenya • education • child marriage • FGM • five loaves and two fish • Makuno Project

Her Faith Journey

Lutheran upbringing → Knowing God from childhood → Young Life introduces a personal relationship with Jesus → Career guided by God's provision → “Five loaves and two fish” calling → Mission in Kenya → Serving vulnerable girls through faith and action

This Episode Explores

• Learning to code in 1977

• Margot Day's rise in the technology industry

• Breaking barriers as a woman executive

• Joining Microsoft and becoming a vice president

• The 2009 “five loaves and two fish” experience

• Her first trip to Kenya with World Vision

• Rescuing girls from child marriage and FGM

• Building a secondary school for girls

• Leaving Microsoft to pursue a ministry calling

• The Makuno Project and Kenya Big Dream

• God's provision, humility and “God's math”

Questions Answered

• How did Margot Day get started in technology?

• How did Margot Day get hired by Microsoft?

• What was it like being a woman executive in technology?

• What happened during Margot Day's 2009 trip to Kenya?

• What does “five loaves and two fish” mean to Margot Day?

• How is World Vision helping girls in Kenya?

• What is the connection between education and child marriage?

• What is the Makuno Project?

• Why did Margot Day leave Microsoft?

• How does Margot Day describe God's provision?

• What did Margot Day learn about pride and humility?

Core Story

Margot Day went from learning to code in 1977 to becoming a Microsoft vice president, but she ultimately left the corporate world to pursue what she describes as her “five loaves and two fish” calling. A 2009 trip to Kenya exposed her to girls facing child marriage and female genital mutilation, leading her to help build schools and support a scalable World Vision initiative. Today, through the Makuno Project, she continues using her resources, relationships and technology-industry experience to help vulnerable girls and demonstrate God's love through action.

Margot Day: Five Loaves and Two Fish — From Microsoft to a Mission in Kenya

Amazing Greats with Ric Hansen

From Computer Coder to Microsoft Executive

Ric Hansen:Hey, welcome to Amazing Greats, my friends. This is Ric Hansen and another great episode.

In the next few minutes, you'll hear the inspiring story of a woman who was a computer coder before most of us even knew what a computer was—and how that gift set her on a path to a very unlikely rise to prominence in a male-dominated industry.

Breaking glass ceilings along the way, she was a superstar at Microsoft and became a vice president.

But the Jesus story of five loaves and two fish became her call and her passion, leading her to a truly remarkable mission.

It's all here and a lot more today on Amazing Greats.

We are talking today with Margot Day.

Margot has 31 years of experience in high technology and held several executive roles at Microsoft over 14 years. She was the 2014 Circle of Excellence Platinum Club Founders Award winner, the 2006 Microsoft Most Inspirational Women Award winner, and in 2012 was nominated for the Anita Borg Women of Vision Social Impact Award.

She was also the former national co-chair of the World Vision National Leadership Council for Child Protection and was voted a Microsoft Alumni Network 2020 Alumni Hero Members' Choice Award winner for her work in Kenya.

Margot, welcome.

Margot Day:Yep.

Ric Hansen:Wow. That's pretty cool.

Let's start out. I'm curious—you really were kind of a glass-ceiling breaker in the technology world, right?

I heard that somewhere along the line, in third grade, you found out you were good at math. So let's start there.

The Volcano That Built Confidence

Margot Day:Sure.

I went to the public schools in the Bellevue area and had just a wonderful third-grade teacher. Her name was Mrs. Belsvick.

I'm one of five kids, and by nature I'm an introvert. As a little kid, for some reason I was really, really shy.

But I was good at math and science, and my third-grade teacher saw that in me.

She asked me to do a science experiment in front of the whole school during Parent Day, when all the parents would flood in.

It was the volcano experiment. Many of your listeners have probably done it or have kids who have done it.

I went home and asked my mom to help me figure out how to do the experiment.

Sure enough, I performed it in front of the entire school body and all the parents who were there.

Ric, it gave me such a sense of confidence that I could take the things I really enjoyed and do something with them.

In this case, I was able to do something in front of a big audience as an eight-year-old.

That really set for me this foundation of self-esteem and self-worth.

Reflecting on my childhood and the people who have helped me along the way, what I know for sure is that when you speak positively into somebody's life—and especially into a little kid's life—that forms a plank that will influence them for the rest of their lives.

Most times as adults, we don't know that that's really the case.

So I'm really indebted to Mrs. Belsvick in the third grade.

Ric Hansen:Is she still around?

Margot Day:She was around as of last year.

I'm 62 now, and I finally found her through a friend of a friend who found her granddaughter.

She had dementia at the time, but she still remembered her teaching days.

I was able to express my gratitude to her granddaughter, her son, and then to her as well.

That always really made me feel good.

Learning to Code in 1977

Ric Hansen:That was the birthplace of your technology world, but that was well before technology was even really a thing, right?

How did you first start out in the world of technology?

Margot Day:I was going to a church that had a real mission focus, and I was 18 years old.

Several of my brothers and sisters were going to this church as well. I had joined the church and loved its outreach focus.

One day the pastor came to me and asked if I wanted to learn how to code.

This was 1977.

What the church wanted to do was establish some medical clinics in South America. Then they realized that in order to really do the right kind of medical work, you needed to have an electronic medical record.

You can believe that—in 1977.

There was another guy at the church who was a computer programmer.

So at night, myself and two other guys literally learned how to code.

We started with mainframe computing languages, and it was such a thrill because I had a purpose to it.

I thought, "Wow, I'm going to do something cool."

I learned how to literally create something from nothing.

I realized I really could take to this whole computer-technology thing, and that's what got me started in my entire technology career.

But what I realized was that I'm a very focused individual.

I thought to myself, "If I continue on a career of being a coder, I probably will never meet anybody because I'm always focusing on my code."

What I became really good at, though, was listening to what a business problem might be and then relating what technology and what a solution could be—and how to actually bring that to reality.

That's literally how I got started in 1977 in technology, learning how to code.

The Beginning of a Technology Career

Ric Hansen:In 1977, I didn't think anybody really knew what a computer even was.

Margot Day:No.

Then in 1984, I was living down in San Diego and had been going to college while I was working.

I saw an ad in the newspaper—so this kind of really dates me.

There was an opening for a new computer store. It was going to be a software store, and they were looking for someone to manage it.

I thought, "Well, I know about computers. Let me go see."

I talked to the person who was hiring.

It turned out to be one of these moments where God has been so prevalent in opening doors for me throughout my life.

He was an orthodontist in Southfield, Michigan. He bought a computer franchise in San Diego, California.

Ultimately, he wanted to retire there, but he was looking for somebody to start up and run this business dream that he had.

I talked to him, we got together, and he said, "You're hired."

So literally, I started in the whole micro-PC industry in 1984, and that was the beginning of my career.

How Microsoft Entered the Picture

Ric Hansen:How did Microsoft come around?

Margot Day:Microsoft came around 17 years later.

I had worked for several different companies and built up a network of people who knew me, knew what I could do, and knew about the great experiences I'd had.

Microsoft was looking in 2001 for women they could bring in as senior leaders because they knew the culture really needed to change.

They wanted to bring in more of a diverse workforce and people who were very team-oriented and inclusive.

Through a network of someone I knew, I got a call from a recruiter out of the blue.

They said, "We'd like to talk to you about joining Microsoft."

I thought, "I kind of want to work for Microsoft."

I thought about the male-dominated environment and thought, "I don't really know anybody who's there, but sure, I'll go interview."

I sat down with the then-president of Microsoft U.S., Kevin Johnson.

He asked me, "What is your vision of the computer industry for the next five years?"

I whipped out a piece of paper and drew what I believed was going to happen over the next five years.

He started smiling.

He got up from the table, went over to his desk, brought back a piece of paper, and put it next to mine.

It was almost the same.

Ric Hansen:Oh my gosh.

Margot Day:It was just another one of these doors that God was opening to say, "This is probably a good place for you."

Recognizing God's Hand

Ric Hansen:In these two cases you've already mentioned that God was there.

Did you know God was there then? Was He a part of your life to the point where you knew this was a God thing?

Margot Day:I've known God ever since I can remember.

My family tells me that when I was three years old, I would stand up on the picnic table outside and sing, "Jesus Loves Me."

God has, for whatever reason, been with me for my whole life.

I don't have this big story of conversion at all.

I've just known that God has been with me my whole life.

It's been this unmerited favor—that different people have just come into my life, different doors have opened, and I've been willing to walk through them.

Going to Microsoft was one of those examples.

From Knowing About God to Knowing Jesus

Ric Hansen:I love that story because a lot of people have a conversion story where they were in the church as kids, drifted away, and then found a real relationship with Jesus.

It's interesting to have a different kind of story.

Margot Day:Even with that, I grew up in the Lutheran church, and it was a very formal thing.

Even though I knew God, in my church experience God was in heaven and I was down here.

My brother and sister got involved in Young Life.

I remember they came home one time from a Young Life meeting. My brother Reed said to me, "Margot, you've got to know that you can love Jesus and you can hear His voice."

I think I was about 13 at the time.

I was like, "Really? Wow. That's what I want."

It took both things: a good foundation that I got through the Lutheran church, but then this reality that each of us is beloved by God, and each of us can know the voice of Jesus and know Him personally.

Having somebody say that to me, it just felt like my whole life opened up in front of me.

My whole relationship with God opened up.

Ric Hansen:The "aha" Jesus moment.

Margot Day:That's it. That's one.

Breaking Barriers in a Male-Dominated Industry

Ric Hansen:I still want to talk about the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated industry like technology.

Margot Day:It was real, and it still is real to many extents.

There were many times when I'd have a recommendation or an idea that I thought we should pursue, and nobody would even acknowledge that it was a great idea.

Then, 30 minutes later, somebody else might say, "I think we should do this," and everybody goes, "Yeah, that's a great idea."

I also had to figure out how to build a network and relationships.

What I know in business—and this is true in life too—is that you're the best colleague when you can really understand what your colleagues are trying to accomplish and then seek to figure out whether you can bring value to what they're trying to do.

It's the whole basis of empathy.

But when you're in a male-dominated area and you don't have the depth of relationships because you're not hanging out in bars and doing some of those things, I had to figure out how to have value-based relationships with my colleagues.

In part, I felt like I had to work two or three times as hard as some people to make sure that I was noticed and that I was insightful.

I'll tell you what—I did take up the sport of golf.

Ric Hansen:Wow.

Margot Day:Because in the technology industry at that time, there were a lot of golfing events.

As the one woman executive among all these other customers, business partners, and executives who were men, I had to be able to stand up on the golf course.

So rather than learn how to hang out in bars, I chose to hang out on the golf course.

Fortunately, I could hit my drive about 200 yards straight.

Ric Hansen:No way.

Margot Day:Seriously.

So people wanted to play with me.

I thought, "All right, this is going to work."

Ric Hansen:Do you still play golf?

Margot Day:I do, actually.

I can still hit the ball about 200 to 220 yards straight down the fairway.

So people still want to play with me.

Ric Hansen:I want to play with you.

Margot Day:Great. Let's go.

The Five Loaves and Two Fish Calling

Ric Hansen:You eventually became a vice president.

But before we get there, 2009 was a pivotal year for you because you decided to take a vacation that turned into a whole lot more than just a vacation.

Tell us about that.

Margot Day:I was 50 at the time, and I could really feel God stirring in my soul in a way that He hadn't done before.

He wanted me to step out in faith and help people.

Up until this point, I'd done a lot of charitable donations. I mentored a lot of women to help them figure out how to thrive in this environment.

But God's stirring in my soul was a real turnaround.

This was also right when the Great Recession was starting.

I knew I'd done well financially, and God was kind of calling on me to say, "Are you willing to put it all on the line?"

I started wrestling with Him.

"Okay, Lord. I want to be obedient. I want to do what You want me to do. You want me to step in and fill needs for vulnerable people. I know that's going to take a lot more money than what I have."

So I thought maybe God was calling me to take the next huge job at Microsoft.

I prayed and prayed.

I heard nothing.

Crickets.

Then I thought, "Okay, I'm not thinking big enough. I need ideas for three different businesses. Maybe I'm going to have to start three businesses and take that big job at Microsoft."

"Lord, is that what You want me to do?"

Crickets.

Meanwhile, my soul was stirring, and I didn't have peace.

I knew God wanted me to step out in faith, but I didn't have a clue what to do.

Then I thought, "Okay, I must be called to start five businesses."

I don't know what the other two were.

Seriously, this went on for nine months.

Then one day, I don't know what I was doing—it was probably a weekend—and God spoke into my spirit.

He said:

"Five loaves and two fish. What you have is enough."

The peace that came over me was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.

I liken it almost to standing underneath a waterfall that's just pounding down on you.

The peace was all over me.

I knew then that I didn't have a clue what God was calling me to do, but I knew that I would know.

Ric Hansen:You didn't have to go to seven businesses?

Margot Day:No, I didn't have to go to seven businesses.

Kenya

Margot Day:What I did know was that my younger brother was working at World Vision.

I thought, "They're an organization that shows God's love to anybody they work with. They don't proselytize."

I thought, "That's what I want. I want to be able to show God's love and my faith through my actions."

I talked to my brother and tried to understand what World Vision was all about.

I said, "Look, I really want to go. I feel like God's calling me to Africa somewhere. I don't know where. I think I really want to help vulnerable kids and vulnerable people."

I also wanted to go on vacation to Africa—to go on safari and see the mountain gorillas.

I told World Vision, "I'll give you four days of my vacation. I'll go wherever you want me to go and I'll see whatever you want me to see."

"All I know is that God is calling me to step out in a faith that I don't know yet."

I'd like to understand how you guys work and what happens when someone writes a check.

So they arranged a trip to Kenya in September 2009.

God had spoken to me in May of 2009.

Now I was halfway around the world, in one of the World Vision areas about 250 miles northwest of Nairobi, in the middle of nowhere.

They wanted me to see a clean-water project.

Before we even started, they wanted to do a devotional, which is how they start their day.

A Kenyan gentleman said, "I was praying last night for this devotional, and God put on my heart the story of five loaves and two fish."

I wasn't much of a crier then, but I burst into tears.

I told them what God had told me in May.

"I don't know what this means, but let's go see what you guys do."

The Girls at the Rescue Center

Margot Day:We saw this clean-water project, which was a miracle of engineering.

We saw the work World Vision was doing with people who had HIV and AIDS and some of the economic empowerment work they were doing to help people afford the antiretroviral drugs they needed to stay alive.

I saw work with people who had severe disabilities and who were basically shunned by the community because people didn't want to acknowledge that they could have children who were disabled.

I saw people who were hungry and needed clean water and food.

Those three and a half days were very sobering and heartbreaking.

I saw the good work World Vision was doing, but there wasn't this connection yet.

I kept praying at night:

"Lord, is this where You want me to get involved?"

It just wasn't there.

Then, on the last day, they added a visit to a school at the last minute.

It was a primary school with a rescue center for girls.

As we drove over these rough, bumpy roads, I thought, "What are these girls being rescued from?"

That's when I learned the reality for many young girls in Kenya and other places around the world.

They can be married off when they're 12 years old, with their father receiving a bride price in exchange for his daughter's hand in marriage.

And, equally horrific, some girls undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) as a prerequisite for marriage.

I thought, "What? This is the 21st century. How can this be?"

We went to the rescue center.

There were 34 girls, ages eight to about 14.

Every one of these girls had a story about running away from home because they did not want to be cut and married off as a girl.

They had heard there was a rescue center somewhere.

I heard harrowing stories of girls who had run away the night before they were going to be cut.

The community was chasing them. They hid, and somehow found their way to the rescue center.

I'm 50 years old, and I'm this pretty successful American woman.

I thought to myself, "I am not worthy to be standing on the same ground as these kids."

Because I know that when I was eight or nine years old, had I been told that this was the culture and this was what I had to do, I'm pretty doggone sure I would not have had the courage or the guts.

This was when Mrs. Belsvick was telling me I could do a volcano experiment.

Meanwhile, halfway across the world, their parents were saying to that same eight-year-old little girl, "You need to be cut."

I just knew I wouldn't have had the courage at that age to say no.

And God put in my soul:

"This is your five loaves and two fish."

Building a School for Girls

Ric Hansen:After that trip, you came back to Microsoft for a while, right?

And that's actually when they made you a vice president in charge of U.S. educational programming?

Margot Day:Yes.

When I came back, the first thing that was necessary was to build a secondary school—a high school—for girls because there were none in this area.

Every girl had been married off by the time she was 13.

We had girls in a rescue center who were effectively orphaned.

What was going to happen to them if they weren't educated?

They'd have to go back to their communities and not only get cut, but probably face much worse.

So I asked, "What does it cost to build a school?"

We built a school.

The vision said it would cost about $400,000.

They asked if I'd fund half of it, and I said yes.

"If I need to, I'll fund the whole thing."

But when I came back to Microsoft, this is the beauty of working at a company like Microsoft.

They had a giving campaign where Microsoft would match employees' gifts up to $15,000.

People started saying, "Can I help? Can I contribute?"

We raised the $400,000 just like that.

We created the school.

And what we started to see was that many more families with girls of marriage age were choosing not to marry their kids but instead were sending them to this school.

Remember, there were 34 girls in the rescue center, and only 14 of them were graduating from primary school.

I thought, "Okay, we're going to build a secondary school. There'll be 14 kids there."

Nope.

Year one: 61.

Year two: 147.

Year three: 232.

We had hit a need and a tipping point.

At that point, I knew World Vision was going to want to scale what was happening.

Back to Microsoft—and Into Education

Margot Day:In 2010, I took a year off.

I took a year sabbatical from Microsoft, unpaid. The first 60 days were paid, but I forfeited my job to do that.

We visited different communities that had the same need.

When I came back, Microsoft really wanted me to rejoin if we could find the right job.

The job I was encouraged to take was to be the vice president of U.S. Education, helping Microsoft understand what the company needed to do to accelerate the learning environment in K-12 and higher education.

Could Microsoft products be part of the digital transformation happening in education?

I said, "Look, I don't know anything about the education market."

My boss said, "Yeah, but you know something. You've got a whole lot of passion about education and what it can do when it's done right."

So I gave it a shot.

I ultimately spent six years in that role and won a few awards based on the work we had done as a team.

Ric Hansen:And that goes back to Mrs. Belsvick all over again.

Margot Day:All over again.

Leaving Microsoft

Ric Hansen:Finally, you made this huge decision to walk away from all of that.

What was going through your mind?

Margot Day:I'd been in that role at Microsoft for six years.

We had done incredible things in the K-12 market, and we were at the point where I knew what our strategy needed to be for the coming four years in higher education.

But at the same time, World Vision came to me and said:

"Margot, we would love to dream with you."

I said, "Okay."

They said, "What we've created together over the last 10 years, through the work World Vision does with education, economic empowerment and cultural change, has dropped the prevalence rates of child marriage and FGM from effectively 100% to under 10% in less than 10 years."

This was a provable, scalable model.

They wanted to take it into every place in Kenya where different tribes practiced the same traditions and try to achieve the same results.

I asked, "Are you really serious about this?"

They said yes.

I thought, "I've got a great management team at Microsoft. They don't need me anymore. I've got people here who can step into my shoes and beyond and do great things."

I could step out and partner as a volunteer with World Vision to help them realize this dream of eliminating FGM and child marriage.

This isn't just happening in Kenya. It's happening in about 30 countries around the world.

World Vision has the scale and expertise to do this.

So I chose to retire early from Microsoft so I could devote my time to this five loaves and two fish calling.

God's Math

Margot Day:When you look at what that Scripture talks about, it's not only the initial miracle of feeding the 5,000, plus women and children.

Jesus commanded the disciples, after everybody had eaten their fill, to pick up all the remnants so nothing was lost.

There were 12 basketfuls.

I believe that story is about how there are a lot more loaves and fishes that can be scaled, and the same miracle can happen again.

That's how I've taken this project.

This is now scaling into all the areas where World Vision is working in Kenya to do the same thing.

I'm helping them raise resources.

I continue to be a major donor myself.

I continue to travel there so I can assure people that the work World Vision is doing is right and good.

People want to come with me, they can.

That's what I'm giving my life to.

The Makuno Project

Ric Hansen:You've launched your own foundation as well, right?

Is that separate from World Vision?

Margot Day:It's separate from World Vision.

It's called the Makuno Project.

"Makuno" is actually a Greek word. It's only used once in the New Testament, in Mark 4, when Jesus is talking about the parable of the seed.

The word means "to cause to grow."

That's what I'm seeking to do with Makuno Project.

It's another avenue to raise funds that we literally pass through to World Vision for the Kenya Big Dream project.

I don't take any money. I fund all the operating costs.

So 100% of what people give literally goes to World Vision.

It's another avenue to reach people that World Vision may not be reaching right now.

Ric Hansen:How big is the organization?

Margot Day:Right now it's me and my co-founder, plus a group of people who help because we wanted to keep it lean.

We're not paying anybody.

We're doing outreach through social media, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other channels.

We're very transparent that every dollar people give goes directly to World Vision's Kenya Big Dream project.

World Vision also partners with an organization called the Global Give Back Circle.

They work with women in developed countries, including the United States, who want to mentor vulnerable girls.

There are more than 200 Microsoft women mentoring girls in Kenya, and a good number are mentoring girls in this Kenya program.

It helps the girls go on to vocational skills and training after high school, and some go on to college and university.

God's Math and the Power of One

Ric Hansen:It's God's math. It doesn't make sense, but it just works.

Margot Day:It's crazy.

When I was 50, I thought I had a great life.

On a scale of one to 10, I probably would have given it a 9.5.

I had a great family, great friends, a great job, a great career, traveled the world, and was doing all kinds of cool stuff.

Today I can easily tell you my life is easily 100, if not 1,000 times greater.

My view of myself has gone from whatever my stature was—five-foot-seven—to if a millimeter of a millimeter is too big.

And the reason why is because this is God's work.

He called me and put something in my heart.

He calls us all to love our neighbors as ourselves.

But the question is: Do we do it?

Do we actually step out in faith and show God's love in this way?

I have seen the glory of God in the eyes of thousands of girls.

I've seen the glory of God in the voices of thousands of men and women because they have chosen to forego the old ways and not cut and marry anymore.

They've been empowered to create a future for themselves that's far greater.

And they all know it's because God heard their prayers. He knows their every thought. He's counted every hair on their head.

I've seen that firsthand.

I'm not worthy of that, but that's God's math.

All the glory and honor belong to God and the King.

This might seem like a big story to people, but it starts with one act.

The other part of the math in God's economy is that there is no such thing as a big miracle or a small miracle.

There is no such thing as someone doing something so big that somebody else would say, "I could never do that."

Think of the widow's mites.

When the widow came and gave her two mites, that's what Jesus honored.

So I know a humility that I never dreamed I would know, and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

The Struggle With Pride

Ric Hansen:Has there been a God challenge along your journey where you said, "Where is God in all of this?"

Margot Day:I would say it's pride and ego.

Let's face it. Microsoft is an amazing company, and through my career there I had the opportunity to have senior-level roles and do amazing things.

The problem with that is you start believing in your own strength and your own knowledge.

Quickly, what can happen is you can develop an ego and pride.

It's insidious.

I remember one time in 2008 or 2009, before all this happened, looking at myself in the mirror.

I thought to myself:

"I actually don't know who you are, and I don't think I like you very well."

People who know me would look at me like, "What are you talking about? You've always been pretty much the same."

But inside, I knew I wasn't.

I felt there was a pride of "Look what I've done. Look at this."

I took a trip to see some dear Christian friends I'd known since I was 13.

I got off the airplane and the first thing I said, besides hello, was:

"I need your prayers. I need your prayers for humility."

That has been such a great lesson for me through all of this.

It helped me realize why my struggle with God was so funny now.

It was terrible going through it, but I was trying to figure out what God was trying to have me do, and I had all these great ideas.

What I wasn't doing was approaching the call with childlike faith.

To this day, I'm on my knees a lot as an act of contrition.

This really is God's mighty work.

"I Have Cattle on a Thousand Hills"

Margot Day:The other challenge is the size of the project.

The project World Vision is doing right now is $30 million.

When they said, "We want to dream with you," and we started doing the math on what this first project would be, I looked at them and said:

"If I had $30 million, I'd write a check for you right now. But I don't. This is what I've got."

I'd dream up ways to raise it, and I'd get scared.

"How in the heck are we ever going to raise this?"

There are girls' lives on the line.

If we don't raise it, these kids are going to get cut.

I remember driving down to World Vision for a strategy meeting.

I was heading down Highway 167 South toward Federal Way, thinking about all this.

I was stressed out.

"How's this ever going to happen? I bet it won't. What am I going to do?"

It was all mine, right?

So dumb.

God said to me as I was driving:

"I have cattle on a thousand hills."

I thought, "All right. Stop. Okay. I lay this down, and this is Yours."

Our human nature is always going to get in our way.

We need to have grace with ourselves for that and grace for one another as different people go through these things.

His grace is sufficient for us.

How to Support the Mission

Ric Hansen:How can our audience support what you're doing?

Margot Day:Two ways.

Prayers, for sure. Prayer is huge and effective.

If people want to give, they can go to MakunoProject.org, where there's a donate page.

Just know that 100% of what you give goes straight through.

Or, if you prefer to give directly to World Vision, search for Kenya Big Dream.

It will take you to a World Vision page where you can read more about the project and donate if you feel called to do so.

Closing

Ric Hansen:Absolutely great.

Thank you so much.

And keep us in the loop. If you've got things going on that we can help with, I always do updates on our previous guests.

Margot, thank you so much for being here with us today. I really, really appreciate your time.

Margot Day:Well, Greg, thank you so much, and God bless you and your audience.

Ric Hansen:God bless you too.

Wow.

Thanks for taking some time with us on Amazing Greats today.

If Margot's story and her infectious passion touched you in today's episode, please share it with a friend.

Whenever you hit the like button or subscribe, it helps grow our audience and allows us to share these stories with many more along the way.

As always, thanks to producer Klem Daniels and to our spiritual guide George Tolls.

Until next time, have a great day and go out and find what God has in store for you today.

God bless.