Education for Transformation
For eight years, my friend and sister in faith, Lisa Glenn, told me stories while we walked around a lake near our homes in Los Angeles, talking and praying together about life, faith, and grandchildren. She described a California dentist and his wife with heart and hope for Ugandan children. A local doctor and his wife with the commitment and capability to serve. A foundation formed out of generosity and gratitude. A director with experience and availability. Two accountants in Uganda who parented more than 500 school-age children. A sister school nearby serving hundreds of other children. A community medical clinic caring for people of all ages. More work being done in the Congo. And a Board of Directors overseeing it all.
Really? All of this is happening, with people here and people there?
It’s true. Lisa was serving on the Board of a nonprofit organization called ThinSpace Africa. And after so many years of conversations with her, I wanted to go and see it for myself. But my summers were filled to overflowing. Each year our family welcomed a new grandchild, which kept me home — until last summer. In 2025, with no new grandbabies arriving, and I was free to join a team traveling to Uganda to partner with Noah’s ARC and Bringing Hope to the Family.
Life has never been the same.
Joining ThinSpace Africa’s educator team remains a highlight of my life. As an elementary teacher, a ministry wife, a parent, a grandparent, and a follower of Christ, I found that ThinSpace Africa and its partners enriched my vision of what God can do when people commit to simply serve together.
It humbled me as a teacher to see how so little can go so far. The staff and children at both schools radiate joy and love and success. They were doing that long before I arrived, and have kept doing it since I left. That is what convinced me: This work welcomes and blesses visitors, but it does not depend on their visits to survive. It does, however, need support.
It thus motivated me to give monthly. And it has inspired me to sponsor the education of college-age students, so that their future can be filled with God’s “good plans, to give you a future and a hope.”
Lives are transformed through opportunity and the commitment of a caring community. These move me to praise God for the ThinSpace partners in Uganda and the Congo, for the Board near and far, and for the chance to share with you what happens when friends tell friends and invite them to come along.
Wendy Ridenour is a Los Angeles-area educator who traveled to Uganda with ThinSpace Africa in 2025, bringing her experience and passion for education to our team and partners. Wendy and her husband, Rev. Dale Ridenour, live in Southern California. We are deeply grateful for her support and for the way she has shared this story with her friends, family, and church community.
If you would like to stay informed of upcoming team trips, email us.
By Wendy Ridenour