adapted from a two-part series on cbsnews.com
(march 29–30, 2018), used with permission of cbs
news, copyright © 2018. all rights reserved.to start with the most
vulnerable and supplied
five more schools with
book bags, notebooks,
and other necessities.
aylor decided to tell
their story in a second
booklet, By D Grace of
God: A True Story. Sales
of both booklets total
some $90,000 so far.
And over the past year or so, with Tay-
lor in Utah keeping track of the money
and wiring it as needed and Willie the
man on the street in Monrovia, they
have done a lot more good. They
paid the utility bills at one school
and the teachers’ salaries at another
that was about to close because its
funding had dried up. For Christmas,
Willie handed out care packages of
used clothing to 500 kids—what he
said they wanted most—and 25 bags
of rice to needy families. They have
begun mentoring entrepreneurs and
making microloans of $50 to $100—a
life-changing sum in Monrovia.
Of course, the locals aren’t the
only ones who have been changed by
this unlikely partnership. Taylor says
he’s no longer the cynic who started
all this. “That’s just not me,” he says.
“I’ve changed. I set out to embarrass a
guy. I ended up helping a guy. I would
much rather continue to help people.
You feel good when you help others.”
As for Willie, he says he’s changed
too. Although he still has to support
his wife and kids on what many Amer-
icans spend at Starbucks, he says he’s
OK using much of the money to help
others. In fact, he says the opportunity
to be charitable may be the best thing
to come from all this.
“I used to receive,” Willie says. “I’m
the one who’s giving now, and it’s bet-
ter to give than to always receive.”
Did he ever consider keeping the
$500? No, he says. “It’s stealing. And
that would be dishonest. When you
are truthful, when you are honest, you
can come from nobody to somebody.
I have come from zero to hero.”
Taylor has already been back to
Liberia, and he says he plans to keep
going, to keep helping. Because, as he
says, “when you give someone a chance,
sometimes they’re not who you thought
they were. Sometimes they surprise
you. And sometimes you end up being
the answer to their prayers.”Willie’s street looked
familiar to Taylor, thanks
to all the blurry photos.
T
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