The Netflix movie The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,
based on the memoir of William Kamkwamba, is an inspiring story about a young
boy’s ingenuity and determination to overcome adversity.
William Kamkwamba was born in 1987 into a Christian family
in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was a mystery. It was
also a land withered by drought and hunger. Enchanted by the workings of
electricity as a boy, William had a goal to study science in Malawi’s top
boarding schools. However, in 2002, his country was stricken with a famine that
left his family’s farm devastated and his parents destitute. Unable to pay the $80-per-year
tuition for his education, William was forced to drop out and help his family
forage for food as thousands across the country starved and died.
To continue to engage his curiosity and determination,
William frequented the village library. Here he read about windmills in a book
called Using Energy. With nothing more than a fistful of cornmeal in his
stomach, a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks, the local junk yard
and an armory of curiosity and determination, William embarked on a daring plan
to bring electricity and water to his village.
Using scrap metal, tractor parts and bicycle halves, William
forged a crude yet operable windmill generator, an unlikely contraption and
small miracle that eventually powered small lights at his home and charged a
neighbor’s cell phone. A second machine powered a water pump that could battle
the drought and famine which loomed with every season.
Soon, news of William’s “electric wind” spread beyond the
borders of his home, and he became the local hero who harnessed the wind. In
2007, venture capitalists heard his story at a conference in Tanzania and
pledged to finance his secondary education. In 2014, William received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in environmental studies from Dartmouth College where
he was elected to the Sphinx Senior Honor Society.
The saga of how William’s ingenuity, resourcefulness and
fortitude came to meet the challenges of poverty and famine through sustainable
resources and renewable energy has inspired many. Not only can a bright and
young mind feed and empower his family, but also he can find a way to do so
with respect for God’s creation.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind creates an allegory
for the renewed strength we receive from the Holy Spirit which again and again
greets us like a refreshing breeze, filling the sails that move us and
cleansing the air that we breathe. God’s presence and love can be a powerful
resource and advocate when they are transformed in creative and constructive
ways within the faith community.
This Sunday, Christians around the world will celebrate
Pentecost and remember the extraordinary experience of those who gathered in
Jerusalem for a Jewish festival, 50 days following Easter morning and 10 days
after Christ’s departure and ascension. We celebrate how God’s loving spirit
lived and moved among them in a new way, like a mighty wind empowering those
who gathered with spoken words that were not their own and an understanding
that transcended language and culture. The creative and constructive spirit
spoke of unity and inclusivity among God’s children in a new way. The Pentecost
Spirit brings a sustainable resource empowering people of faith amid the
unpredictable and unfair famine and floods of life, not unlike the boy
harnessing the wind and bringing forth water to nourish his farmland and
village.
May we be people who are freely empowered by God’s spirit. May
we creatively and constructively harness God’s spirit as we advocate for others
and move beyond the barriers of language and culture. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. Blythe Denham Kieffer is pastor and head of
staff at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Springfield.