SAN MARCOS, Calif. — Children in a small African country are receiving an education and a new school from an unlikely source.
In this Zevely Zone, I met a special couple in San Marcos.
It's one thing to help a neighbor on your block, but something entirely different to help people 10,000 miles away.
"Where you go, I will go," said Gretchen Kast as she recalled what she told her husband when she married him.
Gretchen and David Kast share an incredible love story.
"It's been a good ride," said Gretchen.
David's parents were Swiss missionaries who raised their son in the African country of Lesotho.
"Everything was so remote," said David.
Gretchen's parents were also missionaries.
"I spent my entire youth in Ghana, in West Africa," said Gretchen.
By happenstance, they both left Africa as young adults and went to college in Santa Cruz, California.
It was love at first sight.
"With one eye I was looking at the Bible and with the other eye I was looking at her," said David.
They got married.
"This was 60 years ago," said Gretchen while showing me a wedding picture.
Following their nuptials, they knew just where to start their lives. They packed up their bags and moved back to Africa.
"I would have to say it was God's idea, honestly, "said Gretchen.
They wanted to build something special in Lesotho.
"This is the entire mission station called Mount Tabor," said David. "I started by getting sand and block bricks; I put up 18 buildings over the nine years I was there."
The people of the small country asked David and Gretchen to help their children with education and health.
"These are forceps we used to pull teeth," said David.
The couple taught at the schools they built and pulled over a thousand teeth. "Often I would pull a tooth, and he would say, no, not this one, the other one," said David.
The couple also helped pregnant women.
"I delivered over 100 babies," said Gretchen.
David is 86 years old and could have retired years ago. Instead, he continues to run his landscaping business, Swiss Gardens, to help pay for the project. If you want to support their cause, you could become a Swiss Gardens customer. David continues to work despite facing serious health challenges.
"I am fighting prostate cancer and skin cancer, but I have a strong will to keep on going," said David.
The Kasts and members of their church have invested 90,000 dollars in schools and health clinics and they're not done. "These kids a lot of them come from very poor homes," said David.
They want to complete a second high school called Hope English Medium High School.
Next, they'd like to build dormitories for the students. "I want to see this whole village being completed before I pass away. I don't know when that will be," said David.
Gretchen and David's mission isn't over.
"I was born with an attitude of being on the go, go, go ,go," said David. "This school is having an impact on the entire nation." Gretchen then added, "To reach our age and still have a purpose, how fortunate is that?"
If you'd like to learn more about the Hope English Medium High School and possibly make a donation, you can email Gretchen and David at dgkast2@gmail.com or call them at 760-533-9425.