The Promise of BYU-Pathway

“I could not get these students out of my mind.”

Throughout her career, Emmy-winning journalist and author Jane Clayson Johnson has traveled the globe covering major news events and interviewing influential public figures. But, as she heard BYU-Pathway Worldwide students in Africa humbly share their sacrifices for education, she knew these were stories she had to tell.

Jane and a film crew traveled to Kenya and Uganda to produce Pathway to Hope , a BYUtv documentary sharing the determination and resilience of BYU-Pathway students in Africa. Students like Grace Ninsiima, who, since fleeing an abusive marriage with her four daughters, has seized every educational and employment opportunity afforded her, turning her degree into a fulfilling career. And Junior Kanyanya, who returned from his mission to no family support and very few job or educational prospects — until he found BYU-Pathway.

Paving the path

One of those pioneers featured is Peter Ondigo, who grew up selling vegetables on the streets of Nairobi. He became one of the very first BYU-Pathway students in Kenya and went from fighting to survive to thriving. Peter’s pursuit of his educational and career goals has provided him with stable income and helped his family see the power of education. “It has cultivated a study culture in our family and improved us,” he shared in an email.

Elder Clark G. Gilbert, General Authority Seventy and Commissioner of the Church Educational System, said, “The purpose of BYU-Pathway is to bring Christ-centered education of a high quality to people who thought they could never have access to an education. If I had to boil down the miracle of BYU-Pathway into one word, it would be hope.”

As the first in his family to pursue a degree, Peter feels he is setting the pace for those who follow him. In total, 10 members of his family — including his wife, Pauline — will be enrolled in BYU-Pathway.

Talent meets opportunity

Embracing affordable, high-quality education that leads to meaningful work is not unique to the Ondigo family. BYU-Pathway is seeing explosive growth across Africa, with enrollment increasing by nearly 60% in 2025. Students recognize this spiritually based education as the opportunity they’ve been waiting for.

“The distribution of capacity and capability is a normal distribution curve across all the earth,” said Brian K. Ashton, president of BYU-Pathway. “People in Kenya or in Nigeria are just as smart as people anywhere else and just as capable. Opportunity is not distributed equally across the world.”

BYU-Pathway is changing that. With 70% of its enrollment in areas without a strong local economy, linking students to remote employment is essential to them becoming self-reliant leaders in their homes, congregations, and communities. And, in Africa, BYU-Pathway is transforming education across the continent — one student at a time.

“The Lord is using BYU-Pathway to bless us,” Grace said. “It’s just a revolution that’s taking place.”

Uniting hearts

Since the premiere of Pathway to Hope in October 2025, BYU-Pathway has seen it connect hearts around the world. In an outpouring of support, many have contributed scholarships and laptops, volunteered their time as career mentors, practiced English with students, or hired students into remote jobs.

BYU-Pathway is also largely supported by service missionaries around the world who facilitate gatherings and shepherd students. When Lorri Cummings from Utah, USA, became a missionary for BYU-Pathway in 2021, she had no idea how profoundly working with students in Africa each week would impact her life.

“I don’t know anything more rewarding,” she said. “I’ve raised five children. I have 16 grandchildren. But this is really at the top of my joy in mortality [to] serve this way, and I hope I can do it until my dying day.”

Mindful of every people

When asked at the premiere of the documentary what students most need, Grace shared, “They are smart. They are hardworking. They just need an opportunity — someone to believe in them, someone to see what they can do.”

Connected through this divinely inspired educational effort, those with talent to give and those with opportunity to provide are coming together like never before. Pioneering students like Grace, Junior, Peter, and Pauline are only the beginning; tens of thousands more in the coming decade will find hope through the promise of BYU-Pathway.

Watch the film and GET INVOLVED .

Photography: BYU Photo and Mango Media