By Marco Messiah, USA for Hope for MENA

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD That will stand. Proverbs 19: 20-21

Just by looking at their smiling faces, their joyful shouts, and their gleeful laughter, you would not expect that these Sudanese children have experienced tragedies and hardships that many of us may never experience in all our lives. They have survived a war, escaped from their home and country, and is now living as a refugee in a foreign land. Even as refugees, they are faced with discrimination and open hostility as a daily encounter. Yet through all of this, we can trace the love of Jesus that protects them through their journey from Sudan, and in their daily lives as refugees. 

A particular way that God shows his love for these children, is through education. For many of the students at the Sudanese Sunrise School, their path towards formal education started with the Center of Hope. The Center is a preparatory school for the Sudanese children, before they can enter into a formal system of schools. By God's grace, many of the students who currently attend the Sudanese Sunrise School, are the most recent graduate from the Center of Hope. 

Having worked with the children at the Center of Hope, it was a very joyful moment to see them going to school, and preparing for the future. As I walk among the students in the school, I was encouraged to see the bright smiles of the students as they studied together. They have gone through many things, yet they still have joy in their hearts. It is reassuring to know that the education of these students fall on the hands of caring and compassionate teachers, who are looking for the good of the students. These teachers, however have their own fair share of struggles.

At a teachers training that was initiated by Hope for MENA, the teachers shared their struggles in dealing with their students. Of the many issues they brought up, the trauma from the student's harrowing experience in Sudan, was among the top concern for the teachers.

From this trauma, the students have become difficult to control in class. Dr. Faysal, a teacher from the British Academy, taught the teacher different ways to control the class, and teach the students in ways that will help them to not only learn, but also to be motivated in studying. The ultimate lesson is that the role of a teacher is not limited to only passing down knowledge, but of loving their students, and looking for creative ways to help them grow.

While all of this is going on, Hope for MENA has established another Center of Hope, in a different part of the city. This new Center serves an average of 35-40 students, teaching them basics of Arabic, English, Math, and Sciences. For some of the students, the food that Hope for MENA provides through the Center, will be their only meal of the day. This Center of Hope, is a refuge for the Sudanese children. A place for them to experience God's love for them in protecting, nurturing, and helping them grow into mature Christian men and women, who share God's love to others.

Help us share God's love to the refugees. There are many ways to help them, you can donate or volunteer your time. Your work for the Kingdom of God, however small, can be used by God in powerful ways. We are small and weak, but he is big and strong.