Another incredible academic year at School Of Hope has come to a close. On June 22, students and their families gathered to celebrate the graduation of the 2018 class. At the ceremony, the children performed songs, dances, and drama skits for the audience.
Some students were crying by the end of the party, knowing how much they’ll miss their teachers. One student took to the stage and sang a song she wrote specifically for her teachers, to thank them for the impact they are making in her life.
School of Hope represents one of Horizons International’s most profound investments into the future of the Middle East. Over 500,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanon unable to attend public Lebanese schools, and nearly all lack the means to attend private schools. Thus, tens of thousands of Syrian refugee kids have gone without an education since 2011, when the Syrian Civil War began—which means seven years without education! These children will be the ones expected to rebuild their country once the conflict finally ends. In order to prepare refugee kids for this, School of Hope lifts them up through education so they can truly revitalize the future of the Middle East.
While a handful of other schools provide refugees with education, Horizons’ School of Hope is unique. At SOH, all of our teachers are Syrian, which the students love because they know they are understood. Also, students receive classes in the traditional Syrian curriculum, so they can rejoin the educational system in Syria when they return. However, the truly unique offering of School of Hope is that teachers incorporate the lessons and model of Jesus Christ into classes. Many students have lost everything—homeland, family, friends, and way of life—but in Jesus, they find comfort and a sense of belonging that they dearly need. We have seen so many refugee kids come into our school suffering from serious trauma and heavy hearts. Many of them have been healed through Jesus, and they feel joy and freedom to be children again. When the kids go home and their parents see the transformation that has occurred in their children, they are amazed. We have seen many parents come to faith in Christ through seeing the healing and transformation in their children!
We praise God for all of our current School of Hope friendship partners, who make it possible for us to bring life-giving education and faith to Syrian refugee children. We couldn’t do it without you!
If you have a heart for children, education, Syrian refugees, or the Middle East, and you feel God leading you to support the School of Hope, we ask you to please consider donating to School of Hope, supporting a child, or sharing this opportunity with friends and family. We currently have 100 students registered, but only about half of them have been sponsored. For $55 a month, our partners sponsor a child’s tuition, school materials, snacks, and transportation. On a larger scale, we also hope to expand the school so that we can more than double our current 100-student limit. Please pray about sponsoring a student or getting involved with the school.
Children truly are the future—and it is an honor to raise up new generations of believers who will one day rebuild their country, and who will speak of this horrendous war as a testament to to the saving grace of Jesus.
The Horizons International Blog 