Did you know that Faith is now partnering with a local church in the Central African Republic in supporting a Hand in Hand Orphan School in Bekadili, C. A. R.?
Here is how it works, from Ginger Hock, our supported missionary:
Each school is an arm of the African local Church. The pastor chooses a teacher from within the church who is a Godly man or woman, loves children and has the capacity to teach up to a 5th grade level. We (Hand in Hand) train the teachers. The school (class) is limited to 50 students and teaches basic reading/writing/math/Bible. It is a three year program that gives the orphan children a good foundation and the equivalent of about a 5-6 grade education. They learn to read/write in Sango but the third year they learn French.
Hand in Hand Orphan Schools is a partnership between a church in the C.A.R. and a church/individual in the U.S. Each Partner has three responsibilities.
U.S. Church/individual pays for the following:
- Pays teacher Salary for 9 months
- Provides all school supplies for the school year
- One meal every day during the school year
C.A.R. Church commits to:
- Ensure the orphan student is living in a loving and secure home (These children are living with relatives or neighbors. If the Pastor or teacher sees they are being mistreated or abused they will remove the child from that home and place them with another family)
- Provide one set of clothing per year (usually a school uniform)
- Help with minor medical needs (worm or malaria medicine)
Your partnership is a one year commitment, although most of our partners continue because they begin to develop a relationship with that school. You will get Updates every 6-8 weeks as well as information about your specific school as we receive reports. Every September I meet personally with each teacher and will send a new photo of your teacher and a personal message from him/her. Throughout the year as we are able to get new photos and stories from your school we will pass those on to you. Communication is difficult due to the insecurity in the country so we depend on our Coordinators to bring photos as travel allows. We also have a Facebook page “Hand in Hand Orphan Schools” that new posts each week or two.
We do special projects from time to time (Christmas/medical,etc) and you can do those or ask your kids in Sunday School to get involved with those if you desire.
Here is some info about Bekadili.
BEKADILI – This is a small village about 4 hours north of the capital city of Bangui. The Teacher is KAMBA Justin. This year he has 48 students and is teaching Level 2 (second year).
Here is his story when I met with him last September:
“God is big and He has taken such good care of me. My wife died last March. She was pregnant and something went wrong so she passed away during her pregnancy. Some of the other Hand in Hand teachers from nearby villages came to help me. They prayed with me and encouraged me to carry on.”
“The roads to get to Bangui for this training were really bad and it took me 3 days. I didn’t get here until midnight on Sunday night. The hard travel made me really weak (I’ve had a cold and malaria) and I couldn’t come yesterday to the first day of Teacher Training. But again, some of the teachers came and helped me feel better so I could come this second day. I have six children. I don’t have any siblings and my parents have passed away so no one in my family can help me. But my son that is 15 helps with the younger children.”
With a HUGE smile he said, “The great thing this year has been my church. Our pastor organized all the people to make a garden for the orphan school. They planted gozo and all of the people come out to the garden to help. It’s all because of our pastor. My church loves me and prays for me.”
In the distance you can see the original church and how they are trying to build a brick wall to expand.
Please pray with us for this school, its teacher, and for the church in Bekadili and its pastor.