When I was little I used to love shopping for school supplies. I always got so excited when we went to Walmart and they started putting out the supply list by school and grade. Looking back I don't know why I was so excited, but I loved getting to go through and pick out never been used items! One of my favorites was picking out folders. Yes folders. I loved Lisa Frank folders. They were awesome! They were so colorful and had cute animals all over them. I simply loved them.
This past week we had our child sponsorship distribution day. 6:8 Ministries strive to get 200 children, who live in deep poverty, to be allowed to go to school without burdening their already struggling parents. This year we have sponsored about 150 of the 200. It's interesting to me, how deep this burden can be on parents who may have 5 kids going to school, while being a single and/or unemployed parent. Sending a kid to school is supposed to be free! It's getting them a free education that they desperately need! Why is it so hard to do?? Well, here in Costa Rica school is free, but they must provide their own uniforms, all required school supplies, and even times their own textbooks. That doesn't sound free now does it?
For each child to have 2 sets of uniforms (shirt, pants, belt, and socks), 1 pair of dress shoes, and a backpack full of required school supplies, it cost about $200. Can you imagine being a single parent of 5, who doesn't have a full time job, coming up with $200 per child every February? There is no way! And unfortunately most kids don't get sent to school because of this burden.
There is a sickening pattern that happens to most of the families we serve here. They live far below the poverty level and can't find work, they have so many children they can hardly care for them, and most father figures bail and don't take care of what is his. When this is the situation they are in, they can't afford for their kids to go to school, so most of the time they start school much later and are way behind, then once the kids get old enough to help work, scavenge through trash for metal, or devastatingly gets caught up in prostitution, they get pulled out of school to help support the family. Therefore the kids are uneducated as well. So they grow up, have several kids, can't provide for them, and the process continues.
We are trying to make a change, we are trying to encourage these families to get their kids in school and keep them there. They need an education. Please be in prayer for all of our sponsored and unsponsored children and their families, as they start school this week. Let this be a sense of hope. That God has a plan for them, not a plan to make them wealthy, but a plan to give them a hopeful future.
On distribution day I saw the hope in the children's eyes as they got their hair cut, as they admired their new clothes and shoes, but my favorite was when they would go through their backpacks of school supplies. There was 1 boy in particular that brought joy to my heart. He's probably in the 4th or 5th grade, he was sitting on a chair going through his bag and pulled out each item and tapped his mom to see what he had gotten. The smiles on both of their faces gave me hope for this little generation. It's not that we are providing them objects. But it's the joy that comes from them that matters. That they see a church has taken the time and money to purchase NEW items just for them. They aren't getting left overs, or things no one wanted, but new school supplies to encourage them to have a great school year! Who knew God could do so much with pencils and crayons. Praise God for given these children a hope and a future!
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