Back to school literacy project
Did you know the cost of one backpack can help pay for a student to attend literacy classes for one entire year? As you go about making a list of supplies for what you, your kids, or your grandkids need for school this fall, consider how adding just one more item to your list could make a genuine difference in another student’s life.
Sending a one-time donation this September will help cover the yearly costs of the literacy programs our local partners run.
Men, women, and children in minority language communities are eager to learn how to read and write their own language. Our partner’s literacy programs bring new employment opportunities, help preserve the local culture, and strengthen the faith of people in minority language communities by helping them access, and fully understand, Scripture.
For $25, the cost of an average backpack, you can send one student to literacy classes for an entire year.
For $50, the cost of five large binders, you can send two students to literacy classes for an entire year.
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For $100, the cost of a high school textbook, you can send four students to literacy classes for an entire year.
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For $150, the cost of a graphing calculator, you can send six students to literacy classes for an entire year.
Give Today
Choose one of the amounts below to cover the cost of 1, 2, 4 or 6 student(s) to attend a literacy class—and check one more thing off your list!
Spending of funds is confined to board-approved programs and projects. Each gift designated toward an approved program or project will be used as designated with the understanding that when the financial needs are met, or the project is completed or cannot be completed for any reason, as determined by the board, funds will be used where needed most.
Take a look at these testimonies to see how contributing to our partner’s literacy programs help transform people's lives.
An Eight-Year-Old
Literacy Teacher
Hassan attended a Nawila literacy class and graduated in 2019. He was eight years old. The local culture discourages young children from being in the same place as elderly people.
Hassan’s primary reason for taking the literacy class was so that he could help his friends.
Now Hassan leads a group of children his age, teaching them to read and write. His students in turn teach other children. Hassan’s initiative respects the culture, but also allows children to learn to read Nawila too. Praise God!
a New Way of Learning
Divine Ngong was skeptical of the new virtual literacy class. He could not read a single word in his mother tongue. Could he really learn how to read and write his language through a screen? No physical classroom. No in-person interaction with the teacher. However, he had promised Mr. Franklin to give this new system a try.
To Divine’s amazement, by the end of the first few classes he could already read several words. “The Mmen language is so beautiful, more than I imagined,” he exclaimed.
Divine’s interest in learning his language grew with each lesson, eventually leading him to pick up portions of Scripture that he had refused to look at before. “I didn’t care to take a look because I could not read,” he explains.
Divine became an advocate for mother-tongue literacy during the pandemic, and the change in his attitude convinced many others in his community to join the literacy class.
Unlocking ANa's
Potential
Ana did not like helping her mother with the housework. She also disliked school because she could not understand the lessons. Teachers wrote her off as unintelligent, and Ana soon dropped out. Instead, she occupied her mind with mischief.
When Ana’s mother heard about an opportunity to send her daughter to learn in the Felupe language, she jumped at the chance.
Ana loved learning in her own language. She became an attentive student who liked to participate in class discussions. Then schools shut early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once travel was again allowed, her teacher went to visit her.
Ana’s mother greeted him at the door saying she could not believe how much school had changed her daughter. “She used to be a rebellious girl,” she explained. “She didn't help me, and she was a lot of work. But during the three years that she studied at your school, she has changed–she has become a pleasant and exemplary child.”
Praise God that learning in a language she can understand has unlocked Ana’s true potential.
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life." John 5:24 (NLT)