Prayer Request: For the Education of Vulnerable Children

Poverty is often passed down from generation to generation. Parents in poverty rarely have what they need to empower their kids for a future better than their past. Of all the ways to enable people to break this devastating cycle, education may be the most powerful.

Yet too many vulnerable children around the world lack access to a good education. Please keep them in your prayers. Pray for greater access to education for all children, regardless of their country, community or finances.

Below are two stories that show the difference education can make in a vulnerable child’s life. Thanks to their local churches and the support of Compassion family like you, we are excited to share that their lives were changed in Jesus’ name!

Empowered to Help Others

When Justine was a little girl in Rwanda, her father abandoned their family. Though her mom did her best to provide, they rarely had enough food at home. Hunger gnawed at Justine every day, so she had little energy to focus on her schoolwork. Besides, her family couldn’t afford to pay her school fees anyway.

But that changed when a local church partner noticed the family’s needs. The pastor knew his church’s partnership with Compassion could make a big difference for Justine and her family, so he invited Justine to register at the center. The impact was immediate — and undeniable.

With food in her belly and her school fees covered by the program, Justine was finally able to focus her full attention on her true passion: her education. She became a strong student and quickly began to thrive.

After secondary school, she went on to earn a bachelor of business administration. Now, she’s pursuing a postgraduate diploma in education. Justine is passionate about giving back to her community. One way she is doing this is through her work with a non-profit organization to help other young people access Christ-centered education — empowering them achieve their dreams as she was.

Please pray that Justine can continue passionately mentoring and advocating so many more young people can access education.

A New Dream Made Possible

Just before starting high school, Mamoudou had a routine medical checkup at his Compassion center in Burkina Faso. That’s when they discovered a serious condition that threatened his sight. However, no medical treatment seemed to work; his eyesight continued to worsen.

“I wore spectacles and used medicines to treat my eyes, but the pain continued. Every other day my vision kept decreasing, and I was disappointed,” explains Mamoudou.

Eventually, his deteriorating eyesight forced Mamoudou to pause his education for three years, devastating his dream of becoming a doctor — and threatening to destroy any future where he could be self-sufficient.

Yet, despite this barrier, Mamoudou was committed to finding a way to continue. With the center’s help, he soon found that the only way he could pursue his studies was by reading books in Braille. With an incredible willingness to learn and overcome his disability, Mamoudou began learning Braille as quickly as he could.

When he was ready to re-enter the classroom, his hard work was rewarded: His first-term results placed him at the top of his class of 78 students. It was a personal victory for Mamoudou — and an inspiration to his peers and teachers.

“My favorite school subject is math, and my favorite Bible verse is Acts 10:15: ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean,’” says Mamoudou.

Please pray for Mamoudou’s sight to improve and that he will achieve his new dream of becoming a teacher.