Finding Hope and a Future

God plans to give each of us hope and a future, but this seems far from a reality for many children living in East Africa. Read this story from TM, our East African project lead, of how sponsorship not only gave Nyala* hope and a future, but also transformed her family’s life for eternity.

As a single parent, Nyala’s mother struggled to support her two children in East Africa. Due to circumstances beyond her control, Nyala was sent to work as a servant at the age of 14. Her opportunities for education were always limited, and she was unable to complete a year of formal education. Children in this community end up scavenging for survival in the nearby trash dump, and often their life is without hope, falling into the same patterns of poverty that their parents experienced.

In 2019, Open Schools Worldwide partnered with Beyond Borders to start a project to provide a basic education along with two meals a day. This is when our Beyond Borders East Africa Learning Center school program began. When Nyala’s mother heard about the school program, she wanted her children to join. Nyala was there on opening day.

During one of my trips to East Africa, Nyala’s mother shared that things had been really hard because of the pandemic, and the family was struggling. They couldn’t beg or work at the dump as much. In order to help her family, Nyala had volunteered to leave the Beyond Borders East Africa Learning Center school program and go back to being a servant. Her mother decided to fast and pray for three days before making a decision. After three days, she told Nyala that she wouldn’t send her away, but wanted her to continue studying. They were just going to trust God to continue to provide for them. I was really surprised to hear this. I didn’t know that Nyala’s mother had become a Christian.

After two full years of attending the Learning Center program, Nyala took the exam at the local private Christian school. She passed the exam and was able to begin formal education. Nyala is also a part of the mentoring program and Bible class that are available at the partner’s center. Nyala participates in the cooking and baking apprenticeship program three days a week and is doing very well. She received her final report card and ended the year with outstanding marks and class rank of #3. Nyala also received a leadership award from her school for her outstanding leadership skills. We are all very excited about the way the Lord is transforming her life!

If you would like to give a child, like Nyala, the hope and future that God intends, visit our sponsorship website to choose a child to sponsor for just $35/month. You will likely impact the whole family and community, too!

*Pseudonym used for protection and privacy purposes./p>