We were thrilled to finally be able to officially open the preschool in Al Ashnin in October. After renovating it over a year ago, we’ve used it for many needs. And now we have 40 children coming every day to school here. Not only is it a safe place for them to spend the day, but we also teach them so much and give them a head start on their education! Pray for the preschool please, that it will be used to share Jesus’ love and light in the village.

It was our first time gathering all of the children in our program from all 3 villages! We had the most amazing fun camp in October for them that was much-needed in these difficult times. 142 children came in all and it was an incredible time. Some of these children struggle to have joy of any kind in their lives and these times together were full of smiles and laughter! We also had the opportunity to show them that they are not alone. There are many children in situations like them and in different villages, but having similar circumstances and lives. But also giving them a huge hope that life will get better for them and Jesus is the true source of their hope! See below for some specific stories involving some of the children.

From generation to generation, farm land has been passed down within families in villages across Egypt. As these families have grown in numbers, they’ve built homes on the land. Though the land was deemed as agricultural land, a “norm” had been created for years in the country that this was ok to do. Then in recent weeks, many families were facing a sudden dilemma — pay a huge amount of money to reconcile this wrong, or be kicked out of your home with nowhere else to go.

We were heartbroken hearing from so many of our sponsored families that were facing this situation withno solution. They don’t have the money or means to pay that hefty fine that quickly. We decided to step in with funds. We couldn’t imagine so many of these children suddenly homeless and losing the very little they had…a cement block apartment with a few furnishings inside.

It was our JOY to be able to provide for these children and their families in this emergency situation and we are thankful we had some funds saved up to be able to do this. Every beautiful child pictured below is now still safe at home, instead of on the streets.

Thank you for your continued giving to our ministry. We are grateful to every donor and partner working with and through us to impact the lives of these incredible children and their families.

Learn more about giving here: http://i19.14f.mywebsitetransfer.com/index.php/donate/

We have a wonderful 10-year-old girl (Primary 5), Jehan, in our child sponsorship program since the beginning of this year–she lost her father shortly after joining our program and her mother had a heart condition that resulted in surgery. It’s been a hard year for Jehan and her family. This girl herself always suffered in her health, not being to even climb stairs without struggling.

After being mis-diagnosed earlier this year, and treated for, rheumatic heart disease, Jehan still suffered. Our ministry staff decided to follow up with her case and get a 2nd opinion from another doctor. It was then, just 2 months ago, she was diagnosed with ASD (atrial septal defect, which is a hole in the wall between the two upper chambers of your heart–hers was said to be 18mm!).

Her surgery would be extensive and something our ministry just simply could not afford or handle for her. Looking for a miracle for Jehan, we reached out to the famous heart hospital in Aswan (upper Egypt), Aswan Heart Centre, a hospital founded by the famous heart surgeon “Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub”. They offer free surgeries for serious cases for those that cannot afford surgery.

Our ministry staff gathered together all her records and appealed to the hospital. She was invited to come to the hospital last Thursday for them to assess her situation and see if she would be eligible for surgery. We arranged for and paid for her train tickets for her and her family.

What we thought would be just a weekend trip to the hospital for Jehan to be looked over with the hopes of a surgery sometime in the near future, turned into a miracle of healing!

On Saturday, she went in for a surgery for simple diagnostics. When she came out of surgery, the doctors shared with us that they had been able to go ahead and fix her heart! The cauterization and intervention were completely successful. Complete healing! PRAISE GOD!

The is a real life miracle. The doctors in the heart hospital came out of the surgery in complete shock that Jehan was alive before the surgery, that she could possibly be living with this problem and for so long. They reported that the hole was actually 24mm big!

Let’s join with this wonderful young girl, Jehan, and her family in CELEBRATION! Let’s sing praises to God today for saving her life, giving her a life of fullness and healing and a life of a child who can now play and learn. He is the God who restores!

Also, join us in praying for Jehan, that the Lord will continue her recovery to the full.

Our part as a ministry in this situation was very small, but by God’s grace very influential. Like the widow who came to Elisha with the olive oil–we come with little, but the Lord honors our action and brings the miracle!

As part of our newest efforts to help the children in our programs across villages in Egypt, we’ve launched efforts specifically to aid in helping the emotional health of the children and those in their families. Our hope is to help all of those partnering with us in ministry to understand emotional health and the challenges these families face in this area. So, we’ve done a quick Q&A to get the conversation started! Read through these questions and answers below and please shoot us a Facebook message or email to continue the conversation.

1) What is “emotional health” and what does it mean when we talk about it for a child and family in Egypt?
Emotional health is the same with the Egyptian child, as with any child on the earth, or any human. It’s the part that connects spirit with body.  Thoughts, feelings and behaviors are intricately and directly connected and understanding the “health” of the emotions, very simply, means understanding the condition of how these connections are functioning in a person’s life. In other words, is the child or adult in control of their feelings and behaviors and are they positive or negative as an overall. For children, feelings are like colors. They are basic, real and tangible, and dramatically alter their life.

2) Why do you feel emotional health is an important investment in a child and family in Egypt?
Investing in a child’s mental health helps him become a “normal” person, in the same way that helping someone’s physical health brings a normalcy to their life. It grows resilience in the child that helps him in facing crisis. Being able to face problems in a healthy way, learning how to acknowledge and “control” feelings are ways of growth and learning. This growth becomes a variety of ladders that they can climb on to discover the capabilities that reside in themselves. This becomes a truly long-term lifetime investment in the child and the family.

3) What do you see as the biggest need in the children and families in the villages in southern Egypt in the area of emotional health?
The most common thing for children in Upper Egypt is that the child’s personality, their strengths, hopes, dreams, etc., is completely altered and perhaps even “wiped out” through extreme violence and abuse–this is commonly both physical and emotional abuse. But assisting after the abuse is only one solution. We believe in changing generational effects of abuse, meaning that we believe if we teach the children and help them achieve strong emotional health, the generational cycle of abuse will stop and they will not carry it forward.

4) What kinds of programs and efforts is Awladna/Our Children doing for the children in the program, and their families, in order to improve their emotional health?
We use a specific program that was developed for children and teenagers that teaches life skills, how to deal with life crisis, and how to recognize and control your feelings. It also address different kinds of abuses, the feeling of anger specifically and how to deal with it. Additionally, the program teaches them about their own psychological needs and how can they fulfill those needs in the right and healthy way. We also have opportunities for specific times with mothers and fathers where we address emotional health in the ways we can in those times.

5) What is the main prayer we should pray to ask God’s help in this specific area of need?
We ask that you would be continually praying for every child to have their inner peace restored and that they would be released from their fear so that they would be open to talking with our volunteers and staff.

Improving the emotional health, as well as physical health, of the children in our program continues to be a priority for us. Earlier this month, we spent a full day in each of our villages in which we are currently working, Ashnin and Beni Ahmed, speaking to and with the children.

We focused on sexual awareness and anger (the general dealing with our emotions) during these times. Continue to pray for the children and their siblings and parents on these two huge issues and problems they face daily in their homes and villages.

As part of our initiative for income generating activities (“micro businesses”) and as part of our sustainability value, we started a new wave of duck-raising for the families with which we work. After a pilot program a few months ago that carried on successfully, we now have a total of 14 families from Beni Ahmed village and 6 families from Ashnin village participating in this program. Each family received 15 ducklings)–that’s a total of 300 ducks!

The project started October 14th and is expected to end around the end of December/beginning of January. This timing will be perfect for these families to sell frozen duck meat in Cairo (at our church) and some of the ducks themselves in El Minya City. The profits these families will receive through the project will help them in their path out of poverty, as well as them gaining an even greater gift of the knowledge and experience of how to own and run such a business.

For more pictures, visit our Facebook page here.

We recently created a fresh fun fellowship time for the children in our program in the village of Ashnin–a Children’s Camp just for them! We took a group of 64 children to a conference center for a joy-filled time together over a weekend, including some lessons we taught them on understanding their value as children, and how to find their value. More and more, we are realizing that a huge need in our villages here in Egypt is to improve the emotional health of children and families!

Some of the fun they had included playing sports together and doing art, like drawing and painting. A very special time was spent in the swimming pool–many of the children had never swam in a pool (only in a small lagoon/creek type of water) and they were amazed and enjoyed it immensely! One of our staff shared with us: “The children enjoyed themselves; they were full of happiness and joy!”

Most of these children have never experienced time away from their families and homes in a setting like this, with a church and with each other, all for them! As another staff said, “They had a new experience giving them the message that they are precious and there are many people that care for them in a personal way.”

Continue to join us in praying for each of the children inside and outside of our program. We pray that the message, that they’re valuable and they can find their value in Jesus and how He loves them, will permeate their hearts and be something they will not soon forget!

If you’re interested in sponsoring a child in our program, please click here.