Clementia Life Centre
At Clementia Life Centre, life has been busy with the new school year getting off to a great start. We felt that in this busy season between the start of the school year and the Christmas season just around the corner, it was important to reflect on last year and celebrate. The following came from an update shared with us by Fellowship International missionary Roula Karkafi last July as the school year came to an end.
“June marks the end of our academic year: ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’ (1 Samuel 7:12 NIV). Life in Lebanon has become very challenging, especially for refugee families who struggle to live with dignity. We believe our students deserve to be celebrated: against all odds, they showed up, studied, trusted God, and enjoyed the safe place at the centre. We thank God for your partnership in this life-changing journey!
“SOCIAL: We interviewed parents during our teacher‐parent meeting in June, asking how they felt about sending their children to the centre. Almost all said, ‘We feel safe.’ One mother said it was safer for her daughter to be at the centre than at home. One father said, ‘We don’t feel safe in Lebanon; my wife went to register my kids at a public school but they humiliated her. She came home crying. We were surprised by how kind you are to us.’ At the meeting, we prayed with the parents and each family received a psycho‐social support kit from Himaya, filled with art supplies for summer fun! Students also got to take home food parcels.
“SPIRITUAL: We asked our learners how their time at CLC changed their view of God and of themselves. We share some of their encouraging responses here. In June, one of our pastors shared the Gospel with the parents at the vocational program end-of-year celebration. We also prompted our learners to choose life and choose Jesus in every situation they face this summer. Our teachers prayed with all the parents who attended the teacher-parent meeting, for peace in parenting through Jesus. Finally, when we asked our learners what requests they had, some said, ‘I want Jesus to live in my heart!’
“ACADEMIC: We celebrated the end of the year with our children at an outing to the ‘Animal Life’ museum; they explored, played, had a yummy meal, and took a photo with their graduation caps. We also invited families for a teacher-parent meeting to discuss ways to help [their] children academically during the summer. We provided tips for anger management in parenting. We also celebrated our teens’ graduation from the vocational program with their parents who were very proud of them! Pray that the Ministry of Education would give our students the official certificates. Pray for our staff to have rest this summer, and wisdom as they plan for next year!”
This update is such a great example of the impact that Fellowship Child Sponsorship ministries have on the children involved and the wider community. We hope that you are as encouraged by this as we are!
FAIR is currently looking for more sponsors ready to invest in the lives of children and families just like those highlighted in this update.