01/23/2024 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) — Displaced children now have a school and building in Nigeria, providing them with a better life and a closer relationship with Jesus Christ.
For the past two years, International Christian Concern (ICC) has worked with residents of Nigerian Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. In 2023, ICC proudly inaugurated a Hope House Academy within an IDP camp, marking a significant milestone in its mission to provide quality education and foster a relationship with Christ among the children living in these camps.
The Hope House Academy’s start holds special significance considering the challenging circumstances faced by about 1.5 million Christians from Nigeria’s Benue State. They were displaced due to brutal attacks by Fulani militants over the past five years. Stripped of their ancestral lands, these displaced families found themselves in IDP camps, grappling with a loss of livelihood and opportunities, pushing them into the shadows of obscurity.
Previously engaged in agriculture, these families, particularly school-aged children, resorted to begging for sustenance, and women found themselves compelled to trade their bodies for a meal in town. The construction of Hope House has appeared as a beacon of light, not only providing essential school supplies and transportation but also introducing a daily lunch program for the students.
IDP camp Chairman Nye Gabriel expressed heartfelt gratitude, saying, “We more than appreciate the educational assistance for our children. What you have done to us, I lack words to express my happiness.”
The camp’s education infrastructure was inadequate before the Hope House Academy. A lone underfunded schoolhouse was falling apart, and educators were in short supply. The new facility has transformed the educational landscape, providing teachers with essential resources such as laptops, whiteboards, desks, and proper teaching materials. Today, Hope House Academy boasts 15 dedicated educators, a comprehensive curriculum covering primary grades 1 to 6, and an enrollment of 392 students.
Emmanuel Musa Samdi, Ph.D., lauded the transformation, saying, “The IDP school has grown from an abandoned project to an envious project around the communities… We thank God for your commitment to this success.”
The aspirations for Hope House Academy go beyond academic achievement. Samdi added, “Our prayers to God are to give these children and their parents a Christ-like heart through this School. In the face of the persecution, they are going through, we hope to make them leaders after God’s heart, shining testimonies of the love and forgiveness that Christ has shown to the world. We pray that God would help us make this school a standard for all IDP schools in Benue State and resettle all families back to their homes, after which the school would grow to be a community school after Christ’s heart.”
We ask that you pray for the persecuted in Nigeria, that the Lord continues to bring hope for their future.
