The entire school rides on the bed of a truck and includes space for kids to sit and learn.

Rawan Haddad says 12 children have been enrolled during the first month. “With increased funding, our partner will later add two more classes during warmer months, for a total of 36 Syrian children who would otherwise have no access to education.”

“The mobile school includes a bathroom, a small kitchen to serve healthy school lunches, and learning materials.”

In fact, Tent Schools hopes to see more mobile schools working across the Bekaa Valley. Haddad says, “All the kids are excited to start their new classes, inside and outside the truck. They are amazed that the school will come to them instead of walking miles to get there. With loving teachers, of course.”

Get involved

Want to help this work? You can donate to Tent Schools International here. Haddad says, “And please pray for our partners in the field, that God gives them health, wisdom, and strength so they can continue what they are doing.”

Header photo courtesy of Tent Schools International. 

Anne Hamming of Tent Schools International says up to half of these refugees may be “school-aged children from zero to 17. While they’re on the move, of course, they are missing school. And God willing, once they find a safe place (not under immediate threat, shelter from the elements, food, and access to basic medical care) their children are again likely not to have access to school.”

Tent School’s work

Without schooling, the situation won’t get any better for these children. That’s why Tent Schools international works with refugee students in places like Lebanon, where they have started a mobile school on a truck. Learn more here.

In the U.S., they provide refurbished laptops for students in resettled families. Hamming says, “The pandemic showed us all just how essential having a device in the home was for children to learn.”

And most resettled families don’t have 400 dollars to spend on a laptop. Hamming says, “The resettlement agencies work with them to make sure they have reliable internet access. And then we grant them a laptop or a desktop.”

Hamming says adults in the families can benefit greatly from these computers as well. “Many of these families are taking vocational training or language training, so it really gets used by the entire family.”

You can join this work to provide computers to refugees in Jesus’s name. Donate to Tent Schools here. Plus, you can supply used laptops to be refurbished. Tent Schools works with Comprenew, a refurbishing company in West Michigan, but you can donate no matter where you live in the U.S. Learn more here.

Header photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain. 

Anne Hamming says, “Every time he needs to go to a government office, he’s had to work around closures. Because the government workers are striking. Their paychecks are now worth roughly five to ten percent what they were before this economic crisis.”

Even when the truck gets registered, it might not be able to run. Hamming says, “We don’t even know if he’ll be able to secure gasoline to get to the refugee camps. Because people are waiting for hours for gas. There has been violence at some gas stations. It takes hours to secure something so basic.”

Providing food

During the crisis, Tent Schools has been providing food for refugee families in Jesus’ name. But even that has proven difficult. Hamming says, “People are living on bread, fruit, vegetables, and what cheeses they can find. Meat has become a rare luxury for everyone.”

Pray many will experience Jesus’ love through this ministry. Learn how to support Tent Schools International’s work here.

Header photo courtesy of Tent Schools International. 

Photo courtesy of Tent Schools International.

Anne Hamming says the truck will be able to reach refugee kids anywhere in Lebanon. “Our partner in Lebanon has had a fair amount of success reaching out to Syrian refugees with schools in shipping containers that he has set up in or on the perimeter of different refugee camps. However, with time, we’ve learned that there is a problem with that system because the refugee camps can actually be disbanded with pretty short notice.”

“Basically, there are several camps that have a lease on farmland. And the farmer sometimes just says, ‘I’m done with this.’”

At different times, the truck will be used to train kids of different ages, including teaching trade skills to young adults. When the truck isn’t being used for school, it won’t sit idle. Hamming says, “It can be used to help meet any of several dire needs in Lebanon right now. Lebanon has been on lockdown. And they’ve only partially reopened, where only banks and grocery stores are open right now.”

Photo courtesy of Tent Schools International.

Tent Schools has finished funding for the project, and the truck school should be rolling around Lebanon by sometime this summer. If the project goes well, Hamming says they hope to replicate this format in other countries as well.

Visit the Tent Schools International website to find out how you can get involved. And pray the care of Christians for refugee kids will point many to Jesus.

The header photo shows concept art for the project. (Photo courtesy of Tent Schools International)