Food for thought

Food for thought

The humble school lunch has received a lot of press recently – with famous footballers, TV chefs and politicians all joining the debate about what a nutritious school meal should look like. And in Nepal, the mission to feed hungry school children has been equally passionately fought.

BMS World Mission workers, Joy Ransom and Annie Tanner, work with the Kathmandu International Study Centre (KISC) to help train teachers in remote areas of the Lamjung District of Nepal. It was during a visit to a school in which a teacher spoke about the challenge of trying to teach hungry children that Joy had a revelation. “I realised that it doesn’t matter how good the teaching is,” explains Joy. “If children are hungry, they’re not going to access it.”

Nepali children eat free school lunches
Annie and Joy knew that without having enough to eat, the children they were teaching couldn't thrive at school.

“Many of these kids won’t have eaten anything from 10 am until 4 pm,” continues Joy, “and they might have walked for an hour to get to school. So it’s no wonder that, by the afternoon, they can’t concentrate.”

Annie, Joy and their team at KISC knew they had to do something.

“One of the advantages of lockdown for us was that we had the time to think about things that we otherwise might have struggled to do,” says Joy. Within weeks a plan had come together: parents would create a rota to purchase and cook locally-sourced food, and each day, children would get a different nutritional snack such as rice-based porridge or cooked vegetables with lentils. The team would keep in regular contact with schools to support them and ensure that snacks maintained their nutritional quality. Best of all, taking turns to cook the food meant that parents had ownership of the project and were very much a part of their own children’s solution.

Nepali children eat free school lunches
Parents made sure that every child was eating a healthy meal at school.

The way to a boy’s brain…

The link between food and learning cannot be over-estimated. One principal shared the story of Pradip*, a boy in her school who had little interest in learning and came to school sporadically. After some time, the teachers realised that his family often struggled to find food to eat – and when Pradip was hungry, he did not come to school. One of the teachers started bringing food from home to share with Pradip and he started coming to school more often. For the past two years, Pradip has been given a snack every day at school and is now attending regularly and doing well in his studies.

This was before lockdown. For the last ten months, as in the UK, schools in Nepal have mainly been closed. For many Nepali families lockdown has been devastating.

Much of Nepal’s population are casual workers, paid daily for the work they do. “If they can’t work, they can’t get money, and so they can’t eat,” explains Joy. This meant that, for many children, there was even less food around. The team at KISC were also worried that, once lockdown lifted, many children may not have come back to school.

“They’ve been out of the habit of studying for ten months and, for many families, it’s an expense to send their kids to school,” says Joy. “And so to have [a free snack] as a draw to pull kids back is a really big thing.”

Responding where you are

Annie and Joy have spent the last few months in the UK before returning to Nepal, but they’ve been keeping busy. Through the wonders of technology, Joy has been running training sessions for teachers in Nepal via Zoom, and Annie has been putting her experiences in Nepal to good use: helping run a similar feeding programme in Fife. “We were providing lunches for around eighty families during lockdown,” explains Annie. “I would be in the church hall, packing those lunches, and then I would look that evening and see that my colleagues had been to Lamjung that day to visit the feeding programme there!”

Nepali children eat free school lunches
Offering free school meals is a great way to get kids back in school after lockdown closures in Nepal.

For Joy and Annie, the call is the same no matter where they are. “As mission workers… your heart is turned to where God needs you,” says Annie simply. “That could be anywhere. Our mission heart doesn’t change just because we’re stuck here in the UK.”

Even so, Annie and Joy can’t wait to get back to Lamjung and see for themselves the difference that feeding a child’s body, as well as their mind, can make.

You can support Joy, Annie and many others working to make a difference around the world. Become a 24:7 Partner today and help vulnerable people across the world when you give monthly to BMS.

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You can change a child’s life by praying today

You can change a child’s life by praying today

Extreme poverty, war and discrimination are denying children their right to an education as you read this. Your generous gifts to BMS are helping us to confront this injustice. And today, we’re asking you to support our education work with prayer too. Please read, pray and share this article so we can help more children in the countries featured below access life-transforming education.

Lebanon

Syrian and Iraqi refugee children in Lebanon are getting an education, thanks to you. Children who have had their lives shattered by conflict are being given hope for the future. Not only are they being taught, they are being treated with the love and respect that every child deserves.

• Pray that these children are able to concentrate on what they’re being taught and feel safe in their environment. Pray that they would love learning.

• Pray for wisdom and energy for the teachers, as they work with children who have suffered unimaginable trauma.

Children sitting at desks in school raise their hands to answer a question
Refugee children are back in the classroom in Lebanon after fleeing the horror of conflict in Syria and Iraq.

Bangladesh

Preschools across rural, very poor parts of Bangladesh are being supported by you. Boys and girls are being taught about letters and numbers, with BMS worker Louise Proctor training local teachers to give great lessons using free or cheap resources. We’re also helping to educate the children of mission workers at a school in Dhaka.

• Pray that the preschools will be a springboard to enable children to keep attending school, and that the children will be encouraged by their parents.

• Pray that the teachers will be equipped to provide stimulating lessons for the children, and can access all the resources they need.

Children sit in lines in a shed in Bangladesh. They are all staring at a teacher who is taking the lesson.
Children in rural Bangladesh are captivated as BMS worker Louise Proctor helps with a school lesson.

Kosovo

Underprivileged children and adults from marginalised and minority people groups in Kosovo are being given the chance to learn English thanks to your support for BMS teachers. More than 50 per cent of young people in Kosovo are unemployed and 30 per cent of the population live below the poverty line.

• Pray for BMS’ education work amongst marginalised people in Kosovo.

• Pray that young girls would have equal access to education, and that our workers would have the resources to help them.

• Pray for God to guide BMS workers Rose* and Robert* as they serve in education in Kosovo.

Albania

We’re working to help children from Roma and Egyptian communities access education. These children are shunned by Albanian society and live in abject poverty. We’re also helping further God’s mission in Albania by providing education for mission workers’ children at GDQ International Christian School.

• Pray for the children who want to learn, but are stopped from attending school regularly because of reasons out of their control. Pray for a sense of hope for them.

• Pray for the children who struggle in school because of extreme poverty.

• Pray for increased resources for the science department at GDQ in Tirana, and pray for renewed energy for BMS mission workers Chris and Debbie Carter, Mat and Suzanne Gregory, and Jill Morrow.

Two girls sit at a table, drawing pictures on pieces of paper
You can help children in Albania know what it feels like to have a happy, fulfilling education.

Peru

Children from poor families attend an after-school club at the BMS-founded El Puente Baptist Church in the city of Cusco. They’re helped with their homework, learn about God, and play games.

• Pray that more children attend the club, and see the value in an education.

• Pray that other members of the church get involved and use their blessings to help the children.

• Pray for Denise and Melany, who run the club. Pray they would feel encouraged by the difference they are making to young people’s lives.

Children sit on a stage in front of musical equipment. They are smiling and waving at the camera.
These children have been learning and having fun at a BMS-founded church in Peru.

Nepal

BMS is working to transform children’s lives by improving teaching in Nepali schools. Teacher training written by BMS worker Annie Brown is being rolled out across the country. We do this work in partnership with the Kathmandu International Study Centre (KISC), where mission workers’ children are taught, with BMS support.

• Pray for the Nepali teachers receiving training, sometimes for the first time. Pray that they would go on to transform the lives of the children in their classrooms.

• Pray that poverty won’t stop children in Nepal attending school. Pray they would have all they need to learn.

• Pray for the students preparing to sit exams at KISC, and for the KISC staff as they settle into the school’s new site.

Two girls sitting at desks look at a school book
Children in Nepal have been learning through new teaching methods, thanks to your support for school teachers in the country.

Guinea

Boys from deprived communities are learning formal rules and structure through a football club set up by BMS mission worker Ben*.

Summer classes have also been set up by Ben and his wife Isabelle* – who is a teacher – helping not only the boys, but other children, too.

• Pray that the boys would continue to be inspired to learn and develop, and that education and football would give them a great sense of self-worth.

• Pray for Ben, that he would have the resources, time and energy he needs to help the boys who come to him.

Players of the Blessed Boys Football Club in Guinea train and play a match.
Boys in Guinea are not only improving their football skills thanks to your support, they’re being helped with their schoolwork too.

China

We support teachers in China, helping students at a nursing college improve their English language skills.

• Pray the students would feel encouraged in their studies, and form strong friendships with their classmates.

• Pray for energy for our workers, in both their teaching and in their personal relationships.

India

Street children in Kolkata are learning reading, writing and arithmetic through the BMS-supported Street Servants team, led by our worker Ben Francis. Our team is working hard to set up a second school, which will give more children a chance to learn the skills they need to change their futures. We also support other education initiatives in India.

• Pray that children at the street school would have an incredible appetite for learning. Pray they would sense God’s presence in their lessons.

• Pray that the children’s parents would understand the importance of a good education, and would continue to allow their children to attend the school.

A girl walks towards other children standing under a bridge in India
School is being brought to street children in Kolkata, giving them the opportunity to learn.

Mozambique

Young children from poor backgrounds are being given the best possible preparation for school through the PEPE preschool initiative started and supported by BMS. Children are being taught important lessons like colours, numbers and the alphabet in creative ways.

• Pray that the children enjoy their preschool lessons and want to keep learning.

• Pray for the resources to help more children from disadvantaged communities.

• Pray for BMS worker Liz Vilela, who has been training new PEPE teachers in child protection. Pray that Liz would find ways to overcome any obstacles she faces in her work, and that the teachers put into practice what they’ve learnt.

Children in Mozambique pray during a school lesson
Children in Mozambique are not only being given a preschool education, they are also learning about Jesus.

Education is critical in helping children who are poor, disadvantaged and persecuted walk towards a better life – a life that we know is possible.

Through your donations and prayers you are enabling us to help children access education. Please share this story right now to encourage others to pray.

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Are you a teacher? Come and work with us

Inspired by the education work we do? We’re looking for teachers to serve in countries such as Uganda, Afghanistan, Guinea and Albania.

You can be the person who helps change a young person’s life for the better. Take the first step by clicking here to find out more. We’d love to hear from you.

* Names changed for security reasons