Education for Refugees Deters Radicalization

Howard Dueck, Director of TeachBeyond Borders, recently explained the critical need to take education to refugee camps in an interview on the Mission Network News radio program.

Read or listen to Howard's interview at this link:
https://www.mnnonline.org/news/education-gives-vulnerable-children-hope-better-future/

“You have children and older people who have the hours of the day with nothing to fill them, and they are very vulnerable. So there’s just the immediate reality of filling their minds, coming alongside them when they’re very vulnerable and very open,” he said.

TeachBeyond has a formal agreement with the Trans-Asia Partnership (TAP), a ministry that works in seven countries across the Middle East. A large network of churches has grown from this work, and many believers are going directly into war zones where they run 23 basic clinics providing basic medical, social and spiritual support. They coordinate education efforts in the region. More importantly, they pray with all who come to them, distribute Bibles and provide the light of the gospel in this area of darkness.

Information about TAP and a project support page can be found at this link:
https://give.teachbeyond.org/support/ontap/

TeachBeyond is planning to start a pilot school program on the island of Lesvos, Greece, which is a primary entry point to Europe for refugees fleeing the Middle East. The program would provide children with a safe haven where they can receive trauma therapy, skills training, and English as a second language teaching.

“We, as much as possible, try to bring English as part of the education package — opening doors, helping to diminish the vulnerabilities in their lives that are caused by a lack of education and that multiply when there is ignorance. If they have a skill, if they have an education, they can get a job at some point in the future,” Dueck says. “They can have a purpose.”

That’s only on a human level. TeachBeyond’s overarching mission is to introduce children to the hope of the Gospel and help them grow in their faith.

“We are a Great Commission organization focused on reaching people with the Gospel and discipling them through a Christ-centered education,” Dueck says. “Our heartbeat is to see healing come to their lives with so much trauma, to see them know Christ, to encounter Christ through dealing with their trauma."