Giving Syrian Children a True Inheritance: Education
SAT-7's Rita Elmounayer describes the Christian mission to change children's lives through education.
The future of the Middle East just might lie with the millions of Syrian children living in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey and some believe education is the key.
The Islamic State is using education to recruit them. Recently it released an application for Android devices saturated with jihadist themes to teach children the Arabic alphabet.
However, a Christian satellite ministry is seeking to give these children a hope and a future through a daily educational program that incorporates biblical values.
The 90-minute program called "My School" gives children lessons in math, Arabic and English every day. SAT-7 KIDS, which mostly airs Christian programming, broadcasts the show throughout the Middle East and Europe.
CBN News spoke with SAT-7's Rita Elmounayer, who said education is crucial for the future of the children and the region.
"Otherwise when they're 14 or 15 or 18 and they can't read or write and they don't have work, can you believe what will be the situation? The frustration, the hopelessness...they will be a very easy target for extremism and this is what we don't want."
Elmounayer has visited the refugee camps in Lebanon where thousands of refugee families -- "the poorest of the poor" -- sometimes live two families to a tent. The numbers are so great, host countries can't afford to give the children an education..
"More than 50 percent women and children, mainly children," Elmounayer said. "They can't take all of these kids into their schools and institutions."
Even though they are struggling to survive, many families have a TV so they can keep up with what's happening in Syria. Among the hundreds of channels, SAT-7 KIDS brings the Gospel of peace.
Most of the programming is explicitly Christian, with animated biblical series, call-in shows, and prayer programs.
While "My School" is all about education, it still teaches biblical concepts.
"For instance, if I'm going to teach them how to write a sentence, I say, 'God loves us and protects us' or 'I love my enemy' or 'I forgive (those) who make all kinds of atrocities against me,'" Elmounayer said.
Education is a mission the church has pursued almost since its founding, she points out.
"From early Christianity, from the year 300 and more...Christians took part in education. So this is part of our mission to build a better society, to build a better person, to give these people a chance, or a second chance in life," she said.
"Because our mission as Christian, yes, tell the Good News to people, but also our mission is to care about the well-being of a person, physically, mentally, socially teach them. Give them something in their hand, like a weapon, but it will be a pen, not a Kalisnikov."
Elmouyanyer's passion stems from her father's sacrifice to make sure she and her sisters had a good education growing up in Lebanon. Her two brothers were sent to state schools, but the girls went to the best schools.
She recalls her father saying: "I can't give you money, I can't give you inheritance, I can't give you cars, but I can give you education so when I leave this earth one day you will remember that I gave you the real inheritance, education.'"
At the time it didn't mean much to her, but today she understands.
"Dad, even though he's a male, Middle-Eastern, he invested in the education of my sister and myself because he knows this is the future."
It's no surprise she believes education is the hope for the future of the region.
"If you look at the Middle East today, our biggest problem is we just follow. We don't think. We learn by rote, we don't pause and say, 'Why am I following this?,'" she said.
"So this is where I think with this program, "My School," this is where we want to go. It's more than teaching them to read and write. It's teaching them to think, teaching them not to memorize, teaching them to pause and analyze and they will be a future leader to change the culture and society."
