40,000 refugee children supported to go to school

Thanks to the generosity of our Lutheran family, 40,000 refugee children in East Africa will be supported to go to school.

At the start of this year, Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) set the ambitious target of raising $26 per child to support the education of 40,000 refugee children for a year through its GRACE Project – Give Refugees A Chance with Education. The aim was to match the 40,000 students blessed by Lutheran schools in Australia.

At 10.30am on Monday 16 December 2019, that target of $1,040,000 was passed and within a day more than 160 further children were supported. However, there are still many more children who need financial assistance to receive an education and ALWS Community Action Manager Jonathan Krause said the GRACE Project would continue in 2020.

‘How blessed are we to be part of a church that knows God’s grace and works together to bring love to life’, he said. ‘All of this honest hard-working kindness comes at a time when many are hurt by drought and bushfires and the challenge of being a little church in a big world. I thank God for you all.’

More than 10,000 of the refugee children who will be going to school have been supported by the 735 walkers and sponsors who participated in the very successful ALWS Walk My Way events around Australia in 2019.

Longest Lutheran Lunches and Gourmet Grace Gatherings held throughout the LCA/NZ this year also will support education for hundreds of children.