How can we help the refugee children of Syria and Iraq?

“We were all in panic as I sat with my crying children in a taxi, fleeing the city, while a transport of the militants of the IS passed us on the other side of the road, firing their guns in the air, moving into the city” a young woman from Kurdistan told me. “We made it save out of the city as the taxi raced as fast as possible, but we still have nightmares” she added.

She is only 28 years old, she could be my daughter. Her son of 7 is playing in the room, but her little daughter of 4 hides behind her. She is wearing a beautiful long blue robe with glitters and looks at me curiously and expectantly. There are not that many foreigners here. Did we come to help?

Children at Risk school in Iraq?

We have indeed come to see if we somehow can help the children of the refugees. Those children have witnessed terrible things, have felt the fear of having to flee, and have been traumatized by all they have experienced during their escape.

When we were praying for the children in Syria in Iraq a while ago, we were reminded of the Children at Risk (C@R) School we were able to give in Haiti, ten months after the earthquake where over 300,000 people died.

We had a group of 39 Christian young men and women from 30 different churches, which mostly were living in tents after the earthquake, and couldn´t go to university because they were destroyed together with many houses.

We were able to give those young Haitian students a course to train them as child care workers and counsellors in order to equip for the work with the children in their own refugee camps. We still maintain contact with some of them and hear wonderful stories about the many children they are able to help.

Picture of our Haitian students in dec 2010, during their graduation.

We wondered if something like this would be possible for the children in Syria and Iraq. Would Christian young people that had to flee, and as they are waiting for things to be resolved, be available and willing to do such a training for Children at Risk, in order to be able to help the children around them? Wouldn´t it be great if the kids in the camps could be helped and counselled by Christians who themselves went through similar traumas and can really understand them, much better then we western Christians ever could?

We started praying for this: “Lord what you want us to do? We want to do what you tell us!” We were also worried to even go to the region considering all the awful stories about the cruelty of the IS. Would it be even a responsible attitude to go there? We started taking some careful steps, writing people who had been there, and contacting people who are actually there. We reserved a flight and asked God to give us a sure sign to confirm if we were to go which He gave us within days after we asked. He is so faithful!

Opportunities opening in Kurdistan

So in February we were able to visit Kurdistan in the North of Iraq. It was wonderful to see how many doors opened up: A high government official invited us to meet in his big office. He listened carefully to our proposal, “Yes that is what we need “, he affirmed. “If you train these young people for three months”, he suggested, “then we could actually employ them for the next 9 months, and give them a salary to work with the kids in the camps, so it would become a program of a year…”

Someone else offered: “We have a house with 6 big rooms and a van for 15 persons which you are welcome to use during the time of running the course”

“We can help paying for expenses”, yet another person offered.

Wonderful!! There are still a lot of details to come together, but right now we plan to go for two weeks in April to offer a short course as a sort of pilot program, to see how things could work. And if it looks favourable, then we plan to organize a full three months C@R school in September for Christian young people who are refugees themselves so they can have a practical and possible a job to work with kids in the camps. In such a way a lot of children could be helped.

Many things still need to be worked out. It is a great challenge to run a school there. Lots of things may still hinder this initiative. Please pray with us for this.

I am also busy writing a book with the teachings for the C@R school. With the different travels and the surgery of our son Davi last year I haven´t come as far as hoped, but I continue with fresh resolve!

Our children.

Since his surgery, Davi has improved a lot, for which we are so thankful to the Lord. During the Christmas holidays he and Dilma both stayed with us in our cabin here in Holland. We were quite busy with assembling furniture from the IKEA for Dilma´s new little home. It is very cozy and beautiful and she is so proud and thankful!

We are also enjoying spending extra time with our grandchildren that live in Holland. They have come and spend already a number of weekends with us. ”Staying with our grandparents is always like going to a party”, they say when they come. Just great!

Of course we miss the ones in Brazil a lot. But Michele and Romeu surprised us with their decision to come to Holland in April as a family to do a DTS (Discipleship training School), a five months Bible school with Youth with a Mission. They´ll do it in Heidebeek where we started our time in missions 35 years ago! Isn´t that wonderful?

So we´ll still see them here in Holland, because we´ll only return to Brazil the end of April. When we will get there, it may be a little quiet, because not only Michele and Romeu who lived in the apartment below us, won’t be there, but also Johanneke and Jonathan who lived next door to us, won´t be there, as they just moved to another YWAM base 500 miles further south in Brazil. Talking about empty nest…

Although that will be a bit hard to adjust, we´re of course very happy that they are seeking God´s will for their lives and seek to obey Him. What more would parents really desire? We are very proud of our children and very thankful for them and our children in law and grandchildren that God has granted us!

When we´ll arrive back in Brazil, there is already a full agenda waiting for us to teach in churches and YWAM schools. I´ll also continue to work on the new book, and we´ll continue the preparation for the possible school in Kurdistan. In 2016 we plan to give the same school in Rio de Janeiro around the time of the Olympic Games!

Rio de Janeiro

Who wouldn´t want to go to Rio, the most beautiful city in the world? From January to August we´ll offer there in 2016 a DTS, followed by a C@R school with lots of practical opportunities, like reaching out to the kids in the slums, or spending time with the street children on the beaches of Rio.

Are you free for those 8 months, or do you know someone who would want such an opportunity? Please click here for the website http://jlukasse.wix.com/ywam-rio-2016 to get more information. Pray and come!

Grateful

Dear ones, what a special group of family and friends we have in you! People who pray for us, help us practically with newsletters, data files, administration, meetings, who pray some more, encourage, treat us with food, time and pray even more... We are so thankful! May God reward you all.

We pray God´s blessings on you!

Love, Johan and Jeannette

Prayer points:

• Please pray for the many refugee families from Syria and Iraq. For help, comfort and healing: Gods arms around them. 
• Pray for the plans to conduct a seminar of two weeks in Kurdistan to train Christian young people in Child care and counselling. And also for the possibility of a 3 months school in September. Thank God for the opportunities that opened up so far.
• Pray for the plans of an 8 month training program, with a Children at risk school included, during the Olympic year 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Thank God for the YWAM team in Rio that is already doing lots of preparations.