GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Tent Schools International (TSI) demonstrates the love of Jesus Christ for displaced children “by making education accessible, exchanging chaos and loss for peace and opportunity.”

The United Nations estimates that there are currently as many as 35,000,000 displaced children around the globe. They comprise half of the entire population of displaced people who have fled from their homes to military conflicts, natural disasters, or persecution.

Tent Schools International works in collaboration with other NGOs and FBOs to provide displaced children with the essentials for shelter, clean water, food, clothing, and education. Without the first four items, the children may die. Without an education, they will miss opportunities to survive and thrive. They will either begin or extend cycles of generational poverty.

TSI was established in 1986 as Worldwide Christian Schools to address the niche of educating under-served children in “transitional areas.” Many of the children live in refugee camps where “learning environments” are lacking. Some of those schools are held in tents. Others may be in converted shipping containers. Each structure is selected based on what best suits the needs of the children in the ministry area.

Prior to planting a school in a crisis area, TSI staff prayerfully considers their “ability to enter and impact the displaced population there using the resources available” to them.

Before setting up a facility, Tent School International reaches out to other NGOs and FBOs already operating in the country where the need is most pressing. This is critical to ascertaining whether TSI and its partners have the capacity to establish and sustain learning environments as long as they are needed.

During 2019 and prior to the COVID-19 crisis, TSI was able to provide educational services for children in transitional situations in Jordan, Lebanon, and four other countries. Most of the children in Jordan and Lebanon have fled from the civil war in Syria, in which hundreds of thousands of people were displaced. Many others have left their homes in Iraq.

Over its 34 years, Tent Schools international has impacted more than 175,000 children in 48 nations. Take this short video tour (4:22) of Tent Schools International projects in Jordan and Lebanon, where TSI is delivering education in Jesus’ name.

Read more news on Displaced Children, Faith Based Organizations and Children’s Education.