A Jewel Dropped from Heaven

“He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees each tear that falls and hears me when I call.” I woke up with this song on my heart. We were going to see the ELI Christian Academy in a couple of hours, and I had such a sense that truly, God knew each child’s and teacher’s name that I was going to see. I wanted to assure them that they were not forgotten.
With a message in my heart from the Lord for them, I felt prepared for the day. But nothing could have prepared me for the surge of emotions that overwhelmed me as we neared the school.
You can spot the school from miles away. Keredi slum is located in a valley, and in the school is in the heart of this slum. As we walked into the slum, the white school buildings shone brightly amidst the dirt and the sewage. It stood out from the poverty stretching for miles on every side. But this morning, it wasn’t just the buildings that shone brightly; it was the 500 students in their bright blue and white uniforms singing praises to God. Praises filled the valley and tears filled my eyes as I beheld this “jewel that has fallen from heaven,” as the community calls the school.

We were welcomed to the school by 500 children singing and dancing, while throwing gorgeous flower petals at us. As we walked through their neatly organized rows, I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks as I thought about how God knew each of their names and had not forgotten any of them. I thought of how I had persevered through the half marathon for these children, but knew this day that my perseverance was nothing compared to theirs. These children have persevered through war (their slum was right in the middle of the fighting), the death of their parents, sickness, hunger, coercion into child labor, and so much more. And here they were singing praises to God with radiant smiles.
After the singing and dancing, the children performed a powerful drama they had written. The drama told some of their stories. It started with the mother of a family getting raped by rebels in the forest and then dying while giving birth. The father then decided to remarry, but his new wife accused the children of being witches and kicked them out to the street. They found some other street children to live with and quickly learned the rules of the street: You do whatever it takes to survive: stealing, even killing. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you survive. But then one day the kids learn that there is a new school in the area offering free education, uniforms, and food. They excitedly run there to see if they might be permitted to join. As they come to register at the ELI school, the secretary asks them their names. They tell him their names: Anger, Cemetery, and 6000 Demons. He says that they will now get new names at the school because that is no longer who they are. They receive uniforms and greatly rejoice as they go to their first class. School isn’t easy at first. They still have street kid mindsets and attitudes, and they have never had any schooling before, so they don’t even know the answer to 1 + 1. But slowly they learn and begin to find new hope and life.
This is the type of story that each of these children have. I don’t know them all, but God does. And He chose to step in to bring healing, hope, and the assurance of His love through the ELI Christian Academy. What a joy to be part of His hands and feet bringing beauty from ashes in this forgotten slum.