Vietnam Evangelical Covenant Church – In the last months of 2023, the Community Development Ministry continued its journey of supporting Hướng Hóa schools in Quảng Trị province. During this stage, the ministry gave smart TVs to two schools with many Vân Kiều students and awarded 16 scholarships to students in difficult circumstances, in partnership with the Hướng Hóa District Study Promotion Association.
See photos: photos of the school support trip on the Community Development Ministry fanpage
Don’t Forget the Schools Along Highway 9
When we think of supporting education in the highlands, we often look for the most remote villages. But through many trips, the ministry realized that many schools along Highway 9 are still in need. Most of their students are also Vân Kiều children from struggling families, but these schools rarely receive social support because they are not classified as “remote areas.”
So recently the ministry has proactively reached out to schools like these. Every step of identifying needs and handling the handover was done with the Hướng Hóa District Study Promotion Association, so the gifts go to the right place for the right purpose.
Two Smart TVs for Tân Lập Lower Secondary School
Responding to a request from Tân Lập Lower Secondary School, the ministry gave 2 50-inch 4K smart TVs, exactly as the school had hoped. After a rainy night in Khe Sanh, the morning of the handover was cool and pleasant. To thank the teachers for their warm welcome, the team gave each teacher a small gift “the Protestant way,” along with a blessing.
A Gift Awaited for Three Months in the Border Region
At the A Xing Primary and Lower Secondary School, in a border commune next to Laos, the ministry and the district association gave 2 50-inch 4K TVs worth about 12 million dong. The principal shared that since hearing that Vietnam Evangelical Covenant Church had agreed to donate TVs, the whole school had been “eagerly waiting” for three months for equipment to teach IT.
That same day, the school installed one TV in the training room, where the IT teachers were eager to start using it. The joy on the faces of teachers who stay on in the villages helped the team understand that only by going far from Hà Nội, to places hard to reach with outside support, can one see the very basic difficulties of the people and schools there.
16 “Learning Never Ends” Scholarships
Responding to the Hướng Hóa District People’s Committee’s open letter calling for support for the “Helping Students to School – Learning Never Ends” program, launched and run every year by the district association, the ministry funded 16 scholarships worth 20 million dong in total for students in difficult circumstances in the village communes. These included 4 university students, 7 primary students and others at secondary level. This continues the scholarship program the ministry carried out in Hướng Hóa in 2020–2021.
The scholarship ceremony took place at the Hướng Hóa District Culture, Information and Sports Center, where 196 scholarships were awarded in total. Church representatives attended alongside representatives of the Quảng Trị Provincial Study Promotion Association, district leaders and many donors. At the ceremony, a representative of the Community Development Ministry received a certificate of merit for contributions to education in the district.
A Season of Thanksgiving
These trips took place during the Thanksgiving season. The ministry gives thanks to the Triune God, who has always been present, guiding and providing through the hearts of His people everywhere, so that the ministry can reach distant places and do meaningful good works.
“Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.” (Proverbs 3:27)
A TV or a scholarship may not be much, but for a border school or a Vân Kiều student, it is a door to learning opportunities. Entering 2024, the ministry hopes to have more resources to improve education for many communities still in need.
Let Us Pray Together
- For teachers who stay on at schools and villages in Hướng Hóa to have health and passion.
- For scholarship recipients to be diligent, persevere and study well.
- For the Community Development Ministry to be richly provided for in its 2024 plans.
Read more in Community Development and Church News. Contact the church office: 0942 248 688 (Zalo available).
