Pursuing Education

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
Psalm 34:17-20.

Zain's Hope*

Zain became an orphan when his mother died. He remembers having two other siblings, but after his mother’s funeral they were separated - each of them sent to live with different relatives in different cities. He can hardly remember their faces. Zain was sent to live with a distant relative on his father’s side- a man that he’d only ever seen at his father’s funeral, and then his mother’s. 

Once Zain moved in with his new caretakers, life only got harder. Instead of enrolling him in school, Zain’s caretakers contracted him out as a gardener around their community. Instead of learning to read and write in a classroom, Zain was made to work in his neighbor’s fields while his caretakers profited off his labor.

But praise be to God that Zain’s grandparents were introduced to RiverCross, and after listening to our Bridge to Freedom audio drama, they were empowered to confront Zain’s caregivers about their abuse, demanding to take Zain into their care or report them to the police. Now 17 years old, Zain lives with his grandparents who encourage him to pursue the education he missed out on so that he can be set free to thrive. 

*Although the stories we share are true, some identifying details have been changed.