More than 70 VBS participants, including roughly 25 Sudanese children, raised almost $400 to buy sandals as well as other necessities, says Mark Swanson, associate pastor of youth and family.
“I think that it’s pretty cool,” says Kong, a 12-year-old child of Sudanese immigrants.
The Evangelical Covenant Church of South Sudan (ECCSS) has its roots in Prairie Hills, where refugees began attending in the 1990s. Since then, more than 200 churches have spread internationally.
The Prairie Hills congregation used material from the Covenant World Mission 2007 Vacation Bible School project. The project expands the work done by Covenanters to help children attending one of the six ECCSS schools in Sudan.
The schools have a combined enrollment of 4,500 in grades 1-8, but getting to class can sometimes be impossible for students due to harsh terrain. Most children have no footwear and only one set of clothes.
The children at Prairie Hills raised enough money to pay for 303 sandals. Progress throughout the week was tracked using paper sandals posted on a wall.
In addition to sandals for children, project funds will purchase bibles and hymnals for pastors and churches that have neither. The ECCSS will distribute all of the items purchased through the project. Organizers hope to raise $27,000.
