July 25~31, 2011
Church Ministry News
Free tutoring programs for kids run by churches fills much needed void among low-income families
Reported by Sam Lee and Chiou Kuo-rong
Written by Lydia Ma
“According to a 2009 report from the Ministry of Education, there are more than 100,000 children wandering unsupervised every day after school is over,” said James Shia, General Secretary of Chinese Christian Relief Association (CCRA), during a press conference on July 20, 2011. That’s why starting this September, CCRA will start offering free tutoring programs at 150 locations, which will help 2,400 children from struggling families with their studies and offer them free extracurricular classes.
This press conference was called by CCRA to raise awareness and raise funds and encourage people to get involved. The association’s goal is to offer classes free of charge for children from disadvantaged backgrounds so that they won’t miss out or lag behind in academics merely because their families can’t afford private tutoring, cram classes, or arts lessons.
Tutoring classes will take place at various local churches and has become a partnership project between the CCRA and local churches with the goal of being a beacon for Christ at the local level.
Some students from Minsyong Elementary School performed during this press conference. Their school had already begun partnering with CCRA and a local Bread of Life Church.
Chung Yu-ju, the church pastor’s wife, said Minsyong Township needed this program very much, especially since it is known for its high crime rate. The church has helped many disadvantaged students through this program, including those from single-parent families, those raised by grandparents, children whose mothers are foreign spouses, and children with special needs.
“We have a deaf student in our class,” said Chung. “This kid is already in the third grade but cannot speak yet because the family is so poor that they cannot afford getting the child a hearing-aid. We are fundraising right now to help the child get a hearing-aid.”
Shia said that teaching these children to have good manners and good moral values is also part of the program’s goal. But it will also provide children with dinner and art, dance, music, and language classes so that students can build up self-confidence and discover their talents and interests.
It is the goal and hope of organizers that these skills will help them and their families avoid a life of perpetual poverty.
PCT has also been involved in similar ministries in the past and continues to do so via more than 1,200 local churches. PCT presbyteries are the main coordinators for such programs while local churches provide the manpower and the venue. Such programs make up one aspect of the PCT’s evangelism strategies. Churches in Seven Stars Presbytery and East Coast Presbytery have been providing Life Education classes, tutoring classes, visitation services, and community outreach for a long time.
