Children who could once barely read their native language are now prepared for higher education.
Joanne Chinkers spent over 30 years as a certified Special Education teacher before accepting a challenge in 2010 to spend a year in the interior region of Nigeria, improving education in one of the first Christian schools built in the area. Through teacher training, classroom coaching, and direct work with students, she saw dramatic change. When she returned in 2012, it was clear: this was not a short-term assignment. In 2013, she joined FIRE International as a full-time missionary.
Nigeria is a nation fractured by the reign of terror of the ISIS-affiliated group Boko Haram and burdened by mass poverty and under-education. Joanne is working at Word of Life Academy in Kwara State, putting reading and math programs in place and training teachers to teach with excellence. Children who once graduated elementary school barely able to read or speak the official language of their own country are now understanding, speaking, and reading at a level that opens the door to higher education. They can read the Word of God for themselves.
In a country divided by ethnic and religious differences, Joanne's classroom is common ground, where children of every background come to receive the education they need.
Beyond the school, Joanne has taken personal responsibility for three young people from the village where she first served. She has sponsored Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Blessing since 2010. Jeremiah has graduated high school and is now a student at FIRE Bible Institute in Cameroon. Ezekiel and Blessing are in school and thriving.
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An educated child in Nigeria is a child who can read Scripture, pursue a future, and change their nation. Your gift supports the teachers being trained, the programs being built, and the three kids Joanne is raising as her own.
