Children with an education are the future of our world.
From economies to the workforce, politics to families, future generations will finish what we’ve started, innovate new ideas, usher in new eras, and push our world forward. By stepping foot into the classroom, students are becoming our future leaders who will create change in their neighborhoods and cities.
From Information to Knowledge
Yet there are still millions of children out of school. For some, conflict and war cause families to flee to neighboring countries. For others, the closest school is an hour’s walk. For many girls, family obligations force them to drop out.
So, what happens if these children never go to school?
A child out of school is detrimental to their future by causing gaps in significant brain development necessary for them to grow into becoming healthy individuals.
They’ll lack what is called cognitive skills.
Cognitive skills are the core skills your brain uses when it thinks, reads, learns, remembers, reasons, and pays attention all learn how to work together. When cognitive skills are actively developing, they transform information into knowledge.
The greatest way cognitive skills develop is through going to school. In an education setting, cognitive skills sharpen, learn how to work together more quickly, help to problem solve, and grow a child’s knowledge.
These skills aren’t just essential for school, but also help improve their future workplace skills. As active members of the workforce, this allows individuals to gain employment, retain jobs, increase their economic potential, and continue learning so they can become highly-skilled. These are essential drivers of economic development, which can ultimately lift countries out of poverty and into sustainable growth.
Caring for the Whole Student
When critical cognitive and learning skills are taught through a biblical worldview, we invest in students holistically. We are caring not just for their mind, but for their heart, soul, and spirit.
For some students, school is the only place where they are cared for spiritually. By infusing curriculum with biblical values and identity, schools can create holistic, healthy students.
When students see and understand the world through the lens and story of Jesus, they are developing a biblical worldview. Teaching from a biblical worldview helps form young leaders who will not only interact with the world differently but who desire to make this world look like the Kingdom. They can approach problems with Jesus-like solutions through truth, hope, and peace. Filled with character and identity rooted in Jesus, they will be the ones to influence, bring change, and chart the trajectory for their people, their country, and our world.
What Part Can We Play?
Affordable, accessible, and quality education will become increasingly more critical as our world grows. Currently, there are 263 million children who are out of school globally. For refugee children, 3.7 million—more than half of all school-aged refugee children—are out of school. There are still some children who won’t ever step into a classroom.
Many are on this mission to make quality education affordable and accessible to all children, including Edify!
We join and come alongside education providers around the world who share the vision of improving and expanding Christ-centered education. We partner with organizations like Awana, Association of Christian Schools International, and others who are committed to creating discipleship rhythms in schools and communities. Providing quality education with a foundation in Scripture isn’t a one-person show. Partnerships like these are crucial as we aim to train school leaders and teachers in discipleship, transformation, and how to immerse a biblical worldview into their curriculum.
When education and curriculum fuse with a biblical foundation and identity rooted in Jesus, Christ-centered education becomes not just a global mission but a Kingdom mission too.
Cognitive skills are essential for healthy thinking and growing brains. Learning and problem-solving take on a whole new meaning when coupled with the Holy Spirit. Schools become not just a place to receive an education, but a place where spiritual transformation happens. Classrooms turn into sacred spaces where they receive their identity and calling. Teachers serve as disciples, calling students to be both fishermen and fishers of men.