Giving Children & Their Parents a Biblical Foundation

“Patricia was 7 years old and still not talking when she came to us at Elwa Sunrise School,” shares Principal Lisa McQueen. “Within about 6 months she was! She blossomed! That was thanks to all the love, encouragement and confidence she was getting at our school.” 

Elwa Sunrise in Lira, Uganda, started as the vision of Bosco (John Bosco Tuli), an engineer. The original school actually met in his home in 2018 with 37 children. By the end of 2019, it had grown to 91 students spread from nursery to 2 primary classes. The building they were using had 3 small rooms for classes and one office room. One classroom was separated by a curtain from the bedroom where Bosco slept. They also had 2 temporary structures that were built to accommodate the overflow classes. 

The students came from the local community and were a mix of Catholics and Muslims. None of them knew about a personal relationship with God.  

In 2020, the school grew to 153 students including grade 3 primary class and they had to increase space with another temporary structure. They also began using Youth with A Mission’s “Pre-School in a Suitcase” curriculum, part of their “Biblical Education for Life” series.  

“The 2 main goals I had for the school were to plant children on a biblical foundation and to have some money left to reinvest in Missions,” Bosco says. 

Also in 2020, the school was able to get a donation that helped them to buy land and build 7 classrooms, one administration block, a kitchen block and an ecofriendly “dry toilet.”  In 2021, they had grown to 270 students with 19 teachers and had a holistic focus. “One of the things that makes us unique,” notes Lisa, “is that we minister to the parents as well. No other school is doing that in this entire area.” They offer a Bible Study and workshops on how to recognize trauma in their children and themselves.  

Elwa Sunrise also offers teacher training as part of their ongoing professional development. In one case, 3 teachers who were nominal believers recommitted their lives to Christ, after learning more about how to share Christ with their students in the classroom and the value of a teacher in the eyes of God. 

Going forward, the school has plans for a separate Nursery School building for the safety of the littlest ones, a multipurpose hall that would include a staff room as well as a library and computer lab. They also hope to erect dormitories, especially for vulnerable students in a country where there is significant civil and political unrest. Other key features for their future plans include a Family Resource Centre, Vocational Training Centre and a Teacher Training Centre. Vocational training courses for parents would focus on providing employable skills which in turn also help to improve the quality of lives of these families. 

Pray for Elwa Sunrise 

• The best way to build up our numbers is by adding a dormitory. Without a boarding facility, we have limited impact and trust, which is based on strong academic results here. We need to build up our student numbers for upper primary so that we can produce superb candidates for P7. Click here to donate to the building fund.

• Pray for our families to better understand their roles in the lives of their children. Many parents are unskilled workers and very poor. They have been traumatized by war.