Hope for children in distress in Cote D’Ivoire

16 year old Olivier never knew his father and his mother died in Katiola at the beginning of the civil war in 2002. He and his sister ran away from Katiola to Abidjan, 500 kms away, but when she was unable to find employment she told Olivier that he would have to fend for himself.

Olivier (right) and a friend, Boris, at one of the weekly meetings.

Through its Hope for Children in Distress programme, Bible Society is reaching out to children like Olivier. Once a week a group of children meet with a Bible Society youth worker.

They are shown cartoon films with moral and spiritual values, followed by discussion and Bible teaching. Each session ends with a meal.

“So far, around 300 children have received assistance through the programme and around 50 have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord,” says Bible Society Programme Manager, Pierre Seu. “Some have returned to their families and some have gone into rehabilitation centres run by one of our partners.”

Olivier is one of the fortunate ones. He has become a Christian. At the moment he is still living on the streets, but he hopes to be able to go back to school one day.

This article is from The Word at Work – Summer 2010.