New World Christian School

600 SW 3rd Street, Suite 2201
Pompano Beach, Florida 33060
1-800-391-8545
PROJECT 0546
New World Christian School
Christian education for at-risk youth
working in the streets
— Valle de los Chillos, Ecuador —
Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it,
there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.
Proverbs 24:14
WWW.CROSSINTERNATIONAL.ORG
NEW WORLD CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
PROJECT 0546
Project Synopsis
Description
Provide a Christian education
and vocational training for
at-risk youth who have been
forced by extreme poverty to
work in the streets.
Purpose
To impact at-risk youth with the
Gospel while empowering them
to stay in school and escape the
cycle of poverty.
Location
Valle de los Chillos, on the
outskirts of Ecuador’s capital
city, Quito.
Cost
$15,840, or $1,320 per month, helps cover educational expenses for at-risk youth to attend night
classes at New World Christian School.
Highlights
• Christian missionaries Dan and Teresa Susong are reaching out to Ecuador’s child laborers with
material aid and the Word of God.
• In keeping with that focus, Cross International is partnering with Dan and Teresa to give at-risk
youth the education they need to escape poverty.
• At New World Christian School, 51 youth from the streets of Quito are receiving a Christcentered education.
• In addition to a basic academic curriculum, the school also offers vocational training, Bible
classes and daily devotional periods.
• Classes are held at night and are designed to meet the unique needs of students who work
during the day.
• An accelerated program enables students who are behind academically to catch up to their age level.
• To keep its doors open, New World Christian School relies on continuing support from Cross
International.
But the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.
Psalm 9:18
1
NEW WORLD CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
PROJECT 0546
Thousands of children, some as young as age 5, work on the streets of Quito, Ecuador, to supplement
their families’ meager incomes.
The Need
When American missionaries Dan and Teresa Susong first traveled to Ecuador, their hearts were
broken by what they saw. They had come to the country’s capital, Quito, to feed and evangelize
children working and living on the city streets — and the need was overwhelming.
Though illegal, as many as 650,000 child laborers can be found on the streets of Ecuador shining
shoes, selling candy, doing construction work or finding any way they can to scrape together a few
dollars. Most come from poor, rural, indigenous communities, where desperate circumstances force
parents to rely on their children to help put food on the table. In some cases, this means putting
them to work in the fields. In others, the children move to the cities and fend for themselves in
dangerous conditions, exposed to drugs, alcohol, exploitation and abuse. They work seven days a
week, earning as much as 85 percent of their entire household income while their parents struggle to
find employment.
With so much focus on work, education falls to the wayside. Child laborers drop out of school and
never even learn how to read. As a result, they eventually find themselves in the same position as their
parents — uneducated, unskilled and unable to provide for their families. The cycle of poverty continues.
“These kids grow up with their identity tied to their work — not as a student,” says Teresa. “They
are growing up in a situation where the importance is placed on how much they make, rather than
the grades they make in school. Parents don’t have any incentive to send their kids to school — and
once the children start making money, they also lose interest.”
Teresa and Dan have a passion to reach this marginalized segment of society with the Gospel and
hope for a better future. They are striving to change lives, and they are relying on Cross International
to help make it happen.
2
NEW WORLD CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
PROJECT 0546
Ministry Description
In 2003, Teresa and Dan began their ministry by reaching out to 12 shoeshine boys. Today, they are
serving 1,000 vulnerable children from the poorest families in Ecuador. They operate a day program,
giving child laborers a safe place to come in off the streets; an after-school prevention program, feeding
hot meals and providing tutoring and Bible teaching to at-risk children; rural prevention and evangelism
programs; and with help from Cross International, a Christian night school.
At first, Teresa and Dan had encouraged poor youths to enroll in Ecuador’s free public night schools. But
the youths kept dropping out, because they were too far behind academically and the pressures of their lives
on the streets were overwhelming. As a better alternative, New World Christian School was created.
At New World Christian School, tuition is free, school supplies are subsidized and basic healthcare is
provided. Instead of getting lost in the system, at-risk students are given the personal attention they
need in small classrooms, under the compassionate instruction of Christian teachers who understand
and try to accommodate their particular needs. The teachers know their students are exhausted from
working all day, and they make an effort to give them an extra boost of encouragement.
Because the students are so far behind when they first enroll at New World Christian School, the
program offers an accelerated curriculum to quickly advance them through the elementary-level
material such as basic reading and writing. It also provides vocational courses, such as computer
training, that equip them with the skills they need for future employment.
Each school night begins with devotions, followed by a curriculum that incorporates Bible lessons
and a strong focus on evangelism. As much as the teachers want to see the youths succeed academically,
they also want to see them pursue the things of God, get involved in church and commit their hearts
to Christ. This spiritual mission includes the whole family, as monthly workshops are offered for the
parents to learn Christian values and participate in Bible study.
“We want them to know they are in the hands of God. They have meaning and God has a purpose
for their lives,” says Teresa. “It’s about restoring dignity.”
Teresa Susong
(back, second
from left) at the
baptism of New
World Christian
School students.
3
NEW WORLD CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
PROJECT 0546
Help Now!
New World Christian School is giving at-risk youth a lifeline out of poverty, but the program can’t
continue without your help. A gift to Cross International will help cover education costs, so the students
can continue their studies and acquire the skills they need to become employable, confident, selfsufficient adults.
At heart, New World Christian School is an evangelistic ministry, formed out of the vision of Dan
and Teresa Susong to bring Jesus’ love to the poor. Your support through Cross International will put
Bibles in the hands of at-risk youth and give them the ability to read the words on the pages. You will
bring the hope of the Gospel to those who once had no hope, and a sense of dignity and God’s love
to those who have lived their whole lives at the bottom rung of society.
Jesus said in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good
news to the poor.” Won’t you join us now and help spread the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ to
the desperately poor boys and girls at New World Christian School? Your gift can change a life!
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.
For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Luke 6:38
Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred during
the current calendar year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project,
the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.
4
[tm1211] [Ura1304] [Utn1401][Ukr1504]
600 SW 3rd Street, Suite 2201 • Pompano Beach, Florida 33060 • 1-800-391-8545
Copyright Cross International. Cost effectively written, designed and printed in-house.