Children at Risk Schools
What is the Children at Risk School?
The Children at Risk School is for Christians who are passionate about reaching out to children at risk, including street children, refugee children, kids from broken families, orphans, children with HIV/AIDS, and other children with different needs and challenges in their lives.
It is a full-time school with a 3-month lecture phase. The teachings and methods are developed in such a way that students can put them into practice straight away. They will be able to create their own detailed ministry project plan or personal development plan to help them further their ministry goals in a practical way.
After those first 3 months in the classroom, some schools offer an outreach of 3 months with cross-cultural experiences, while other schools offer one or two periods of a 3 to 6-month practicum. Both options, outreach and practicum, are offered to help the student put into practice the lessons learned during the lecture phase.
University of the Nations
The Children at Risk School is registered with the University of the Nations (UofN) in the faculty of Education, and also in the faculty of Counseling and Healthcare, mentioned in the UofN catalogue under number CNH/EDN 251
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While this university is committed to educational excellence, it achieves its goals through an emphasis on knowing and loving God. Students in every course participate in regular times of intercession and worship. The courses provide cross-cultural training related to the specific educational content and are designed to be applicable in real-life situations.
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The University of the Nations is a modular university and works with credits. When you have completed your DTS and outreach, you earned 20-24 credits. For the teaching phase of the CAR School, you can earn another 12 credits, and a maximum of 12 credits for each practicum.
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Associate degree in Social Services
Although a student may study in the UofN without pursuing a degree, many students find a degree program beneficial in preparing for their life goals. Courses can be taken one module at a time leading to an associate degree in social services. We encourage students to intersperse their studies with practical experience on the field, so that their learning and their service build upon one another. For this reason, there is no time limit for completing a UofN degree. If you wish to obtain your associate degree in social services, you will need a total of 84 credits. The building up of those credits could look like this:
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DTS - 12 credits
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Outreach DTS (8-12 weeks) - 8-12 credits
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Children at Risk School - 12 credits
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Practicum CAR I - 12 credits
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Practicum CAR II -12 credits
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Community Development School - 12 credits
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Practicum CDS I - 12 credits
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Optional seminars 4 weeks, (if your DTS outreach only was 8 weeks = 8 credits) - 4 credits
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Total: 84 credits
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Instead of a Community Development school, you can also choose a Foundations for Counseling ministry, a Family Ministry School, or a Foundations in Education School.
For those and more options, please check the website of the UofN https://uofn.edu/
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Teachings given during the Children at Risk School
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God’s heart for children (how God sees children) and understanding more of God’s love, justice, mercy and compassion.
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Understanding the different groups of children at risk (refugee children, street children, orphans, abused children, children with special needs, etc) and strategies to work with them, their families and their communities.
Biblical worldview, and why it matters in working with children.
Value of girls and women around the world, and why it matters.
Identity and sexuality for children and teenagers, and how to help them.
Sexual abuse: how to prevent, recognize and help.
Families: healthy vs dysfunctional families, ministries to families and Kings Kids.
Rearing children in a loving and healthy way, including Godly discipline.
Trauma and resilience: using practical tools for grief and trauma counseling with children, and how to build up their resilience.
Combatting human trafficking: understanding the problem and learning different ways to take action.
Family-based care vs institutional care, as well as promoting adoption and foster care.
Community development: how to help transform slums and refugee camps; pitfalls and good practice.
Teaching children: how to plan your lessons understanding the different types of intelligence and gifting in children
Strategies for intervention and transformation: the arts, creativity, sports, etc.
Child evangelism: storytelling, puppet making, etc.
Advocacy and legal issues: child protection in children at risk ministries
Mental and social health for the child: attachment, suicide, bullying, addiction, internet/media use.
Basic health care and nutrition for children and teenagers.
Project development, governance, communication and fundraising for a ministry to children at risk.
Spiritual and character development; self-care for the caretaker.
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This movie, God in the slums, was made in 2002, about the life and ministry of Johan and Jeannette and their team on the YWAM base in Belo Horizonte Brazil.
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