Kyaw’s greatest desire is to study. But his family’s needy condition left him feeling hopeless and lost, as his father couldn’t send him to school.

When he heard about the Elpis Center, near the Thai-Burmese border, his heart was filled with joy. “I was so happy that now I could go to school,” Kyaw said.

Without much hesitation, Kyaw and his father visited the center–-a school for migrant children managed by Asian Center for Missions’ graduates, Rose* and Pinky*.

“My teachers are so nice. They make me feel at home,” said Kyaw.

A few months later, due to economic reasons, his family was forced to move to Burma. This made the young boy sad.

“I cried hard,” Kyaw said. “I told my teachers I wanted to stay and study in Elpis.”

Moved with compassion for the boy, Rose and Pinky talked with Kyaw’s father and assured him that they would take care of the young student.

That same day, Kyaw moved to his teacher’s house. Every summer break, he would go home to his family in Burma.

During one of his visits, the young boy and his father were forced to do labor for the Burmese soldiers.

“They made us build roads and plant rubber trees,” Kyaw said. He also learned that his father has been doing forced labor for the Burmese soldiers for quite a long time already.

Being the eldest in the family, the pressure now is on Kyaw. He would always find himself crying every time his father says he has to stop school.

“Thankfully, some friends of Elpis gave my teachers some money for me,” he said.

“The school also gave money to my mother to pay some of our debts. My mother cried because of the kindness of the Lord.”

Now Kyaw is hopeful and not too worried for his family and his future.

“I am thankful to God for my school and my teachers. They are like a parent who gives life to those with wilting hope.”

Kyaw is doing well in his studies and is very active in school. He says he wants to be a teacher, so he can help the needy.

He is just one of more than 300 needy children in Elpis (Greek for “hope”) who now experiences love and hope from Christ through the ministries of missionaries trained by the Asian Center for Missions.