Pastor Denny and Sue Barger, a missionary couple based in southern New Jersey, shared their first-hand experiences serving in the Middle East during a special presentation on April 30 to the 5th grade students in Mrs. Kiefer’s and Mr. Miller’s classes. The Bargers direct a nonprofit called “Dreams Alive” that focuses on proving relief and development in the Middle East and seeks to share the love of Jesus with persecuted Christians there. Mr. Barger has served as a pastor in several Arab countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan. Mrs. Barger has served as an English-language teacher, most recently with the Good Shepherd School in Amman, Jordan.
Pastor Barger gave insight into the plight of some 2 million refugees from Syria who are now living in tents and other temporary structures in Jordan, and described some of the challenges facing Christians who are refugees. “We were able to speak with some of the Syrian refugee women who feel that has God has forgotten about them and we had the opportunity to share that God loves and cares about them,” Pastor Barger said.
Mrs. Kiefer said her class has chosen to support the Good Shepherd School in Jordan as this year’s class service project. The students in that school are from Christian families who are refugees from Iraq. Over the next few months, Mrs. Kiefer said her class will be writing letters to the students at Good Shepherd and collecting and sending art supplies to the school. Pastor Barger said that art therapy is an important tool that helps the students cope with the trauma they have experienced.
