Disciples Show Their Support For Refugees In Darfur Through Tents Of Hope

A drive down north Western Avenue on Sunday, June 22, 2008, made people wonder why a plain 8' x 10' tent was set up in front of Crown Heights Christian Church, Oklahoma City, Okla., between 39th and 40th streets. The sign next to the tent read: "Tent of Hope–for Darfur–Stop the killing." Later that afternoon the tent was changed by thirty some people who took turns drawing and painting the tent with their hope and love for the people of Darfur.

This all started during the winter months while our children where studying about the meaning of Easter. The church discovered the organization Tents of Hope whose mission is to support a one-year process in which people respond as communities to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan by creating tents that are both unique works of art and ongoing focal points within communities for learning about, assisting and establishing relationships with the people of Sudan. This sounded like a great learning experience so we first purchased 100 twelve inch square panels for the children to paint as they explored the plight of our neighbors in Sudan. Our children learned about the civil war in Sudan and about the many children left orphaned and homeless. They learned about hopelessness but also about how they could share hope. It was an amazing process. The panels were quickly painted and more were ordered. It takes 320 panels to make a tent. The children painted panels on our special service to the community day, they painted panels at Vacation Bible School, they are still painting panels on Sunday morning and will reach their goal of painting an entire tent very soon.

The enthusiasm of children is contagious. The adult First Sunday book club was inspired to read the book The Translator by Daoud Hari. One of the adults who worked with the children painting the panels insisted that everybody get a chance to share their hope by painting a tent. Thus, we gathered to paint the tent on June 22. Although this tent was a youth and adult project our children were their to help, as they are the ones with knowledge and experience. After painting the tent, we all watch the docudrama, The Lost Boys of Sudan. The tent panels will go from here to a group of women in another state who voluntarily sew the panels together to create the tent. The panel tent and the regular tent will then be shipped to Washington D. C. where they will be displayed on the capitol mall in November with another 498 tents from across the country and around the world as a poignant reminder that our brothers and sisters in Sudan need our attention. The tents will then make the journey across the sea to become homes of hope for Darfur families in refugee camps. Others interested in this program can get more information at http://www.tentsofhope.org/.