In Lagos, Nigeria, shoe craftsman Umunna Amechi Frank is walking a new path of opportunity thanks to education.
Frank recently completed a program through BYU–Pathway Worldwide — a global organization which, directed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offers students affordable, spiritually-based education online.
At his completion ceremony, Frank shared how the knowledge he gained and his “truly great” experience with the program significantly enhanced his personal development and strengthened his shoe making business, according to a release from the church. With this foundation, he said, he’s now enrolled in a business management degree program at BYU–Idaho.
Like Frank, a total of 200 students in Nigeria recently completed programs through BYU–Pathway, celebrating their accomplishments at a completion ceremony held Thursday, Dec. 11. For many of these students, their accomplishments marked the first time they earned academic certificates, and speakers at the ceremony highlighted students’ new responsibility to use their education to serve and do good in their homes, communities and abroad.
“You have proven that faith-filled learning is powerful,” said Elder Adeyinka Ojediran, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the church’s Africa West Area presidency. Addressing students at the ceremony, Elder Ojediran said that learning is an act of faith, that the students’ achievements are a testament to the transformative power of education, and that they are now equipped to become leaders, mentors and devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Olugbenga Oyerinde — commissioner of the Lagos State Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations — challenged students to continue learning beyond their programs’ completion, reminding them that “Nigeria needs competent people with integrity.”
Like BYU–Pathway, which currently has more than 85,000 students in 180 countries enrolled, other educational institutions nestled within the Church Educational System are providing thousands more the opportunity to learn in a faith-filled environment. Through other programs, dozens of donations and humanitarian projects, the Church of Jesus Christ is also providing resources and strengthening avenues for learning for people around the world. The following reviews a handful of these efforts from 2025.
Refugee children, families in Jordan find hope in a one-room school
A one-room school located in the Mafraq camp near Zarqa, Jordan, is offering hope to Syrian refugee children and their families, who fled war with little more than the clothes on their backs, according to a news release published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org this August.
The school has “never failed us,” said one mother, Hamda Al-Aql.
Built with a donation from the Church of Jesus Christ and administered by Zarqa Baptist Church, the school was designed to serve children of various ages. In the back of the classroom, for instance, younger children have the space to color and play quietly, while at the front, older children can gather to receive basic instruction from the teacher.
Without the school, “these children would never have the opportunity to learn to read or write, nor would they receive any form of schooling,” said Andrew Majdi of the Zarqa Baptist Church.
Besides education, the school is also helping meet the children’s nutritional needs by providing meals and is offering a space for them and other refugees at the camp to receive medical care.
Every month, the school helps “provide all the medications we need — not just monthly prescriptions but also help with urgent needs,” Al-Aql said. “They supported my daughter not just in school but through major knee surgery. After years of suffering, she was able to walk again thanks to their follow-up and support.”
Hundreds of students in rural Mongolia ‘dream bigger’ through church donation
Through a church donation of nearly 240 Chromebook laptops, hundreds of students in rural Mongolia were empowered to continue their education as they excitedly unboxed the laptops donated to their schools in Sainshand, Mongolia, this September.
Khaliunaa Batbaatar, for instance, is a student at Airag Sum Secondary School — one of the 17 schools the laptops were donated to. She said in a church release that just last year, pursuing a future career in computer science seemed almost unreachable, but that through the church’s donation, she felt renewed enthusiasm for her “dream of pursuing computer science” when she grows up.
“Last year, I couldn’t study well because our school didn’t have a regular computer teacher,” she said. Yet, “with this (laptop), I promise I will learn diligently this time.”
The laptops donated this September are part of a larger initiative which plans to have 3,000 Chromebook laptops reach 300 schools in Mongolia. Through this initiative, the church and the nation’s leaders are aiming to empower more than 100,000 young learners with the “tools to dream bigger,” according to the church’s release.
“We believe education is the key for success,” said Purevjargal Dorj, executive director of the church’s humanitarian initiatives in Mongolia. “This project helps the children who are living in rural areas get more opportunities to be successful in their lives.”
Church donations benefit more than 18,000 students in Central America
In coordination with each country’s Ministry of Education, the Church of Jesus Christ donated furniture and other supplies to preschools, primary schools and secondary schools across Panama and Guatemala this July.
Together, the donated furniture and supplies — including desks, blackboards, chairs and preschool tables — sought to create “more productive learning environments” for more than 18,000 students in 425 schools.
“We do this because we believe in the power of education, in the value of every student as a child of God and in the duty we all have to serve others,” said Elder Ryan K. Olsen, a member of the church’s Central America Area presidency.
Elder Olsen was part of a donation ceremony in Panama, according to a July release from the church. Like him, other church officials, volunteers, teachers and students attended delivery ceremonies in each area that received donations. These areas included Darien, Panama; Retalhuleu, Guatemala; and Escuintla, Guatemala.
Having attended the donation ceremony held in Retalhuleu, Guatemala, Mara Judith Landaverde — the departmental director of education — said: “We express our most sincere and profound gratitude to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the generous donation of school furniture.
“Their support demonstrates their commitment to the well-being of the community, and it fills us with hope to know that we have their solidarity.”
This year, the Church News also reported on similar donation efforts across the Philippines, Ghana and other locations.
A church after-school program helps students worldwide progress academically and spiritually
A church program operating in nearly 30 countries, Succeed in School is helping thousands of students, ages 11 to 18, progress academically and spiritually, according to a church release published this August.
The program, led by leaders in the church’s local seminaries and institutes of religion, is an after-school program that supplements but does not replace school. It offers students the opportunity to meet weekly with volunteer teachers and other students, and empowers them to hone skills in reading, writing, mathematics, test-taking and more.
“Succeed in School has a great curriculum where youth improve in secular learning, but there is also a spiritual element combined with it, which is why it succeeds,” said President D. Todd Christofferson, then of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and now second counselor in the First Presidency, in the church’s August news release.
“We are seeing in many places that students’ scores on national exams have really soared. We’re helping youth succeed in the schools where they are.”
Approximately 30,000 students in the United States and other countries in Africa, Latin America and the Pacific are currently participating in Succeed in School. Through their participation, they will develop as self-reliant disciples of Jesus Christ and be prepared to pursue higher education, the church’s release states.
With Succeed in School, “we’re signaling to … the youth of the church: ‘Education matters. We care about you and we care about learning,’” said Elder Clark G. Gilbert, commissioner of church education.
The church’s release highlighted stories of students, including those of Jacob Omae and Mercy Oduro. A native from Papua New Guinea, Omae first joined the Succeed in School pilot program at age 13. Before then, he had struggled in school, but the program transformed his learning experience. “Succeed in School helped me find confidence, taught me how to read, do math and become a leader,” he said.
Having a similarly transformative experience, Oduro said that one of the most important things the program did for her was improve her skills in information and communication technology.
This “sparked my interest in the tech field,” she said. “Because of that, I was able to pursue and earn a diploma in software engineering. I’m so thankful for the opportunities this program gave me and how it shaped my future.”
Reports of other educationally transformative experiences were included in another release, which focused on the church’s EnglishConnect program — a global program helping individuals from more than 180 countries learn English in an environment of faith, fellowship and growth.
Speaking of EnglishConnect, Latter-day Saint Alain Mwamba from the Democratic Republic of the Congo said: “My English grew every time, every day.”
Mwamba and his family had just emigrated to Texas when they enrolled in EnglishConnect. Through the program, Mwamba said, he and his family were able to go to church, understand the messages shared and feel their spirits grow.
“EnglishConnect helped us to improve everything in our life,” he said.
