Dr. Dan Brewster

Dr. Dan Brewster, the General Secretary of the Holistic Child Development (HCD) Global Alliance, and also director of HCD International for Compassion International visited Daystar University this week (18th and 19th February 2010). Dr. Dan Brewster, who has studied and written extensively in the areas of child and community development, missions, and missions strategy, says that he is very excited about the developments Daystar University

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...in Kenya is making to equip Christian professionals with knowledge and skills of working with children effectively. Dan had a lot of praise for the Daystar University Child Development Programme saying he was very happy to know that the initiation of the programme was driven by God’s love for children and the need for mankind to bring positive change to suffering children across the globe.

 “We hear so much bad news from Africa – now here’s some very good news that demonstrates the incredible impact of an academic institution which is willing to allow the Holy Spirit to guide its efforts to bring relief to children through responsive training to Christian professionals in ministry to children in accordance with Christian principles.

To illustrate the suffering of children across the globe, Dan held a half day seminar with students. The theme of the seminar was “The church, children and mission; the role of academic institutions in training professionals who can impact into children holistically”. During the seminar, Dan drew statistics based on UNICEF  studies to highlight the state and suffering of children across the globe.. According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. Some 1.8 million children die each year as a result of diarrhea.

For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are: 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3), 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5) and 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7). 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized. Millions of parents in developing countries must daily cope with the fact that their children may not survive the first critical years of life; in many cases, the diseases that threaten their children’s lives are preventable.

Dr. Dan Brewster & Dr. Harrahs Malinda: Dr. Dan donated books for the Children Ministry Program

Dan further added that out of  the 50 million refugees and displaced people in the world, approximately half are children. War is the primary factor in the creation of child refugees. The combined ravages of AIDS and war have created a large pool of orphan refugees and displaced children, particularly in Africa. More than 100 million children do not have access to school. Of the children who enroll in primary school, over 150 million drop out.

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An estimated 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working around the world, according to the International Labor Organization. Children are in great danger of child pornography. Child trafficking is on the increase as well as recruitment of children in armed forces. Approximately 250,000 children under the age of 18 are thought to be fighting in conflicts around the world, and hundreds of thousands more are members of armed forces who could be sent into combat at any time. Read More       

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::Oxford Journals
::African Journals Online (AJOL)
::Springer e-Journals
::Interscience Journals
::Daystar University
::HCD Global Alliance

"Model for future expansion of Agape Library, Daystar University..."