World-known Christian thinker Ravi Zacharias joined nearly 500 Jordanians and visitors to dedicate the meeting hall in the Alliance Academy Jordan (AAJ)  in Yadouda south of Amman.

After the national anthem, Reverend Habes Nimat the founder of the academy demonstrated how the idea of the school began with an idea and a small contribution of JD50 from a blind church member and a small contribution of children at the church and grew to become a unique and well-respected educational institution. “We had the idea but the Lord had the vision,” Nimat told the attendees. The fund-raising project was further advanced when a woman in the United States bestowed her inheritance to the building of the academy.

Carol Jadoun the school principal said that what has made the school unique is the way it has tried to advance new ideas. ‘We had a different outlook towards the disabled by insisting on including them into regular education.” Jadoun said that this inclusion was recognized by HRH Prince Mired, president of the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (HCD) who visited the academy called it “model school for inclusion” while Prime Minister Omar Razzaz described the merger of disabled students as “exceptional” and former Minister of education Azmi Muhafez said “I wish all schools are like AAJ.”

The event sponsor Indian-born Canadian-American Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias addressed teachers by telling them to always work on the basis of four pillars. To teach without any attention to time, to teach based on morality, to remember accountability and to practice charity.”

Alliance Academy in Yadouda takes children up to grade eight. Chinese is taught as a third language and it is hoped that the academy will go up to 12 grades in the coming years.