Friday, December 19, 2014

"School is Where You..."



I recently had the opportunity to overhear a conversation that melted my heart.

I have 3 children.  My oldest, Luke, is a kindergartner, and my youngest, Jonah, is about 6 months old.  As the oldest brother, Luke was - in his most mature, caring, brotherly voice - explaining to his fairly new brother what school is and what happens at school.   (After all, he is an expert, now that he's in kindergarten.)

How would you describe the purpose of school?  What happens there?  Why do students go there?

Here's the part that put a smile on my face.

Luke whispered, “Jonah, school is a place where you learn about Jesus.”  No mention of recess...or math...or science...or reading.  It's not that those important parts of the school day were lost on Luke. Instead, it's that the MISSION of his school - one of our federation grade schools - is unbelievably evident to this 5-yr-old!  Praise God!

I thank and praise God that my children - and hundreds of others - are able to sit at the feet of their Savior in our federation preschools & elementary schools as they learn about God's world and what he's done for them on a daily basis.

And I'm thankful that the same mission is evident at your high school as well.  Shoreland trains students in math, language arts, science, PE, fine arts, etc.  But ultimately, what is Shoreland Lutheran High School?  "It's a place where you learn about Jesus."

~Pete Gumm, Mission Advancement Director

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Disciples make Disciples make Disciples make...

7000 miles away, a friend of one of our international students is hearing about Jesus.  Why?

Because this SLHS student, who flew across the ocean to come to the strange and foreign land of the USA to receive an excellent American education, learned about something that she couldn't help but share with her friend back home:  Jesus saved her from her sins.

Becoming a disciple of Jesus makes a person want to share that message with others.  Disciples make disciples make disciples make disciples.  Plant the seed in all sorts of places, and let the Holy Spirit do the heavy lifting!

It's exciting to learn of this international gospel-sharing stemming from the biblical teaching at SLHS. Now the question is...who else in your life (in or out of the country) needs to hear that same message?