With God, It's Mission Possible: PCS Students and the Call to Serve and Share
February 06, 2017
Written by Mitzi Moore, Logic and Rhetoric School Activities Director}
At Providence Christian School, we love questions. And the deeper the question the better. Helping us all understand the connections between missions and our curriculum, Mrs. Moore recently spent some time answering this essential question:
"How does mission work fit into the classical and Christian model of education?"
From Mrs. Moore:
You may have asked yourself a similar question as you gave your student another dollar for snack at break, a Popsicle, a hot dog lunch, a bag of coffee, a BBQ plate, and the list goes on!
We are commanded to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” ( Matthew 28:19-20). Obviously, Christians are called to witness, and we are told that God will be with us when doing so. However, does this responsibility have anything to do with the trivium and how we teach at PCS? I think that it does.
At the grammar level we teach students to share what they own with others and to serve with a pure heart, doing everything for Christ. As we put our faith into action, students make shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child and donate toys to the Living Waters Christian Counseling Center. They decorate the Grammar Building for Christmas as a way to share the gospel. Grammar students often adopt families at Christmas to provide gifts and dinner for them. They collect and donate food for the animals at the Humane Society. Through The Persecution Project, our students collect Legos to help students in Africa develop creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration skills. In addition, our budding servant leaders collect coins over the school year to help build a well for clean drinking water in the Sudan.
Another unique, completed project involved our students putting together parachutes that were used to drop solar-powered radios (along with Christian tracts and Bibles). The radios broadcast Christian stations into guerilla-controlled territories of Colombia, reaching those who live in the area, but most importantly bringing Truth to the guerilla soldiers through Voice of the Martyrs. Sharing God’s love is evident when students create Valentine cards for Love in Action to distribute to homeless people who come for a Valentine meal. A project that was especially meaningful to the grammar students involved the compilation of child-friendly band aids for local hospitals to raise awareness of Childhood Cancer. It was so touching to see students sell and release 1,000 gold balloons to raise funds for Childhood Cancer, honoring the memory of their friends Morgan and Libby Claire.
These are just a few of the ways that PCS Grammar School students learn about service and mission at the most basic level.
As Providence students enter the Logic and Rhetoric School stages of their education, many join a team sport. Various teams volunteer to collect food for the local food bank and spend time with the children at the Boys and Girls Club. Some students develop relationships with special needs children and adults through volunteering to be a buddy with the Miracle League teams, or a helper with Special Olympics. Eagle Ambassadors annually assist the elderly at the Peanut Festival on Seniors Day. Students at this stage of the trivium begin to think and understand the world with greater texture and complexity. Hopefully, they see and appreciate the uniqueness of God’s creation while demonstrating deeper empathy towards others. Students clearly see the result of the fall in our world and minister to those who need assistance. At the beginning of each junior year, students, under the leadership of Mr. Waddell, spend time at Living Waters, doing various service projects on the grounds, fellowshipping with each other as a class, and spending time in devotion studying the Word and in prayer. While PCS students, up to this point, have been dependent on adult leadership to serve, we now have an established House System that continues mission work through peer leadership.
Finally, as PCS students reach twelfth grade, we encourage participation in an international mission trip. This is an unusual application opportunity when compared to the local mission work that they have done. While they do have cultural and educational experiences on this trip, the main purpose is to have them share and defend their faith. Each year the administration seeks God’s direction for the location and precise mission for the new seniors. Fund raising is an integral part of this process. Students see first-hand God’s calling and provision. They receive training and practice to equip them for their particular work (occurring just this past weekend!).
In addition to blessing others, students receive blessings. Throughout the nine-year history of this trip, some PCS seniors have accepted Christ as Savior. They find the courage and words to share the gospel and defend their faith one-on-one. Several have heard God’s call to full-time ministry. Alumni comment about the new sense of gratitude they gain from this experience. Partnering with Christians in another country makes the world a much smaller place, helping PCS students acquire a sense of the Great Commission's impact globally. Previous class members still communicate with fellow laborers they met while serving. Many find a capacity to love they didn’t know existed. In working together during a short-term mission, seniors draw closer to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, which profoundly affects their continued relationship as they move on to college. Perhaps Micah 6:8 sums up their thoughts: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
At Providence, Christian service and mission education is an intentional part of the classical and Christian curriculum. Please pray for our students' involvement in it -- that their hearts catch fire for the Lord and His creation.
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
John Wesley, English Evangelist