Archive for the ‘ Missions ’ Category

God’s blessings are apparent in every aspect of our school- academics, athletics, student leadership, community outreach, and spiritual emphasis. The following is a selection from Dr. Wood’s State of the School address, highlighting a few of our accomplishments this year.

As with every year at EHCS, we have had a very active leadership program. Middle school students were represented by the Student Council, and a strong Student Government Association and Student Leadership Institute program continued to give high school students opportunities for involvement and development. Teachers received further training at the Association of Christian Schools International Annual Conference in Birmingham, Alabama.  Thank you for your prayers for safe travel and great learning opportunities!

In relation to this leadership development, the Student Council and Student Government Association have been active in community outreach.  The two organizations are have planned for EHCS’s role in the national One Day Without Shoes event.  The two organizations are heading up a Tom’s Shoes drive, where students are able to purchase a pair of shoes that they decorate, and then a second pair of shoes is shipped to a Third World Country.  Another mission project that the upper grades have been involved in is collecting Coins for Costa Rica to support the mission work that is done  by our students in the summer months to hold two consecutive Vacation Bible Schools.  We have also participated in filling Christmas stockings for local foster children, and the response was overwhelming.  Eighth grade alone filled enough stockings to meet the goal that we had put in place for the entire school.

 

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First Things First

The title of today’s article comes from the theme for this year’s ACSI conventions. The faculty at EHCS had the opportunity to go to Birmingham, AL on February 2-3 for a time of learning, rejuvenation, and fellowship. In general sessions, teachers learned about the “big picture” of Christian education and its overall impact in the Kingdom of God. We were encouraged to hear that tens of thousands of new Christian schools were added internationally throughout 2010. Some of them in far-off places such as South Korea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the governments have been so impressed by Christian education that they actually pay for students to attend or even build the schools themselves. (Isn’t school choice a wonderful thing?!?) Your teachers were able to give to supply curriculum and materials for some of the schools in the Congo.

In individual sessions, teachers were able to learn of the latest studies on the fossil record, which supports Creationism, from Dr. John Morris of the Institute for Creation Research. They were also able to learn about helping students in math, science, and English classes, developing writing skills, technology in the classroom, and developing the arts in students. A lot of discussion took place on the ride home as teachers shared information with each other and determined how to implement this new information in their classrooms. It’s a great time to be working for His Kingdom!

East Hill Christian School hosted its third annual fall festival on October 8th.  It was an amazing afternoon full of great activities!  There were over 25 exciting activities, with some of our more popular items being the “Jail and Bail”, “Pie in the Face”, and the favorite “Dunk Tank”.  This year students got to nominate who they wanted to pie and dunk, and those nominated were excellent sports and suffered through the cold water and chocolate flavored whipped cream with smiles on their faces.  The Parent Teacher Fellowship did a great job of organizing this event, and it was enjoyed by more than 250 people.  The fall festival is one of our important fall fundraisers here at East Hill, and this year was a success, bringing in a little over $4,000!

The elementary school participated in its first Pajama Drive for Families First Network. Their goal was to bring in 50 new pairs of pajamas for children in foster care. By the last day, students brought in over 80 new pairs of pj’s for area children. The MS/HS continues to bring in new and gently used clothing for teens in foster care. At over 200 items donated, we’ve been able to meet the needs of children and teenagers of a variety of ages. Please continue to give to this need.

God is good- all the time!

The Shirt Off Our Backs

East Hill Christian School students have the opportunity to help others this fall through a special clothing drive run by our First Priority students. We’ve had a number of requests come in through local foster care agencies, such as Families First Network, for clothing for children and teenagers in foster care. Our “Lost and Found” boxes will be emptied every Friday to collect clothing to distribute, but the East Hill family has the opportunity to give new and gently used clothing to those in need. If you have new or gently used clothing that you would like to donate, please send it with your child to school. Elementary students may give it to their teacher, and middle and high school students may bring clothing to Mrs. Trail’s office or Mr. Kreitler’s room between classes.

Often we focus on foreign missions or those who are in need of help overseas, but there are many children in our own state in need in our own community. Children in foster care are often removed from a home without the ability to take many personal items with them, and they sometimes need new clothing if they remain in foster care for long. These children and teenagers need shirts, shorts, pants, shoes, and socks. All clothing that is given will be used to help children and teenagers in northwest Florida. You can view a list of the ages and genders of young people with specific, immediate needs in the list below:

  • 13 year old girl
  • 14 year old boy
  • 15 year old boy
  • 15 year old girl (thin build)
  • 17 year old boy
  • 18 year old boy
  • Four teenage boys of various ages
  • One teenage girl of unspecified age

Thank you in advance for helping out. You can find out more about adoption and fostering by clicking the links provided.

Costa Rica Send-off!

The Costa Rica missions team is nearing its final days of preparation for their summer missions trip. Mrs. Janene Dyster, our middle and high school Spanish teacher, has been training the team for several weeks. The team will be ministering with Mark and Meg Kuzdas, missionaries with the Christian Light Foundation. They will be traveling to different regions of Costa Rica, assisting with a three-day Vacation Bible School program and drama training in Tejarcillos, Los Guido, and La Carpio. This year, they will also have the opportunity to include a fourth region, Guanacaste, for a one-day VBS program. They will be ministering with Matt and Brooke McClain, who were guest speakers in chapel this year.

On Tuesday, June 29th, we will have a time of prayer and fellowship for the missions team at 6:00. The team is asking for a $3 donation per meal to help them with their missions work. If you aren’t able to make it to the send-off, the team would appreciate your prayer for them as they travel and minister from July 1st – 16th. You can follow the team’s ministry and view pictures on their blog. While you wait on pictures from this year, you can get an idea of what last year’s trip was like by viewing our slide show.