Back 2 School, Back 2 Serve

Yep, it is approaching fast! All of our parents are counting down to the day to send their kids back to school. All of our kids are wishy washy on whether or not they actually want to go back. Your social media feeds will be filled with first day of school pictures. New pencils, new back packs, new shoes, new notebooks, new teachers…new everything!

This year, back to school also presents a new opportunity to serve. The schools around Fairburn have a unique task in shaping the lives of the families around us, the families that we want to reach. Towards the latter part of last school year, our food pantry became a resource for families in need at Campbell Elementary. Many of you have come alongside of the Common Ground SBS (Sunday Bible Study) to provide book bags as we expand this endeavor to serve Campbell Elementary. These are great steps to build bridges into our schools.

I have reached out to the principals at EC West, Campbell, and Renaissance Elementary Schools as well as Bear Creek and Renaissance Middle Schools. Tuesday, I met with the new Head of School for Landmark Christian School, Dr. Jason McMaster. In all 6 of these schools, I have found there to be tremendous need and desire for our church to connect with faculty and students. This is a bridge for the Gospel as we leverage ourselves in this community, literally fulfilling our mission statement to “reach our community in ways that stretch beyond age, ethnicity, and status.” These schools present opportunities for all of us to gain entrance into someone else’s life.

How?

• Creseda Hawk, Principal for Renaissance Middle School, has invited our church family to be part of their “Back 2 School Open House and Community Fair”. This will take place on Friday, August 3 from 1-5 pm at RMS. You will have an opportunity to meet teachers, see the school, and (most importantly!!) sign up to volunteer with many of the school events through out the year. Or maybe, just one event during the year. Please let me encourage you to stop by RMS, let them know you are with FBC Fairburn and seeking opportunities to serve the school, and make a personal connection.
• Gwangi Dorsey, Title I Coordinator for Campbell Elementary, has requested that some of our men be present on the first day of school, August 6, to greet families and students as they arrive for school. What a great opportunity to meet people in our community! Starting at 7 am, Ms. Dorsey will have men greeting in the car and bus drop off, welcoming the students, and making sure they get to the right classroom on day 1. It will be an opportunity for us to pray for the students and the school faculty as their year begins. I want to encourage you to join me at CES that morning as we start the year.
• Our Elementary schools need readers. Men and women who can read in the classroom or in the library. These are times that you may read with one or two students at a time to encourage them to read. This is a great relationship builder within the walls of the school. No special skills, just a willingness to spend an hour a week or an hour a month reading with kids.
• Teachers need support. Maybe your Sunday Bible Study can adopt a school for the purpose of supporting the teacher. I was part of a small group that did this in Raleigh and you will never know the weight your love for the teachers will carry. What would that look like? Maybe every couple of months you provide a light breakfast (donut holes, coffee, fruit) in the teachers lounge. Or take the above reading suggestion and open it up across the school. When there is a field day or special event, volunteer to help with it. Writing an encouraging card to each of the teachers a couple of times during the year, or volunteering to be in the class room during standardized testing goes a long way. One great effect could be placing a prayer box in the teachers lounge with a pad of paper attached to it. Each week, check the box…even if there are no requests for weeks at a time. Your consistency demonstrates to the office personnel that we are committed and serious about loving and serving the faculty.
• Be a tutor. You don’t have to be an expert in any subject, but many kids in our schools do not have a concerned adult in their life. Be that adult.

As I hear back from other principals, I will encourage you to find new pathways into the lives of our school families. 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 says:

Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believer. As you know, like a father with is own children, we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, Who calls you into His own kingdom and glory (CSB, emphasis added).

I pray that these words be true of our church in Fairburn. I seek God’s face and His favor to direct us into the hallways of our local schools to encourage the students and the faculty with the Gospel.