What does a well have to do with learning?

A new source of water is nearing completion in Uganda that has a connection to LCES. Students last year at our school organized means to raise funds to give a gift of gratitude and service to others in the world. A new way of living will become reality for this village in Uganda with the addition of a 100 foot well giving safe, life-giving water in ways unaffected by drought. In a country where 1 in 3 do not have access to good drinking water, this new addition will increase health and build up a community as God intended it to be enjoyed by His children.

Why does a Christian school give?

First, helping students to give in a manner like this is one of the ways we teach our children to have a spirit of thankfulness for all God has given them.  Indeed, “…out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45) A mindset of gratitude that can’t help but turn into giving is a vital lesson to be learned. Giving is an act of letting heart shape action.

Second, we wish to have students give to these annual student service projects to help our young learners realize the highest directive in learning – to love one another. Our school year theme from Ephesians 5 implores us to “Live a Life of Love” and we help students ground that into practice when they realize that learning is for serving.

Finally, we give to connect our students with a world that is full of people who do not share an existence that is our everyday reality. LCES students are experiencing the life that many children in the world dream of. The vast majority of same-age children in the world do not live as LCES students do and we would be remiss if we did not find tangible ways for our students to be drawn into the Christ’s command to “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17) God’s kingdom is advanced when even our youngest learners have their eyes opened to seek out the means to think of others before self.   SJ

(For well details, see www.thewaterproject.org/track  and enter well # 40391)

What's the true story? A parent's perspective.

Today’s piece comes from a current parent. I trust you will be blessed by the reflective portrayal of the importance of what we do at LCES.  SJ

Standing at a check-out at the supermarket, one can't help but read the headlines of recent magazine publications: “Dress for Success”, “8 Money-Saving Tips” and more. It makes one wonder: “What is success?” and “Why is saving money the cover line of a magazine with contents enticing you to spend, spend, spend?”

We are bombarded by mass media telling us how to dress, how to look, and how to spend our money. The media, with all its avenues of influence, invites us into a story - complete with pictures- of what the good life looks like. Christian parents must be diligent and deliberate in their work to oppose a fallen world’s messages about what the story is really all about. We must help our children understand that they do not have to surrender to the premise that success is defined by the size of their house, body, and paycheque. Christians are part of a different and continuing story.

I am thankful that LCES is a space that has been created and sustained by three generations of faithful supporters to tell this story: the story of a good and loving God who created the world, loves His world, died to save it, and is restraining sin's destruction through the work of His followers. LCES continues to be a space where children are nurtured not only to hear God's story, but also to see themselves as participants in the story – identifying what has gone wrong in God's good world, seeking to restore it to God's original intent and telling others about Jesus, the world's redeemer, who makes all things possible.

At our school, the simple and repetitive practice of opening each day in devotions in a way that affirms that our World belongs to God: He is where we start our day, and everything and everyone is important enough to lift before God in prayer.  A Christian school also knows that every piece of the curriculum is only a part of a bigger picture of God's complete world. The skills learned in mathematics is not only essential because numbers matter if we are to function in society and get a good job, but because it is a good gift from God given to equip us to enjoy, respond and continue to create goodness in the world. Our theme this year is “Walk in the Way of Love” which is brightly displayed in the school's front entrance. What a wonderful counter-cultural message to be greeted with! Have you ever seen this headline on a magazine at a check-out stand? 

Anita Plat-Kuiken

The pain in remembering...

The cold November winds and rain that can become the backdrop for Remembrance Day proceedings are a fitting setting. Gratitude for service and the high price paid for freedom for all are certainly foremost in our minds as we wear our poppies and bow our heads tomorrow. However, the tears, the barren tree branches, and a brisk wind remind us of the raw reality of what we are also recalling; wars and fighting remain, guns have not been silenced, and we lament that conflict abounds nearby and far away from our home and native land. We fell the groaning of creation awaiting the fullness of Christ's return as stand vigil in silence. 

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” Colossians 3:15


That peace seems very elusive as we move through these acts of Remembrance. The list of military sacrifice grows each year with more names added, human suffering continues in the hands of tyrants, and so many wait for the kind of justice and peace that Christ commanded. Is there hope?

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom…”  Colossians 3:16


Yes! That peace of Christ comes to us as we pattern our lives after his teaching and model for faithful living. I’m so thankful that the “message of Christ” is part of our student’s everyday life here at LCES in the devotional and learning parts of every day.  The coming  kingdom of God with justice and peace for all is what we work for every day in each lesson and conversation, each challenge and success. May our students grow in wisdom that propagates peace and returns our world back to way God originally created it – beautiful, perfect, and filled with peace. SJ

P.S. Grades 6-8 will be attending the downtown proceedings at the cenotaph tomorrow. Grades 1 -5 will led by our grade three class at a special Remembrance day assembly running from 10:45-11:15am. Parents and friends of the school are most welcome to join us.

Thank-you for our problems...

The start to our day at LCES this morning was less than ideal. News of someone’s choice to leave their graffiti “tag” on our playground, building, and bus was the first thing to respond to. No heat in parts of the building was the second. Trying to remember how to change all the clocks after the time change was next. And so the list continued, with items that one might respond to with “Really? I’d sooner be doing something else.”

It doesn’t take much to become centered only on ourselves and our own problems. Sometimes our own situation becomes “re-framed” when we place it next to plight of another person, organization, or group.  The content of Monday morning chapel was that helpful interrupter for me this morning.

Staff and students heard that this is a month set aside to recognize the reality of those Christians who are persecuted for their faith throughout the globe.  Significantly restricted opportunities, families broken apart, physical harm, imprisonment, and in some cases death is the result of expressing Christian belief in much of the globe.

Our heat will get fixed and we can take care of the graffiti. Our clocks will show the right time.

For a school that is entirely committed to expressing its Christian faith in devotional practice, academic study, and faithful living we certainly experience an abundance of freedom from many of the roadblocks and harm that others experience.  We are grateful that God gives us the freedom to operate a school such as ours and in so doing we can boldly give expression to our faith as live and learn each day.

But that response to the persecuted church is incomplete. We are called to pray for the persecuted church, remember their plight (Hebrews 13:3), and work for justice everywhere. I read this weekend that  “every local practice of justice plants the seeds for justice to flow wider and higher in the entire world.” 

May our students “grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ “ (2 Peter 3:18) each day at LCES so that they can plant such kingdom seeds throughout their lives.  SJ