What is the value of Christian education?
My husband and I have three children who have all graduated from Sonrise--- two of whom also attended Christian high schools and Christian universities. I can not even begin to estimate the amount of money we have paid in tuition to Christian schools. (Needless to say, that’s why we have never driven a Mercedes or taken many exotic vacations.) But if you ask me if it was worth it, I would whole-heartedly say YES! Every penny!
We believe that only a Christian education can inspire students to live out their faith. Only a Christian education can train students to think “Christianly.” And only a Christian education addresses the needs of the whole child—social, intellectual, emotional, physical AND spiritual.
By the time we had children, we had served in ministry long enough to realize that sending our children to church for two hours on Sunday morning or to a Wednesday night youth service once a week would not be enough to combat the effects of thirty-five hours of teaching a week that is devoid of Christ.
Education is fundamentally about learning to think and “thinking” directs a person’s actions. By excluding the teachings of Christ and the Bible from the curriculum (as secular schools do) the child will often conclude that it is not important to have God as central to how we think and live.
We wanted our children to realize that no part of life is isolated from God—that we can’t divide up our hearts or minds into the sacred and secular. You see, a Christian school will teach that GOD is the Supreme Authority over all of life and that He is the source of all truth. A Christian school will teach that there IS absolute truth. And that this truth is the foundation from which it teaches every subject. It doesn’t just add Bible class to its course of study, it adds Bible truth to every class taught.
A Christian school will not just teach the academic subjects but will cultivate important character traits such as integrity, respect, servanthood, submission, and even, manners!
That’s why, when it came time for us to choose what type of education our children would receive, we chose a Christian education. We felt that our children would be best served if the three most influential institutions in shaping their development---the home, the church and the school---would point them in the same direction. And as every new phase of life came much too quickly upon us, we sought the Lord for His direction, and the answer was always the same—Christian values and morals would continue to be poured into our children before they directly engaged the culture.
So I ask the question again, what is the value of a Christian education? The answer is, it is priceless!
Mrs. Carpenter
Middle School Teacher