By David Lumpkins
We are frequently asked about the Christian aspect of Yellowstone Academy. I’d like to elaborate on that topic because the issue, which is so central to the mission of Yellowstone, is important to understanding who we are and what we are trying to accomplish. The significance of the Christian dimension of Yellowstone Academy may be summarized as follows:
- Salvation of students and families. First and foremost, we are interested in souls. We want each child to come to know Jesus Christ and to receive His saving grace. We hope thatthrough the agency of the school the Holy Spirit will spread the truth of the gospel to the families of the students and to the larger community in which they live. If we fail to do this, perhaps nothing else matters.
- Christian worldview. Christianity provides the best explanation for the way things are in the world—because Christianity is truth and reality. These kids need to know who God is and who they are in relation to Him and to one another. They need to know that God is the author of life and that they are children of God; accordingly, they need to understand the way God’s world works and how they should order their lives to function effectively in the world. Grasping truth is important for us all, but maybe even more so for those who live in the inner city, where strong, competing cultural influences have wreaked utter havoc on the community.
- Life transformation. The changes that need to take place in the lives of these kids vis-àvis their parents and the surrounding culture are dramatic. We are trying to break a cycle that is now deeply ingrained. We believe that these types of dramatic changes simply will not happen without God’s help. This assertion is actually supported by empirical evidence. For example, studies have documented that there are virtually no effective drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs that are not faith based. I think that this is the case for two reasons: First, dramatic life change usually results only when one is motivated by something outside one’s self. Appeals to vague notions of goodness or morality are simply inadequate; there must be a transcendent notion of truth. And second, the Holy Spirit is ultimately the only source of sustainable life transformation. Obviously our kids are not challenged by having drug and alcohol problems (not yet at least). But the same sort of dramatic “life change” issues that are relevant to the drug addict are relevant to the child who has dysfunctional parents and who is surrounded by a dysfunctional community. Simply put, in order for these kids to transcend their circumstances, they are going to have to connect with the Transcendent One.
Yellowstone Academy was originally established, and is daily animated, by the Christian impulse. Faith in Christ pervades every element of the curriculum and habits and practices of the school. Students attend Bible class three times a week and chapel once a week, and they work on Scripture memorization in their regular classes. They also have a weekly music class that emphasizes praise and worship. Most important, though, these kids see active faith embodied and modeled by teachers, staff, and volunteers every day.
I think it’s safe to say that every teacher and staff member of Yellowstone is there primarily because of the faith element, which is perhaps Yellowstone Academy’s most significant distinctive.
Answering Your Question
By Jacky Baker, Bible Teacher
I have been a part of Yellowstone Academy for two years. During that time, I have had the opportunity to serve alongside staff members who diligently work to further God’s kingdom, and I have had the opportunity to share in the lives of 192 of God’s children. I would not trade these two years for anything in the world.
Before I answer the question of whether our “eight hours a day, five days a week” can influence the lives of children who may not be fortunate enough to hear the gospel at home, I want to share with you the line of business we are in. Yes, we are a school, so we are in the business of education, and one main goal is for our children to break out of the poverty cycle, attend college, and be high achievers in this world. But our business here at Yellowstone is also to save souls. Our business is to introduce these children to the God of love, the God of forgiveness, the God of compassion, the God of protection, and the God of hope.
Again, I would not trade working in this line of business for anything. I have had the opportunity to witness miracles, to be humbled, and to be so drained that I have no choice but to fall to my knees and ask God to intervene and take it all. You see, in our line of business we try and we fail, we try and we fail, we try and we fail; and finally we humble ourselves and realize that we do not succeed, only God does. In this line of business, if we step out of humility for one second and believe that we are responsible for the miracles that take place, then we will most certainly fail. If we surrender our school as a vessel, then God will move as we continue to abide in Him. So before I try to answer the question of whether we as a school can influence the life of a child who comes from a family that does not have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I would like to give God the credit for everything that goes on inside the doors of Yellowstone Academy. God’s Word tells us, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1, NIV).
Yes, eight hours a day, five days a week can change a child’s life for Christ. God can do anything!
So, the answer to this question is yes! Yes, most of our children come from homes that do not trust in Jesus Christ as Lord, and yes, eight hours a day, five days a week can change a child’s life for Christ. God can do anything! We see this all the time. If I didn’t believe that the Lord could change lives in this allotted amount of time, then I would have no faith. He has promised to rescue people out of non-Christian environments. He sends missionaries to foreign lands, where the gospel has never been heard, to change lives. He puts Christians in corporate America to change lives. He puts children in Christian schools so that He can change their lives.
I know that our children know the God of love, the God of forgiveness, the God of compassion, the God of protection, and the God of hope. I asked my students who God is, and their answers were pure. One student, Tina, described God to me by saying, “God is my earthly Father.” I was caught off guard, and I asked, “Don’t you mean that God is your heavenly Father?” She said, “No, I have known that God is my heavenly Father, and I can pray to Jesus and ask Him to protect my mom, sister, brother, and me. But He is also my earthly Father now because my dad left us a couple of months ago.”
She said, “I need God to be my heavenly and my earthly Father.” This is how I know that my students know the God of love.
Shawn, a student in the third grade, described Jesus to me as “the man I pray to when I do something bad.” He went on to say, “He is the man I ask how to be a better person and the man I say I’m sorry to.” I know that Shawn has watched men around him do some terrible things. We often have discipline issues with Shawn, but each time he is reassured that God forgives. Shawn shows me that our children know the God of forgiveness.
Ty, another boy in circumstances a lot like Shawn’s, told me he prayed to God because he knew God would answer his prayers. He said, “I ask God to give us a car that will not break down, and ask God to help my mom get us food.” He says that God listens to him. This is how I know our students know the God of compassion.
Another student, Kiara, lives with her wonderful grandmother, who provides for her and takes care of her. Kiara’s mother is in and out of jail. Kiara says she gets scared to think about living with her mom because of the men her mom brings home. She worries that they will smoke or one day hurt her. She is thankful that her grandmother cares for her and protects her. She told me that she knows that God will always make sure she has a safe place to live. Kiara knows the God of protection.
Jacob struggles in school, but his teachers have faith in him. Over my two years, I have watched Jacob learn to read and to do grade-level math. Jacob is not sure what he wants to be when he grows up, but he thinks he might be a doctor. His teachers have come alongside him and shared with him that he can do anything he wants with God on his side. Joshua now believes in himself and believes that God has a plan for him. This is how I know our kids know the God of hope.
Yes, without a doubt, the answer to this question is yes! Being in a Christian school
can change a child’s life for Christ, regardless of home circumstances. We serve a God who is all powerful!
*Names mentioned in this article have been changed.
My Thoughts ...
By Jacqueline Smith, Music Teacher
- Sometimes believers worry that bringing the “world” into the kingdom threatens the wholesomeness of the environment. Is this not a lack of faith? Is God not sovereign? Is He not omnipotent? Omniscient? Omnipresent?
- If the lost are locked out of the kingdom, what are the odds of them ever getting in?
- Can the “world” contaminate the kingdom without God’s permission? Remember Job.
- When healing of diseases takes place, who is always the Master Healer?
- If a child is from a worldly home and is surrounded by worldly influences, can the sovereign, omnipotent God we serve break through those barriers? At Yellowstone, we have seen that the answer is a resounding yes!
The Surprise
By Diane Van Zandt, Director of Education
The year had just started, and I was new. I had just become the director of education at Yellowstone Academy. Yellowstone is an inner-city school that ministers to students at the lowest level of the economic scale in Houston. Everything was brand-new to me, and I knew I had much to learn.
One of my jobs during my first week was to keep all parents from entering the classrooms early at dismissal time. Most were waiting patiently for their children. However, this one mom blew in the door and headed straight into the classroom to pick up her son. I stepped in front of the door and asked if she could please wait just a few minutes until the bell rang. She looked me in the eye and said that she could pick up her son anytime she wanted and that I could not stop her. As she stormed out of the room with her son’s hand tucked into hers, I was left standing in the hall wondering if I could do this job.
I was furious. I wanted to stop her and not allow her to take her son early, but that action would have caused a huge fight. And that was not the right thing to do. Yet, because I did not know what was the right thing to do, I became even more frustrated. I thought about it all night. I thought of things that I could have said, and most of them were not good! I felt that there was such unfinished business with this situation. I was confused, but knowing that God had called me to this school gave me some consolation.
At school the next morning during breakfast that woman’s son called me over, and in a small voice that I almost could not hear, he said, “Forgive my mama ... you know, for taking me out and everything.” At that exact moment in time, I could picture the Son saying to the Father about me, “Forgive Diane.” How many times has He done this for me? I told that child that I had forgiven his mom yesterday and that I loved him!
Isn’t it funny how we learn the really big lessons of life? This experience taught me that our students can rise above their life circumstances and soar. As our students learn truth taught by our Christian school on a daily basis and their hearts are softened, the students will then lead their parents to Him.
God Provides for Our Needs
By Lindsay Wagner and Natasha Ford, PK–3 Teachers
Our children, though only 3 years old, are able to understand what we are teaching them about Christ. For example, we have taught our class that we are to thank the Lord for our food before we eat. Our children know that we do this because the Lord provides for our needs, and we thank Him for that. Jayla sometimes comes late to school, after the blessing has been said, but without being reminded she will say grace on her own when she is given her food. Not only that, but Jayla now prays over every meal when she is at home. Her 2-year-old brother, Isaiah, has picked up this “habit” also. Now Isaiah will not eat a meal without first giving thanks to the Lord for the food he has been given.
Not only do our children understand the truths we are teaching them about the Lord, but they are also remembering what they are learning at school and using it to make an impact on their home life.
*Names have been changed.
Journal Entry from Tiara, Second Grade
The second graders were asked to write in their journals about something they like to do.
This is what Tiara* wrote:
To praise the Lord I love to sing to him. I also want to go to church. Reading the Bible is another way I praise him. Dancing in holy ways is another way that I can praise the Lord. Staying in school is also a way that I can praise God because the more I learn the more I will be able to bless the Lord by what he teaches me.
*Name has been changed.
The Meantime Volume 6 Number 2