It’s frightening how quickly our daughter reached school age. This year has been her first year at primary school and we are loving it. She is loving it too. And the school she attends is an Adventist one.
In the early days, we would drop her off and she was a bit tentative. She didn’t want us to leave, she would often get all clingy at the school gate and wouldn’t want to stay. This particular day, she wanted to stay with me and wouldn’t go into the school. One of the older students, who also happens to go to church with us, saw her and came over. “Do you want to play with us?” she asked. My daughter nodded and skipped after her, her mood lifted, feeling included and ready for a day of learning and play. As a parent I was impressed by the interaction and told my wife about it when I got home.
Many children wouldn’t want to lower their status by hanging out with the “babies”. It was a moment of risk and generosity of spirit. It’s all you want for your children, that they are loved and accepted.
Yes, it could happen at any school—you find kind children and adults anywhere. However, my wife and I are so glad we chose Adventist education for a whole host of reasons.
Firstly, the fact that this girl knew our daughter from church, even though they are in different Sabbath schools and different age groups, meant a lot to us. The school is like a family, and while a majority of students come from the community, having Adventist families there means we can find comfort in that.
When my daughter first started going to the school, she saw the Adventist Church logo on the signs and said, “Daddy, is this your work?” She had seen the logo at my office and she knew that this was part of her system. She sees many of her teachers at church events, many of her friends from school in other Adventurer clubs and for her, church, school and life are integrated and consistent. Even the speakers at chapel are often people who we run into at church events. We want our children to enjoy church and see it as an important part of life.
Adventist education is a mission field. It is one of the most important activities our Church is involved in: to mingle with our communities, contribute to those communities in a meaningful way, have them trust us with their children, teach kids about Jesus.
It is important for our Adventist children to attend and leaven the classrooms with their presence. When I was growing up, Adventist schools were seen as not as good academically or not having as many options in high school. Another argument is that our children are too sheltered. Perhaps perceptions have changed, but there are a lot of non-academic reasons to send your children to an Adventist school. Also, I want my children protected until they are old enough and equipped to make their own decisions. From what I’ve experienced, a healthy Adventist education will give them those critical thinking tools. Also with a majority of students coming from the community, they are able to mingle and mix with people from all different faith backgrounds.
I know not everyone can afford to send their kids (although Adventist education is fairly reasonably priced when it comes to private education) and there may not be a school nearby. No judgement for those who don’t send their kids to our schools.
But Adventist education is something we should be proud of as a church. The schools achieve great results and I have personally experienced what they have done for my faith and the faith development of my daughter. Our schools in the Pacific are often under resourced and yet do a lot with only a little. And many of our teachers are dedicated to teaching as a ministry and a calling.
Churches that are actively involved with and serving their local school communities are some of the healthiest and most outreach focused.
I am proud of our education system. My wife and I love our small Adventist school, the teachers, the parents and the faith that is being passed on to our daughter. Thank you to all those in the Adventist education space.
