Tabernacle Baptist Academy Celebrates

I had the great privilege yesterday of doing Library Story Hour on Cultural Day at TBA, a day when students were invited to dress in the traditional style of the culture or cultures from which their family comes. I am growing to love these kids as I learn their names and personalities. And their dress yesterday was a great topic for conversation! I learned that there are a couple of children at the Academy of Japanese heritage, many of Filipino heritage, quite a few with African backgrounds, and a lot who come from various Spanish speaking countries. In fact, we had a few Spanish conversations which I jokingly added had to be translated into English because the Apostle Paul had said that anyone speaking in tongues had to be translated! That challenged them to tell their classmates what I had just said. Most of the rest of the nationalities were just shared by one or two of the students. But all were fascinating. And despite our church and school being Baptist, we have at least two students who are ethnically Jewish. So in a conservative school that has as a primary goal teaching students about Jesus Christ and leading them to faith in Him, we are probably at least as diverse as any school consciously striving to create diversity. I believe this is because Christ came for all ethnic groups and all people so those who seek to know Him will naturally find other believers from all over the world with whom they can worship.

These beautiful children. I pray with each group as we get started. Yesterday one girl broke my heart by saying her teacher at a former Christian school had just died. I knew of the death and prayed for her, along with the teacher's family. I also strive to remind each group, at an appropriate age level, of how much Jesus loves them and wants to be in relationship with them. Yesterday I used a question I had seen on social media this week, "Has it ever occurred to you that Jesus does not, even for one minute, ever wish you were someone else?" I wish for these students to learn to love reading and to love learning, but I know most of all that for eternity their relationship to Jesus Christ matters.