A Thought For A Christadelphian School

Last year a week before  “Christmas” my wife and I received a letter from arguably the best Catholic boarding school for girls not only in the Copperbelt province but also in the country. Actually it was a grade 8 acceptance letter for our 12-year-old 2nd born daughter, Ruth.

  “ I share in your joy as I inform you that your daughter Ruth has been offered a place in grade 8 as a border at our school,” the letter read in part .

  “Fatima Girls’ High School”, the letter continued, “is a Catholic Mission school that promotes Christian values. All pupils who accept to come to this school are obliged to attend our religious activities. No other religious activities are allowed in the school without the concent of the management board. Pupils who violate this rule will be given a transfer letter”.

  The foregoing three sentences hit us painfully. At least they will make any Christadelphian blink or not blink at all!

  The likelihood of Ruth becoming imbued with pro-Catholic and anti-Christadelphian ideas? I repeatedly asked my wife, a former Catholic. She merely shrugged her shoulders, indicating a lack of alternative school for her.

  Because reasoned discussion, not outraged denunciation, is the way to make progress, I sought audience with the management board. Alas, the management was and still is intolerant of other religions, especially non-Trinitarians like ours.

  “Ruth, remember we live in the world but we are not of this world,” I exhorted her as we bade her farewell at the school. She respectfully nodded. Is it going to be easy for her, I could not help asking myself as we headed home.

  Ruth is now back home for a month-long holiday. And while we are happy with her academic performance, we are worried about her spiritual compass. But we are not alone. Another brother in the ecclesia is equally not happy with his son’s spiritual disarmament at a Seventh day  Adventist  boarding school. 

  If something justifiably exemplified the biblical aphorism that “he that walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20), I cannot think of a better one. But the question must be: For how long will our precious gifts – children - remain under the spell of unwholesome spiritual influences?

  My brethren and I are determined to go further: to introduce a Christadelphian school. A tall order indeed. But as our Lord taught, “Which of you shall have a son fallen into a well, and will not straightway draw him up?”(Luke 14:5). So with God’s help and yours it can be done. And, yes, we seriously believe it will help towards a sound life of holiness and that this will make Christadelphians and our position attractive to people. So if this provokes intense interest rather than a hallow laugh I can be contacted for details at mmilk3@yahoo.co.uk

Comment . This is quite a serious problem, some of our Children are attending Moslem Education Institutes where they are obliged to study the Koran.  Others like this 14yr old daughter of a Christadelphian who is sad and lonely, writes “One regulation of this school is to follow the Catholic faith, to pray with the rosary on a daily basis and sing praises to Mary – always a plastic Mary is placed in front of us. I am really hurt in heart by this worship. In prayers I always keep quiet because I do not trust them, but we are usually forced to do so”  The Isolation League, are contacting this girl and trying to help her, is there any means by which we can help such with a home Schooling Project?

(Bro Emmanuel Phambo, Randburg, S.Africa)