Grace Christian School
Missions Week
We desire to SPREAD GRACE in our school and beyond. Every November, we take the week leading up to Thanksgiving to pause as a community, be challenged with a need in the world, and then respond by partnering with local and global organizations. Together we have learned about those far and near. Together we have prayed. And together we have raised nearly $80,000. We praise God for His Faithfulness! Please read below to learn more about what Missions Week has looked like over the years.
Supporting the Buckeye Clinic in Sudan (2022):
We raised funds and awareness for the Buckeye Clinic as part of this year's Missions Week. The Buckeye Clinic provides necessary healthcare in Sudan, a country that has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world. Our students were able to hear from Bol Aweng, founder of the Buckeye Clinic, in chapel as he shared his story of tragedy, horror, determination, and restoration. Bol Aweng is one of the 35,000 Lost Boys of Sudan. He fled his home at the age of six to escape war and found safety in refugee camps for 10 years. He eventually was resettled to the US and became determined to create a better life for himself and the people of Sudan. Families were able to donate to the clinic throughout the week, and families were given daily challenges to help them reflect on what life is like for the people of Sudan.
Coming Alongside Lifeline Christian Mission (2021):
This year, we chose to partner with Lifeline Christian Mission to focus on Haiti. 2021 has presented many challenges for Haiti. In July, Haiti’s president was assassinated. In August, Haiti experienced a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that caused widespread damage. There are many opportunities for us to partner with Lifeline Christian Mission to meet the physical needs of people in Haiti while sharing the Gospel. In God's Goodness, we were able to raise over $8,000 for Haiti, including 25,881 meals, one house, several backpacks, classroom packs and hygiene packs!
Watch the Campaign Kick Off Video Here
Watch the Missions Chapel Video Here
Watch the Linking Arms for Haiti Video Here
Supporting GCS Families' Missions (2020):
In 2020, we chose to focus on missions close to home. We partnered with GCS parents and staff who are actively serving local and global communities. Our students heard about the missions of the Blair family (serving children in poverty through Children's Relief International), Miss McCloskey (church planting with World Team), the Krebs family (entering full-time global mission work), Mrs. Eades (Lead Conductor at Urban Strings Columbus), and Chris & Heidi Smith (missionaries through Roots of Grace Cambodia). It was incredibly inspiring to hear how members of our GCS family use their unique talents to serve others here in Columbus and across the globe. At the end of the week, GCS families were asked to financially support at least one of these projects.
Partnership with A Kid Again (2019):
Our GCS community chose to adopt 10 "A Kid Again" families for 2020. The students of Grace Christian School want to show kids with life-threatening conditions that we care about them and their families. We want them to know that they’re not alone by showing them that God loves them, and we love them, too. We want to give them hope. Kids should have more to look forward to than their treatment. They should get to feel normal like we do. We want to help by making people more aware of what goes on in their lives. We want to help by giving back.
Through our students' fundraising efforts, they raised $15,356!! BUT THERE’S MORE! God worked in crazy ways and put our social media posts across the screens of the DiMarco family. The DiMarco family was not connected to GCS before seeing our recent posts, but they were so moved by the efforts of our students. After hearing about our fundraising campaign, the DiMarco family committed to match each dollar raised and add an additional $10,000. That means our final fundraising total going towards A Kid Again families was $40,356! You read that right...$40,356 is going towards helping families who have children with life-threatening illnesses.
Watch the Campaign Kick-Off Video
The Isaiah 41 Water Challenge in partnership with Design Outreach (2018):
What matters to God should matter to us. Our children are never too young to learn or live this. Isaiah 41:17 states, “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” God hears the cries of the poor and needy and uses us, His People, to respond. Through the Isaiah 41 Water Challenge, we engaged our students’ hearts and minds as they considered what it meant to live without clean, accessible water. We then empowered them to respond by providing water to a village in Haiti.
God blessed the efforts of our students in unimaginable ways. Our initial goal was to raise $10,000 for a LifePump in Haiti. This goal was exceeded, which prompted another goal: $10,000 for a LifePump in Africa. This goal was exceeded. In a little over a month, our community raised over $22,000 to help fund 3 LifePumps.
World Vision’s Matthew 25 Challenge (2017):
GCS joined schools across the world to step out of our comfort zones and engage in God’s love for those Jesus calls “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine.” Each day, World Vision offered a different challenge based on Matthew 25: skip candy, sweets and desserts today; drink only water; sleep on the floor; wear the same clothes you wore yesterday; write an encouraging note. We gathered daily as a school to pray and hear from different parents and grandparents who experienced poverty firsthand. Students got to use a LifePump from Design Outreach; their mission is to provide clean water to impoverished countries.
Thank you to our school community for embracing World Vision’s Matthew 25 Challenge in ways we could never have anticipated. The ways in which God used this in the lives of our students and families was remarkable. From the Challenge, we launched our “Making a Difference” Christmas Gift. We chose to raise money as classes and grades to purchase items from the World Vision catalogue. Over $7000 was raised! Praise God!