Dr. Jenny Klipp |
Each week students from BJA are actively serving in the Greenville community and beyond. Secondary students are involved in serving at locations such as the Greenville Rescue Mission, Camp Spearhead, Shepherd’s Gate, and local nursing homes. This year high school students had a several-week opportunity to act as hosts for 12 students visiting from Germany.
While high school students travel annually to New York to minister with and encourage local churches in outreach, middle school and elementary school students hold annual food drives for Miracle Hill Ministries as well as other local needy families. Elementary school students also forego the traditional classroom gift exchanges at Christmas, and instead focus on being a blessing to other children in need. Last year’s gift drive for students impacted by Hurricane Sandy resulted in an incredible outpouring of gifts that overwhelmed and encouraged multiple families in New Jersey at Christmas time.
The Festival of Trees also provides a unique opportunity for students to work together to give back to the community while using their talents in art to provide beautiful Christmas tree decorations in two locations. Children being admitted to a local hospital are greeted by a cheery “get well” card made by a BJA first-grader. Local veterans and elderly shut-ins receive encouraging cards from elementary students, as do military personnel serving our country overseas.
The impact of these and so many other community service opportunities is not just felt by those on the receiving end. These ministry opportunities are equally, if not more, impacting on our own students as they experience the joy found in serving others. While attending to the physical needs of others, many students have had the privilege of also ministering to the spiritual needs of those around them in reaching them with the Gospel. In all of these, the truth found in Acts 20:35 clearly resonates--“it is more blessed to give than to receive.”