“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education,” said Martin Luther King Jr. This to me is a perfect definition of our Adventist education system. Teachers in Adventist schools focus on more than the curriculum; they help to shape us into kind and loving individuals. They strive towards making us into successful individuals who can go on to make a change in this world.
Prior to attending an Adventist school, I found myself going through life not really caring about anything. I would attend my classes and then go home just to repeat it again the following day. While I was learning some things, I felt as if I was not being pushed to do my best. Once I came back to Adventist education, everything changed. I no longer found myself walking the halls feeling as if life was purposeless. I began to take advantage of each and every opportunity life threw at me. I found that the teachers truly cared about us and went the extra mile to build a relationship of trust and respect with us. Not only did they show they cared, they also wanted us to exceed and push ourselves to do the best that we can.
As I came back into the Adventist education, I was brought back into my church’s youth program. I began going to weekly meetings where we would go, talk about God and strengthen our faith. In doing so, I was given opportunities to travel to different countries going on mission trips. One of those mission trips, we built a church that led to 500 people being baptized and brought back into the church. Hearing that just strengthened everything I believed. God made it possible for me to come back to the Adventist education system. Being brought back helped lead me to my youth department.
I see my friends who were once Christians, who are in public school now, and most of them have left the church. When you are not surrounded by people who share the same beliefs as you, it is hard feeling comfortable sharing your beliefs because you know they believe differently. When you do not feel free to express your beliefs, they can start to fade away or just weaken.
When you freely express your beliefs, you can strengthen them and those of people around you. When you share your beliefs with others you can plant seeds in their lives. Those seeds can help them grow into having stronger relationships with God. As Ellen G. White says, “The word of God is the seed. Every seed has in itself a germinating principle. In it the life of the plant is enfolded. So there is life in God’s Word.”
Jenna Franklin
