Western Christian Embraces Special International Cause

Posted February 3rd, 2009 in K-8, K-8 Special Events Comments Off

Western Christian School recently realized it’s never too late to lend hand in a global society.

The Claremont campus held its first Day of Hope event last Thursday, with kindergartners through 5th graders praying for schools within more than 5 countries and offering aid to the respective schools.

China, Botswana, Guatemala, Uganda, Korea and the Philippines were represented in the project. The schools within the countries are members of the Association of Christian Schools International.

“We should have done this years ago,” said Western Christian Principal Michelle Browning. “We’re taking on more of an international focus and it is good for the kids to get to see how little those schools are compared to what they have. Many of them don’t realize what the rest of the world is like and so this is good for them. We want to grow this event and do more on this day in the future.”

Faith a focus for Ugandan-born pastor

The country of Uganda was brought closer to home for 3rd graders by a 30-minute presentation by Faith Community Church Pastor Grace Wabuke. The Ugandan-born pastor shared information about the country’s culture that included how her parents fled the country when she was an infant. The escaped occurred in 1976, during the rule of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Ms. Wabuke’s family escaped to Kenya before migrating to the United States. She pointed out how faith plays a significant role in her family and referred to the escape as a “miracle.”

“Idi Amin didn’t like people who were Christian, educated or had a western connection,” Ms. Wabuke explained to the students. “So my dad was on the list of people to be killed because he was a Christian, a university professor and had a connection in Minnesota. But God was with us and we were able to escape.”

Ms. Wabuke was delighted about Western Christian’s first Hope Day and hopes the efforts will continue.

“I was really honored to be here and blessed by how the students wanted to know so much about my culture,” she said. “It’s so commendable what the school is doing and how they are expanding the worldview for these students. This promotes community, understanding and harmony between people and I feel Western Christian is an example for other schools.”

Third grade teacher Patti Frost’s class raised money to purchase a goat for Ugandan children. The students were encouraged to perform chores at their homes to help fund the project.

“It’s nice to know that we’re helping somebody,” said 3rd grader Brandon Sookdeo. “We were able to buy a goat and some other things for the kids in Uganda.”

Children of the World make mark in Claremont

The Children of Hope Tour recently stopped in Claremont when the “Children of the World” choir visited Western Christian one day prior to Hope Day. The chorus consisted of children from Uganda involved with the nonprofit World Help organization. They performed 3 times last Wednesday during separate chapel sessions.

Along with singing and dancing to popular worship songs such as Jesus Loves Me and You Are Good, the children shared their testimonies about life in their home country. Some of the choir members are orphans.

“We have 3 choirs that tour the United States and we are the west coast team,” said Mike Hahn, team leader of the Children of the World choir. “The kids sing, dance, worship and share their testimonies. It’s pretty impactful. Coming to a school is a big thing to because it gives kids the chance to see more of what the world is like.”

Last Wednesday’s visit by the Children of the World choir was not the first appearance by the group at Western Christian. The relationship between the school and choir came about through Western Christian teacher and parent Renee Bixby.

“My daughter and son-in-law were team leaders within World Help around 2003-04 and they were looking for different schools were the children could visit,” Ms. Bixby recalled. “Western Christian opened their arms and they have come every year since. I’m really pleased that we’re continuing to connect with them every year and this year was even more meaningful because we were able to get them to come right around the time of Day of Hope.”

The school took up a separate collection for the choir to go along with its support for the other schools. Third grader Suzie Park said the choir was the highlight of last week’s 2-day experience.

“It was cool that they could hit the drums that fast,” she said. “It was good.”

-Landus Rigsby

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