Principal

Dear Friends,

It is our prayer to grow more like Christ in all we do and for us to continue to grow in excellence in all we do – for His glory, not ours.

One of my favourite (it changes all the time) books of the Bible is DANIEL.  Whether we are a parent, child or educator we can all learn much from Daniel.

He was a man of prayer, a man of wisdom and knowledge and he stood firm on his convictions and trusted God.

Daniel and his three friends (most probably all teenagers) were taught well in some little Christian school (synagogue) in Israel.

They were young men from nobility of Judah who had been taken captives to Babylon.  They were chosen for their good looks and talents to serve in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court.

The Babylonians did not observe Jewish food laws, so Daniel and his 3 companions decided not to compromise their religious beliefs by eating the food provided by the King and requested a vegetarian diet (Daniel 1:8).

I love the dignity and good manners of Daniel who asked for permission not to defile himself and then his creativeness and boldness to offer a solution – a 10 day trial where Daniel and his companions would only eat vegetables and others would eat meat.   The purpose was to see who was healthier and wiser after the 10 day trial.

For Daniel there was no compromise on his convictions.  As a man of prayer and courage he did not conform to others when it stood between him and His God.

 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

 Romans 12:2

“Conformity to worldly culture converts the church to the world; it never converts the world to Christ.” (Author unknown)

Daniel and his friends stood by their convictions and God honoured them (Daniel 1:17-20).

Remember the story of Eric Liddell in the 1924 Olympic Games? 

The 100m sprint race was his speciality, yet Eric Liddell stood by his convictions and would not run in the 100m race because the race was on a Sunday.  Imagine the pressure he would have had from his friends, coach, team mates, but also pressure put on him from ‘his country’ to run in this race.

Against public opinion, Liddell stood strong in wanting to honour God.  He did not run on a Sunday and instead ran in the 400m race and won the race in record time (47.6 secs).  Liddell gave all the glory to God.

We must remain strong to honour God in all aspects of our lives and honour God in everything we do at St Andrews.

We give God all, be obedient and faithful and He will do the rest.

Abundant blessings,

Catriona Wansbrough

Principal