Our school’s history is a storied one. We came into being because of the faithfulness of our founders – a group of selfless individuals who spent over a decade from the day they determined to start a Christian school in Donvale working hard to realise that God-given dream.

When lessons commenced for the first time in early February 1975, many of these faithful founders could only pray for the children there – not theirs, for they were now too old to go to this fledgling primary school – trusting in God’s continued provision for this emerging community of learners.

Our school’s history is full of stories of families doing life together. Families who met because their children first got to know each other at school. Families who were able to support each other through complex or difficult times. Families who were able to cheer each other’s children on, celebrating successes and building from disappointments.

Families learning from God together, how to bring up their children in the love of the Lord. Families partnering with the school, not “the school” as a faceless entity, but “the school” as a collection of Christian men and women, working in service of their Lord to provide an education whose foundation was biblical, whose execution was biblical, whose entire experience was immersed in the experiencing of seeing God at work in all operations of school.

Our school’s current day experience lines us with these historic narratives. God’s story continues to be told at our school, not as an abstract concept, but in the lives and experiences of our students, their parents, other family members, the staff – both teachers and operational, and our alumni – former students, teachers and parents. We are God’s people unified by our faith and discipleship in Christ, we gather daily around the word as we prepare each lesson and activity, we seek as a community to be God’s people, bringing Him glory in all we do.

Relationships that build a community such as ours require faithfulness. We should be convinced of the promise clearly expressed by the prophet Jeremiah:

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT

It is part of the character of God to be unwaveringly faithful:

“But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:15 NLT

“What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all!” Romans 3:3-4 NIV

“Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, He remains faithful to us and will help us, for He cannot disown us who are part of himself, and He will always carry out his promises to us.” 2 Timothy 2:13 TLB

Jesus’ life was an earthly expression of this:

“So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave Him to do.” Hebrews 3:1 MSG

In relationships, our commitment to modelling this with the students, as we go about the routines and rhythms of school daily, is to show the following faith-filled practices:

Loyalty – Just as Jesus was loyal to His call, His people, and His mission of saving humanity (no easy task), we will seek to stand by one another – trusting, being honest and committed to the relationship.
Trustworthiness – Jesus was trustworthy, the gospels record that he did exactly what He said He would do before, during, and after His life and death. Moreover, He showed the trustworthiness of Scripture in terms of the huge number of centuries-old prophetic words His life fulfilled. We will show our willingness to sacrifice our own interests for the good health of relationships we have, to put our own needs aside and serve the other.
Steadfast Love – We will commit to a steadfast, Christ-like love – immovable, fixed and firm.
Patience – In relationship, we will commit to continually seeking wisdom, guidance and strength through the difficult times, seeking to bring about the same peace and blessings of the easier times.
Commitment – God has a faithfulness to us that is powerful as superglue is as an adhesive. There are times when our faithfulness to one another is more like Velcro – ripped off as it suits us, detached when it’s convenient. Consider Jesus’ prayer time prior to his arrest – his absolute faithfulness to God’s will in spite of the personal cost to him, in comparison to the inattention of the disciples. We commit to “stick-ability”, intentional presence and selflessness.

If you’ve been part of our community for a little while now, I trust you’ve enjoyed relationships within our community characterised by these five practices.

If you have, tell the other person (parent, teacher, student, friend) how they’ve blessed you. And, seek to be that same kind of relationally faithful person back to them. Modelling this discipleship to our children is a critical part of their experience of living in the Christian community this school continues to seek to be.

Shalom.

Principally Thinking

'Act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with God'

Issue 2 · 23 Feb 2024

In this issue