Advance Vol. 51-8 (October 2021)

Growing Pains and Trusting God’s Provision

As we near the end of the 1st quarter in my 4th year here at Nebraska Christian, I am filled with a spirit of gratitude. I often get a front row seat to see God working in the lives of NC students. Some are surrendering to Christ for the first time in their lives; others are experiencing radically renewed relationships with their Savior; and many are continuing to learn and grow each day. Such opportunities for students to grow academically and spiritually in the same place are becoming harder and harder to find. Consequently, the school is seeing a strong need to grow. Each of the last two years we have added a new classroom to our elementary while our secondary numbers are holding steady.

This year, for the first time that I know of in the school’s history, we had to turn students away.  We simply did not have the classroom space to accommodate everyone who wanted to come, so we started a prospective student waitlist for our upper elementary. It was difficult to tell families that they had to wait until we had more room to partner with them in teaching their children. 

To address this growing demand, we have identified a pathway to gain more elementary classroom space:

Step 1 Build a new kitchen and cafeteria. This, you will recognize, is Phase 2A of The Next 50 Years Capital Campaign you’ve been seeing and hearing about over the last couple of years.

Step 2 Repurpose the space in the existing cafeteria, right next to the gym, to house the wrestling and weight rooms that are currently in the east end of our elementary building. 

Step 3 Renovate the east end of the elementary building to provide more classroom space and improve traffic flow. 

Identifying the steps is easy, but carrying them out is much more difficult, particularly in the face of increasing expenses, a national labor shortage, and a budget entirely dependent upon the Lord’s provision. But therein lies the hope. He is sending us students who are eager to learn academically and grow spiritually. We cannot be sure He will provide in the ways we think are best, but we can rest in His plan as we earnestly seek his direction and rely on His provision.  

Will you join us in doing so? Pray that as decisions are made at NC they will honor the Lord. Pray that He will provide for the work He has for NC to do. Pray that students and staff alike will grow in their relationships with Him. And pray that the Lord will provide classroom space at NC for the students who are on the waitlist. May each decision we make be glorifying to Him.

Book Club Builds Reading at NC

Reading is a natural part of education at any school, but NC’s Media Specialist, Liz Gamblin, had a vision to help kids enjoy reading outside of school assignments. The idea took shape last year in the form of a book club.  “I knew there were students at NC that loved reading as much as I did, and I wanted to create a space to meet together to discuss what we were reading.”

Most book clubs and classroom literature discussions are structured around everyone reading the same book and then discussing it. Liz struggled with this traditional model of picking a book, because how could she pick one that everyone would want to read? Then one day Liz had an idea: “I realized that if we did genres each month [rather than a specific book] not only would that solve my dilemma, but it would actually enhance our discussions.” Liz selects a genre for the month and each book club member reads a book from that genre. If students are struggling to find a book to read, Liz helps match them with a book that they’ll enjoy.  

Each month students bring their different books and the things they enjoyed about them to the group for a discussion about the genre generally and also about their books specifically. Eighth grader Sophie Etherton really likes the unique approach. She explains, “The book club enhances my reading because it pushes me to read different genres that I would not normally read, such as nonfiction and Christian living.”  Many leave the discussions with new book recommendations and a desire to continue reading within new genres.

Book club members have joined the group for a variety of reasons.  Some because they love to read already, like Sophie, who explains, “I chose to join the book club because I really love reading, and I thought it would be a nice experience.”  Others join to build new habits, like junior  Rachel Rathjen.  She said, “I chose to be in the book club because I wanted to read more books and be more consistent with reading.  I enjoy reading, but I never do it, so this will help motivate me to read more.” Whatever their reason for joining, members are learning together by enjoying books.

NC Welcomes New Staff Member

Cindy Melvin, NC Cook

Cindy not only loves cooking, but she also loves working (and taking selfies!) with her horses.

Visitors to the NC cafeteria have been seeing a new smiling face this fall – Cindy Melvin joined the team of kitchen staff that keeps the campus fed. Her experience includes working in other school kitchens, and most recently working in the gardens at Raising Nebraska, a Nebraska Extension program where they use a huge garden to teach about nutrition and agriculture in the state. 

Cindy learned about the job opening from NC’s head cook, Deb Lovejoy, while they were talking at church one day. The job appealed to Cindy because it was familiar territory. “I like the hours and the kids,” she explained. “And since I’ve done it before, the learning curve wasn’t so bad.”  In comparison to other kitchens she’s worked in, Cindy is enjoying her NC experience in large part because of shared Christian values. “It helps us get along that we see things from the same point of view,” she said.

Now that school is well underway and Cindy has settled into her position, she is enjoying the school atmosphere.  “I love the kids and watching sports and knowing who is competing from our church and Awana. The kids make it exciting, especially seeing how God can use them in all different areas.” 

Cindy and her husband Steve have lived in various towns across southern Nebraska, and are currently settled just outside of Central City. They have four grown children and enjoy spending time with their 2 grandsons.