“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:16).

Our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, certainly makes it clear through these words in Luke’s Gospel that we are expected to care for the souls of our young people. These words encourage us to provide the opportunity for an elementary education through a church-related Christian Day School as an important way in which we can demonstrate our Christian love to these little ones. The Scriptures make it very clear that Christian training of the young is the responsibility of every one of us who professes to be a Christian.

Parents have the God-given responsibility to give their children a Christ-centered education both inside and outside the home. A familiar and oft-cited passage from the Old Testament says, “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6). As a pastor, teacher, parent or a member of a congregation we should, in some way, be telling our children about our Savior, Jesus, every day.

Several years ago we members of Peace Lutheran Church-Kissimmee, Florida prayerfully determined to establish a preschool program. Shortly thereafter we added a kindergarten program and, in the fall of 2006, continued our school growth by adding a first grade level. This addition of a first grade is part of a faith-adventure plan to continue with a process of adding grades through sixth grade and possibly beyond.

God has blessed Peace Lutheran School by having the consultation services of Lutheran Schools of America assist them in this educational development planning process as well as provide advice in building a new structure. Our synod’s Director of Christian Education, Prof. Silas Born of Bethany Lutheran College, has also faithfully augmented this process with experienced educational counsel.

Our church is surrounded by hundreds of new homes being built and thousands of new residents moving in. Approximately 25% of that population is multi-cultural, primarily Spanish-speaking. We at Peace Lutheran are blessed to have a capable, compassionate teacher in Mrs. Barbara Huhnerkoch and a similarly compassionate pastor, Rev. Herb Huhnerkoch, who is English/Spanish bilingual and serves as our acting principal.

In closing, I would like to tell you a Christ-centered story. A few years ago our school announced that it had a need for additional volunteers. Because of my strong feelings for Christian education, I decided to spend several volunteer hours on Wednesday afternoons at the school. During the afternoon “Carl” had been directed to serve a “time out” session. I was asked by Mrs. Huhnerkoch to take him to another room and have him read to me. I hope I never forget those moments walking hand-in-hand with a young Christian who not only read his book to me but also recited his evening prayer and the last verse of “Away in a Manger.” He never missed a word!

What a blessing to see these children learn about their Savior, Jesus Christ. They are prepared to be citizens of both this world and the next. That, my friend, is what Lutheran Schools of America is all about. I urge you to become a “Prayer Partner” of LSA by clicking on www.LSAELS.org. May God bless LSA!

Herb Berg is a member of Peace Lutheran Church-Kissimmee, Florida. Herb has served as a member of synod’s Board for Christian Service and is a newly elected member of the Board for Lutheran Schools of America.