Finding Your Inner Paradise
Students from Red Bird Christian School headed to Corbin (10-12 grades) and Litchfield (6-9 grades) over the long, three-day Martin Luther King (MLK) holiday weekend. Each group was to take the weekend to explore leadership styles, what gives them inner strength, and the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Students from Red Bird had not participated in this event sponsored by Kentucky’s YMCA previously, and a few expressed nervousness along with excitement as they left for their respective destinations.
As they returned for school on Tuesday, the high school students spoke excitedly about opportunities for sharing their Christian faith. They reported that their openness to speak about their faith was a little intimidating for a few initially. What seemed threatening at the beginning of the weekend was more accepted in the end as the other students worked through those feelings to see God’s witness at work in Red Bird students. At the end of the weekend all participants were able to anonymously leave comments for others. More than one thanked a student from RBCS for sharing their faith, answering questions about their faith, and showing God’s love.
One example of this would be our students, led by Seth, wrote ‘Jesus Loves You’ on every participant’s souvenir take home bag. Definitely a character building exercise only God could have anticipated, Tammy summed up the weekend with this, “It gave us an opportunity to share our faith in unique ways.”
The middle school group in Litchfield talked about taking a secular idea of ‘Finding Your Inner Paradise’ and applying it to finding peace with God. The students conducted devotions daily without any Red Bird Staff present on campus for the weekend. Students were housed in large groups mixed with a variety of others. They were able to lead by example in their behavior and habits. Samantha commented that meeting cool new people was a highlight of the trip. Maddy enjoyed interacting with the great camp counselors.
As a whole, students came back smiling and ready for sleep! But before one fell asleep Monday night, she commented that she could not wait for the next leadership conference.
The students will be participating in the Kentucky United Nations Assembly (KUNA) in March. The RBCS students will create an interactive display along with traditional dress in advance of the assembly for the country they will represent, Nepal. They will also introduce a resolution that reflects an issue for their adoptive nation.
Look for more about the KUNA event in the near future. You can help support these opportunities for our students at – http://www.razoo.com/story/Leadership-Development-7-12-Grade.
