Elementary students at Santa Fe Christian Schools (SFC) prepared, packed, and prayed for over 50,000 meals to distribute globally to communities in need. Beginning the holiday season, SFC applied one of the school’s pillar values by partnering with Kids Around The World, according to a news release. As a faith-based, nonprofit organization, Kids Around The World seeks solutions to child malnutrition.
Just days after SFC’s elementary students packed the meals, Janelle Ruge, faculty member and director of SFC’s Global Ministries and Community Partnerships, traveled to Ecuador to scout a future mission trip for SFC students. While there, Ruge had the unique experience of observing the exact boxes packed and decorated, actually delivered to the community she was visiting. Ruge stated in the news release, “It is incredible to be part of SFC’s vision to reach others, to teach students about selfless work, and to experience our students’ heartfelt care from K-12th grade.”
SFC’s Global Ministries and Community Partnerships program encourages students to practice the posture of selfless giving by volunteering and investing in global areas of need. Santa Fe Christian’s elementary students write letters and donate Halloween candy to service men and women overseas and pack meals for underserved communities. SFC middle schoolers provide relief to individuals in need in Tuscon, Ariz. Finally, high school students partner with schools and churches worldwide by collaborating with students abroad and visiting those communities on short-term trips.
Santa Fe Christian intentionally invests in the growth of its students. Eighty-five percent of SFC students participate in a global ministry and community outreach project while attending SFC and many are profoundly impacted by the experiences. Then, these students themselves become agents of positive transformation in their jobs, communities, and families; with some bringing this transformation even further into the world. Hayley Bennett Lyle recounts in the news release, “SFC mission trips facilitated my first experience of the developing world at a young and transformative age. From Uganda to rural Fiji, these trips, though brief, opened my eyes and my heart. The opportunity to spend a couple of weeks in these environments and genuinely get to know the people there profoundly shaped the way that I see the world and the depths of God’s heart. I think that you cannot truly understand the developing world and our intrinsic connection to it unless you actually go there and build relationships there. It may bring up deep questions, but it is those questions that spark us to grow, to know God in a deeper way, and ultimately bring positive impact to the world.”
Santa Fe Christian will continue outreach and service projects throughout the school year and into the summer with an annual trip to Tuscon and six international ministry trips with high schoolers. To learn more about Santa Fe Christian’s Global Ministries program, visit https://sfcs.pub/3uSD76v
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