Cougar Pause: UPS Helps Prepare Students Be Hands And Feet Of Christ
Posted
Kate Harmon-
The mission statement of Lakeland Christian Academy states, “Lakeland Christian Academy provides students with a Christ-centered foundation to become spiritually mature, academically competent and socially responsible.” This mission flows from our desire to prepare students to be the hands and feet of Christ and live out their faith in every area of life. One of the ways we attempt to fulfill this mission is through the UPS program. UPS stands for Unleashing the Power of the Son. Through this program, students are divided up into service groups. Groups are a mix of ages and are based on students’ interests as much as possible. Each group is led by a teacher and a student leader. The student leaders are upperclassmen that have shown an interest in service and have demonstrated leadership skills. These groups spend approximately two Wednesday afternoons per month visiting a service location. The service locations include nursing homes, schools, Fellowship Mission, Combined Community Services, Heartline Crisis Pregnancy Center and Magical Meadows. We also have three groups that were created by Lakeland students and staff. The Majestic Moments for Moms group provides free daycare for moms with children 5 and under. This group not only watches the children, but they also teach a Bible lesson, work on a craft, play games and share a snack. Another group, The Abolition Task Force, grew out of an interest students had in fighting human trafficking throughout the world. This group partners with the organization Africrans to melt down old crayons and transform them into new crayons. Sales of the crayons fund efforts to emancipate those being trafficked. This group also spends considerable time learning about the problem of human trafficking and educating others on the issue. The student leaders of this group recently spoke at a conference at Spring Harbor University on the issue of human trafficking. Another group formed through Lakeland is called 20:24. This group organizes some of the service projects that we do as a school outside of UPS. These projects include a food drive, Feed my Starving Children event and raising funds for Riley Hospital for Children. Students and staff look forward to Wednesday UPS days as it gives us an opportunity to serve our community by living out the faith we profess. As one student pointed out, “I believe God has given us an awesome work by giving us a chance to live out His Word in a real way. It is great to see how much fun and work students and teachers put into UPS.” In doing so, we are not only serving our community, but ultimately serving the Lord who commands us in Galatians 5:13, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
