Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
- Nehemiah 6:15-16
In the Bible, Nehemiah was a man of God who built a wall in 52 days when it should have taken years.
"Because God was involved, they were able to get it done," Steve Petty, Lakeland Christian Academy gift-in-kind coordinator, said.
LCA is hoping they can accomplish a feat similar to Nehemiah's by completing their building expansion plans in four months with the help of God.
Currently, LCA has 124 students and anticipates 150 this fall. Their three facilities don't have the capacity to hold that many. Three years ago, LCA saw they were growing faster than their buildings could maintain. A building committee got together and began trying to come up with solutions.
As if by a miracle, Leon Horn had 32 acres available on CR 250E, Warsaw, just when the school needed the land. He was approached and LCA contracted with him for the land. The building committee needed to figure out what facilities were needed to be built.
"By the time we put a tag on this, it was a multi-million dollar project for all phases," said Petty.
It was decided the new building wouldn't be built with bricks and mortar.
A man whose mission is to build affordable Christian schools across America had a "cookie-cutter" plan with steel.
"The beauty of the building is you can utilize skilled and unskilled labor to build ...," Petty said.
The final cost? $2.2 million for 60,000 square feet, a reduced cost through contracts and negotiations.
"With the community behind our school, we can reduce that cost even further," said Petty.
He said they are attempting to get labor and materials at cost or lower. Already, about 35 people have said they will assist the LCA expansion project partially or with gifts.
"We can conceivably lower the costs by $500,000 - $700,000 more," Petty said. "We've seen how God has miraculously provided what we needed so far."
Petty said LCA is more than a building - it is a ministry.
"It's not just a school. All the curriculum is biblically-centered. Our extracurricular activities are laboratories where our kids' faith is challenged. It's a place where God is center," he said.
LCA is a nondenominational school, Petty said. There are 35 churches from the county represented at LCA. Some students even attend LCA from outside the county. He said it's a place for parents to have a choice in their child's education that is affordable.
"(LCA) is unique in that we promote the ethics, the values we want our children to have," he said. "The only distinction between LCA and public schools is that we can introduce God, we can talk about God."
Jerry Landrum, a parent of past LCA students and one of the people helping create the new building, said, "That's the key thing to me. Good people turn out for this facility because they hear the word of God.
"If we have to borrow for costs, then the money has to come from someplace," Petty said. By raising tuition to pay for borrowed money, those who wouldn't be able to meet the tuition costs wouldn't have the choice for their children to attend LCA and receive a God-centered education.
Currently the grounds are being excavated for the building. Digging is ready to commence and steel is ready to order.
"Some of that should happen as early as (this) week," Petty said.
A new building by September? Some people, Petty said, may not believe that is possible.
"Once this project gets going," he said, "even though this project is impossible, by God's standards it's not."
LCA now has $300,000 in the current project. In addition, they have cash and pledges of more than $550,000.
"There's going to be hundreds of people involved in this project. There are already," he said.
About 150 people are on the prayer list, he said, to pray for the different items needed.
"It's only through prayer that God is going to open his floodgates," Petty said. "If a lot of people do a little, then it's not going to be hard for anyone."
For more information about donating to the building fund or other ways to contribute, call 267-7265.
