FROM THE EXECUTIVE PRINCIPAL Celebrating our 45th Anniversary This year we celebrate God’s goodness to us over the last 45 years; from the establishment of the first school to our current group of 10 Christian school communities. Through the vision and hard work of John and Robin Odell and many other helpers, our first school was established in 1979. From those humble beginnings, we now celebrate the diverse ministries of our ten schools, inclusive of our mainstream, Hope and Indigenous schools. We celebrate the faith and obedience of the pioneers of our schools and are extremely thankful for God’s provision and blessing. Over the years God has blessed our group of schools in many remarkable ways; with wonderful Christian people on the boards, on staff, in the parent body, and amongst the students. Moreover, God has given us much favour with many members of the wider community. We have sought to make the teaching of God our Saviour attractive (Titus 2:10) through the grace of God, through kindness and compassion, and through the wisdom of God. We acknowledge that none of this is our own doing. We are called to be faithful to celebrate God’s place in our lives individually and as community. Therefore, the work that has been done has been done, in God’s grace and by His strength. The Pacific Group of Christian Schools is first of all a community of faith with all of our staff and Board members being committed Christian believers. We are decidedly and delightfully a trans-denominational Christian community following the words of the Bible in Romans 15:7: “Accept one another then just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God”. Our group of Christian schools has consistently and continuously enrolled students of all different intellectual abilities and has celebrated this diversity in a way that seeks to show the love of God to us. Those in authority in our schools have received God’s love and God’s grace and now we are called, indeed commanded, to share that love and grace with all others that we meet. As 1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each one must use whatever gift received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms”. As we celebrate God’s goodness to our school communities over these 45 years, we are thankful for all that He is and all that He has done. Furthermore, we will trust Him for the future, in all circumstances and in every situation. Therefore, faith in God is what God requires primarily from us. We thank God for the founders of the schools, for their vision, energy, and hard work. We thank God for the rich blessings that He has given to us because we believe that from Him and through Him and to Him are all things (Romans 11:36). Finally, as we celebrate the past and the present we look forward to the future under God’s hand for His blessing. As in the past, there will be challenges, and with these challenges we will receive God’s grace. We will need totally to continue trusting in Him. To God be the glory. Amen. DR E J BOYCE Executive Principal Pacific Group of Christian Schools 4
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI3ODI1