On May 7, Mission Sunday, all the money given will be used to support our congregation’s mission works. Thanks to the generous contribution given last year we have been able to extend our mission work from eight areas of work to ten. In addition to the eight works supported last year: the Belize Campaign, the Youth Campaign, the Jefferson Christian Academy Bible teacher, Apologetics Press (Kyle Butt), Truth for Today World Bible School, Belize Missionaries Melvin Davis and Clayton Guzman, and Individual Mission Requests, we have also been able to restore our support for the work of Joey Treat in the South Pacific and Barton Kizer in Cusco, Peru. The one new work we have added is the Belize Bible Institute. We hope to have an article on each of these works in the weeks leading up to Mission Sunday.
Jefferson Christian Academy
In the spring of 1970, several interested individuals – all members of the church of Christ – began formulating plans to fund and develop a great school to provide quality education in a Christian environment for the young people of the Birmingham area.
In the fall of 1971, operation of Jefferson Christian Academy began with thirty students in kindergarten through the fourth grade, meeting in the old building of the Homewood Church of Christ. Enrollment grew to sixty students the following year, necessitating a move to larger facilities, which were provided by what was then the Woodlawn Church of Christ. The academy continued to expand there until it moved to the campus of the former Birmingham University School in 1975. In February of 1985, JCA moved to its present facilities on a 15-acre campus on the eastern edge of Irondale.
The purpose of Jefferson Christian Academy is to provide and maintain a safe Christian environment that promotes spiritual and academic growth. It is a Bible based school that focuses on the whole child; spirit, mind, body and a servant’s heart. Their goal is to prepare their students for life and eternity with each day centered on Biblical truth and its application to everyday life. We will encourage each child to develop and use the talents that God has given them so that they may be a role model for others. They provide a clear model of Christian life through their faculty, staff and Board of Directors and strive to train up each child to follow the example of Christ – “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52).
JCA students have daily Bible classes for K4-12 grade, daily chapel services for 6th-12th grade, and twice-a-week chapel services for k4-5th grade. Deerfoot has been supporting the school’s academics by giving $12,000 to help pay the salary of the man who serves as the teacher for all of the Bible classes.
We believe that this is an important work of teaching God’s word to the children and we need the church to continually give liberally to support this and the other works of spreading God’s word. Please begin thinking seriously of how much you can give on Mission Sunday.