CIA Testimony
In the mid-'70s I enrolled my first son in the newly formed Cook Inlet Academy. I did not know what a Christian school was, but I knew the people involved, and I knew that we as a family wanted a good education in a sheltered environment for the kids.
The school met those expectations extremely well. That son and the second one to follow learned the basics, but they also learned to think and communicate. I had not to that point even realized the importance of learning critical thinking. The emphasis on character development was another unforeseen, but valuable, benefit.
Through decades of association with Mr. C, teachers, staff, and parents at CIA I was gradually learning what a Christian education actually means. I began to look at education in a new way. God said: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6. Now, combine that with the school's verse, "In Christ Jesus lie hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:3, and there we have been shown a parent's job of training children, and the help needed to accomplish it.
I can now see the impact of the school's Mission of "Joining with parents in leading children to know the fullness of God's love, and the life change it can bring." But when I started my children at CIA, I didn't know anything at all about joining with a school to produce anything Godly. It was not in my life's experience. Over time, I watched each and every teacher and administrator give themselves to their personal mission of serving the Lord at CIA. Their daily walk was enough to make a difference in people's lives, to say nothing of the actual teaching they did (and still do). No one could ever say they do it for the big money, being as it's a modest amount. That money-fact is testimony enough to emphasize our teachers' dedication to service for their Lord. Significant interactions with individual students have also impacted each of us in a positive way.
The motto of "Educating for Eternity" put going to school in a whole new level of importance in my thinking. Wow, to realize that education has meaning far beyond graduation, or profession, or even life on earth, was eye-opening. That motto provides ultimate clarity of purpose to understand what the Lord wants from us in this life in preparation for the next.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." In New Testament this is reiterated with, Matthew 22:37-39 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ It sure makes things simple to have one’s “whole duty” explained in two sentences.
As my kids mature and have their own children, and join the workforce, I see communication skills my kids have developed at CIA, their reasoning power, and their gentle sensitivity towards their fellow man. It confirms the power of the various disciplines going on at CIA.
The concept of Discipline was expanded for me in an unforgettable way. The narrow definition of discipline is generally thought of as a form of correction. But more broadly, it should mean a whole range of training, which ultimately shows us a bigger picture from God's perspective. One could try to explain this for pages, but Mr. C stated it so very clearly by saying: "Slow Obedience is Disobedience". Wow again. Tie that statement to the "train up a child", and "Christ is wisdom", and "whole duty of man", and the implications just took my breath away. We as parents are joining with this amazing school in disciplining our kids for all of eternity, and Jesus is our guide. That sure beats pounding away at it all day long with no real goal in mind, fighting outside influences all by myself.
The sports program is a highly visible aspect of the school, and coming from a public education myself, I learned to greatly appreciate the spiritual emphasis in coaching. Music is another visible part of the program, and when the concerts, skits, outreach musicals, etc. so beautifully glorify God, it makes each event a worship service. This has blessed my heart many times.
I love it that my kids got an excellent education, but I love it more that their character was gently nurtured, and their hearts and minds were filled with the Word of God. I have seen kids go off the path now and then. When this happens I go back to the second half of that verse in Proverbs: "...when he is OLD he will not depart from it." Ah ha. Good things take time.
I have mentioned several times in this testimony how CIA has changed my life and that of my children. But let me clarify that. I do fully understand that it was God changing us, working through the wonderful people at CIA as His agents.
Many deeply heartfelt thanks to all the faithful servants now and in the past. Your efforts play out in many ways around the world, where CIA people have landed.
Dianna
Hello,
I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you how Cook Inlet Academy positively impacted
my children, my marriage, my home.
I enrolled both of our children in Miss Becky's wonderful preschool class and many years later both children graduated from CIA.. Would I do it all over again if I had the opportunity? YES YES YES!!!.
Why? Because CIA had a large influence in my children's lives. A very positive influence. What made it positive? I could list a number of reasons and give credit to many people, which I gratefully do, but the over riding reason that I invested in Christian education, was the fact that my children were being taught God's truths while they were young.
We have a small window of time that our children are most teachable. What do we want them to learn? God's truths which will direct them through life, or a world view, which may or may not take them down a healthy road?
Often times in our culture, we as parents, expect our children to navigate through world view influences unscathed, and then we ask them to apply only the positive parts of that experience. Many times that doesn't happen, and our children sometimes get swept off their feet by a world view, and we find them on their way to destruction before they even graduate from high school.
Yes there were times that my children tearfully asked me to move them to the public school for a variety reasons. There were also many times that CIA didn't make good financial sense to our finances at that particular time, but I always felt in my heart that if I would lift my request to my Lord, walk in faith, trust God and ask him to provide he would and he did just that for many years.
I tried to keep my eyes on the big picture. I wanted my children to know God's truths. I did not want to confuse my children with a world view. I knew that if they knew him well, everything else about their education would have a better chance of taking root. That really was the decision for me year after year.
Thank you CIA for being a blessing in our children's lives. Thank you for standing on God's truths no matter what subject or curriculum you were teaching. By ministering to our children you were ministering to our family. Thank you for your mission statement which says....
"Cook Inlet Academy joins with parents in leading children to know the fullness of God’s love and to experience the life change that only God can produce."
Today I am a proud parent of two young adults, making their way in this world. I am very proud of each of their accomplishments, but I am most pleased with the fact that they have a strong faith in Jesus Christ their personal Lord and Savior.
They value purity, God's goodness and faithfulness in their lives. They love him with their whole heart, and I as a parent I have to say that that is my idea of priceless.
May the Lord's blessing be on you and yours.
Sincerely,
Robin
