Dear Parents,
Languages: they can be the source of both unity and division. When we look at their origin, we can trace them all the way back to Genesis 11. According to the Bible, all humans spoke the same language in the beginning; however all this changed as people came together in Shinar to build the tower of Babel. Since their desire was to build a tower to Heaven and make themselves important like God. Seeing the condition of their hearts and intent to do more evil, the Lord God created confusion by creating many different languages, leading to disunity and the scattering of people all over the world by clan.
If the story ended here, we would come away with the impression that different languages are a bad thing. Thank God that He always has a plan for redemption. Through Jesus, we see how God redeems all people and languages as His final act before leaving the earth. In Acts 1:8, Jesus lays out His plan by instructing His disciplines that they will be witnesses starting locally in their language (Jerusalem and Judea) and then to others (Samaria and the end of the Earth). Then the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost with the first fruit of the promise of redemption, as “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues(languages) as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4).
Finally in Revelation we see what the fullness of God’s promise will look like, as all nations and all languages will praise Him around His throne (Rev 7 and 21). The great news is that we can already begin to experience glimpses of this on Earth now.
Today was one of those days, as we did a joint chapel with our sister school La Esperanza in the Dominican Republic. We had the unique opportunity to worship and pray with them in both English and Spanish. We also heard a reflection about the Lord’s prayer from the Director of their school. Although it was done virtually, we could sense the Holy Spirit moving in both of our schools and a unity that crosses over the barrier of languages.
How exciting to be able to use God’s gift of language to bring glory to Him and to learn more about what He is doing in other countries. We pray that God continues to use this partnership and others for the benefit of His kingdom and to bring Him honour.
Sincerely,J-D Lussier, Principal
