Dear Parents,
Trinity recently participated in a Global Service Project, raising $2000 for World Renew. This money will be used to help families and communities purchase animals, and in turn, help these communities flourish and grow.
$2000 is not very much money from our point of view. How easily and quickly do we spend that amount?
Mortgages, car payments, insurance costs, Christian school tuition, and the list goes on. It is difficult to imagine how $2000 can make a difference to communities in other parts of the world when it is so easy for that much money to slip out of our bank accounts.
It is good to remember that the purpose of fundraising is more than just raising money. In his essay, “A Spirituality of Fundraising,” Henri Nouwen states that “fundraising is a very concrete way to help the kingdom of God come about.” In Mark 4, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, “the smallest seed on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade” (Mark 4:31-32). Fundraising raises money, but equally, if not, more importantly, it develops relationships and helps communities flourish.
Our students are learning that by reflecting Jesus – raising money for World Renew, making Christmas decorations for our neighbours, connecting with students in The Netherlands and the Dominican Republic – they are helping the kingdom come about. Nouwen continues by saying that, “Even a seemingly small act of generosity can grow into something far beyond what we could even ask or imagine – the creation of a community of love in this world, and beyond this world, because wherever love grows, it is stronger than death.”
As students are inspired to reflect Jesus everywhere, they are helping build God’s kingdom here on earth.
In Christ,
Sara Flokstra
Vice-Principal
