By Daniel Birai — When I was six months old, my family left Nairobi, Kenya, and moved to Berrien Springs, Michigan, for what every immigrant seeks in America–a greater opportunity to make a better life. My siblings and I had the privilege of starting our educational journey in a Seventh-day Adventist school. My mother reflects often on how proud she is that we grew up at the Crayon Box on the campus of Andrews University. During our time there, both of my parents received advanced degrees at Andrews.
Later, we returned to Kenya, where my siblings and I again had the privilege of receiving an Adventist education at Maxwell Adventist Preparatory School. But my parents realized that while they had gotten what they needed–education–we had missed out on learning Kiswahili, and we were not going to thrive in a country where we did not know the language. Fluency in Kiswahili was a requirement for taking college placement exams. So, we soon moved back to Michigan.
We couldn’t afford Adventist education then, so I spent the rest of middle school, high school, and college in secular schools. I learned important lessons–how to stand up for my faith, what it meant to live in a family with Christian values, and how lonely it was to be one of only two practicing Adventist students in my college.
When I sensed the call to go into ministry, I was extremely reluctant, but I knew that I was in for an abundance of personal relationships with like-minded individuals. That’s exactly what I got at Andrews University; and most importantly, at Andrews I found my amazing Haitian wife, Lydie.
Fast forward to 2019 and our oldest daughter, Hadassah (we call her Haddie), is attending school. Pastor Paul Eagan was such an amazing mentor who taught me the importance of a pastor’s support for the church school. As challenging as finances could be, the mission of impacting children for eternity while providing a Christ-centered education was worth all the financial, logistical, and people challenges that came along with it. It was a lesson I treasured.
To see Haddie come home from school and often mistakenly calling my wife or me “Teacher” would have been a deep concern if we hadn’t known the awesome character of the Fort Collins Christian School. Since it was led by Dennis and Keiko Breese and supported by Jessica Reeder, we knew that it was a safe place for our child to be.
We moved to Denver recently to serve in a new church, which meant transferring Hadassah to Mile High Academy (MHA). Knowing that she had two other siblings following her, the first priority around moving to Denver was to find a home less than 10 minutes away from MHA. God provided one eight minutes away. We knew there would be many trips to MHA and great educators and administrators would enter our lives, especially Mrs. Lucy Werner, Haddie’s preschool teacher.
One day, sitting next to Haddie, I heard her humming a song. As the most vocal musician in the house, I was surprised that it wasn’t a song I had taught her. I asked her, “Where did you learn that song?” She replied, “At school.” Hmmmm, I thought to myself, it doesn’t seem like a learning song or a nursery rhyme, which I could instantly spot. I pretended to ignore her and heard a few lyrics come out of her mouth. “. . . I’m, oh, I’m fine but I’m not . . . Let the truth be told.”
Now I HAD to know what this song was. A quick search pulled up some songs by Matthew West, and Haddie instantly recognized and pointed to the one she was singing, “Truth Be Told.” After listening to the song with her, joy filled my heart. I felt so proud, so safe, so overjoyed that I didn’t have to be concerned or afraid of what she would learn while at MHA, or any of our Adventist schools. Are things perfect? Far from it. After all, we are dealing with human beings. But as parents, knowing that our children will spend just as much time with their teachers as with us, it’s critical for us to be able to trust what the teachers stand for. We are committed to Mile High Academy, or whatever Adventist institution we find God leading us through.
Let the Truth Be Told. Adventist education isn’t inexpensive. As schools across the North American Division close down, we may ask, what is going to prevent Mile High Academy, Fort Collins Christian School, Union College, or any of our other institutions from shutting down?
This is a question some of our pastors recently wrestled with. I love what my colleague, Pastor Tom of Aurora Adventist church, shared as a sermon illustration for the new year. He gave each of the worshippers that week two M&Ms. One represented mission, the other maintenance. He asked, “If you had to pick only one, which one would you pick?” Even though some tried to say “Both,” he challenged them: “Only one.” His point? We must stay focused on mission.
Our Denver area pastors have committed themselves to thinking of creative ways we can ensure that Seventh-day Adventist education will continue. Their commitment has strengthened my own conviction that the countless hours and millions of dollars required to keep it thriving are worth it. As far as I and my household are concerned, I’ll echo another pastor from our think tank: “I support Adventist Education because it works.”
–Daniel Birai is co-pastor at LifeSource Adventist Fellowship in Denver, Colorado; photo courtesy of Mile High Academy Facebook.
