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Today, as Americans we continue to celebrate and enjoy the freedoms
and Christian standards our country was built upon. But there is a problem!
Over the last forty years, we have seen our solid foundation of Godliness,
truth, morality, and decency crumbling.What has happened?
My name is Kathy Senter and I am a retired physical education teacher.
God opened the door for my husband Dan and I to move to the flatlands
of Sikeston, MO in 1972. Here we would live and work and raise a beautiful
family of three children, special gifts from God, named Allison, Andy,
and Aaron.
When I began teaching in August, 1972, I was 21, young, idealistic,
energetic, and optimistic, confident that on the dusty playgrounds of
Sikeston, MO, I would impact and change my world.
Now I am older and more realistic; not quite as energetic, but still
optimistic. I learned I could teach not just “Dogcatcher”,
one of my first grader’s favorite games, and Soccer, etc. but letting
the Lord lead me, I could teach “His truths of love and kindness
and compassion.” I also learned I could be “His hand and touch
each child with love and respect.” Every shoe I tied, every nose
I wiped, He would softly whisper, “Kathy, do it like I would.”
God blessed me tremendously during those 33 years, allowing me the awesome
privilege to be his servant and be on the mission field of public education.
But while we all were sleeping… caught up in our lives of living
and raising our families, the enemy took advantage of all of us!
We all remember Patrick Henry [1736-1799] who said, “It cannot
be emphasized too strongly or too often that this greatnation was founded,
not by religionists, but by Christians… noton religion, but on
the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.
Today, Patrick Henry would be looked on very negatively as being intolerant
in his views, insisting that our great nation was founded on the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. When America was founded, the Bible was the foundation
and blueprint for our Constitution, Declaration of Independence and
our educational system.
While President of the U.S., Thomas Jefferson was also the first president
of the Washington D.C. school board, and guess what they used for the
first reading textbook in the classroom? The Bible was their first choice!!!!!
When I would go into the classrooms to get my P.E. classes, I would
often see the Bible, usually dusty, lying in a far away corner of a
bookshelf. I°òm sad to say the pages were probably rarely
opened. While we were sleeping... in 1963, they removed the doctrinal
study of the Bible in public schools
In the last forty years we have watched silently as the Bible, prayer,
and Ten Commandments were stripped from the foundation of our public
schools. With shame, we can all hang our heads, along with our ancestors,
and now acknowledge it is time for us to cry out to God, and to say,
“Forgive us”.
Now is the time to awaken from our deep sleep; we must wake up, rise
up, stand up, and take back what has been stolen in our land. Will you
please join with me and say, “Yes, I will cry out to God”?
I will invest myself, I will pray so my children and grandchildren can
have the Godly heritage they so desperately need and areentitled to
have.
What will we do to change our children°'s future, our schools, our
city, our world? There is great hope because we have a wonderful heavenly
Father and we are King°òs Kids!!! Remember Zechariah 4:6,
“Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit”!!
Though obstacles are facing us, God gives us divine opportunities. One
growing opportunity is called the “Elective Bible Curriculum in
public schools.”
The curriculum began as a seed in the heart of Elizabeth Ridenour, in
Greensboro, North Carolina. She says,”The world is watching to
see if we will be motivated to impact our culture, to deal with the
moral crisis in our society, to reclaim our families and children. “Please
help us restore our religious and civil liberties in this nation.”
Today in 2007, 35 states, 1000 high schools, and over 175,000 students
have already participated in this new opportunity, the curriculum, “The
Bible in History and Literature.”
All students who have this incredible opportunity to take this elective
class will get valuable new insight and information, and will more clearly
understand how the Bible influenced America°'s founding fathers,
and even art, music, and literature. Elizabeth Ridenour says, “There
has been a gap in education,and unless you have a working knowledge
of the Bible, it is difficult to understand our nation°'s history.
In the last year and a half, our World View Awareness Group, in Sikeston,
MO, has been seeking the Lord to make a difference in our city and the
cities around us.
One of our key dreams we have presented to the Lord is to see the Elective
Bible Curriculum be added to the local school curriculum. We have been
seeking the Lord, praying, researching, and most of all, believing that
God will bring this curriculum into reality. We have proclaimed with
our voices united in faith, believing Luke 1:37 “For nothing is
impossible with God”, and we continue to seek his guidance, being
sensitive to the Holy Spirit, to bring this dream into reality.
The steps to setting up the curriculum begin when a Christian teacher
willingly volunteers to teach the class, using “The Bible in History
and Literature Curriculum”. The students choose to take the elective
class and bring their own Bibles as textbooks. There is coordinated
teamwork between the teacher and the school board to present the elective
class in highest academic integrity. The teacher’s role is to expose
the students, not to impose his or her beliefs.
We believe the time is right for this opportunity to be offered to our
children and grandchildren. While we were sleeping… the enemy gained
new footholds in our schools, and most sadly of all, our children have
lost the truth in who they are and where they came from.
Yet we will not focus on the obstacles-but on the opportunities. We
will focus on the eternal harvest that will come when our kids are exposed
to the truth. Jesus said in John 8:32, “Then you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Would you please pray for our World View Awareness Group as we continue
to pray and seek the Lord and see the Elective Bible Curriculum come
into operation here in Southeast Missouri?
If you are interested in more information on this exciting kingdom opportunity,
you can visit the website at "http://www.bibleinschools.net"
www.bibleinschools.net or call toll free 1-877 ON BIBLE [1-877-662-4253].
Now is the time for us to awaken from our sleep! Together, with God
leading us, we can make a difference!
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