Imagine 2 Kings 5 as a parable of a little girl who longed once again to be in the Jordan River Adventist School. She was sent away from home, through no fault of her own, and living with people who didn’t fear God. Whatever the circumstances, she remembered the formative years spent in the Jordan River Adventist school.
She remembered the verses and songs that she had learned. They were constant reminders of God’s goodness and faithfulness toward her, despite being in a foreign country. She sang those songs and said her prayers before going to bed. She was cheerful and had a reputation of being honest, truthful, and trustworthy. She was an exemplary student and her guardians knew that she had “been with God.” She represented Jesus by her example of Christian piety, that the grace of Christ may appear as it is— beautiful, attractive, harmonious, and always consistent.
She had a history of sharing pertinent information regarding total health and the love of Jesus. So it was not surprising that her guardians were willing to follow through with her suggestion when she said to her mistress, “Would God my Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy” —2 Kings 5:3.
Bermuda Institute seeks to model the educational principles exemplified by the Jordan River Adventist School, producing boys and girls who witness for God and set a positive example for others, just as the little servant girl did.
While public schools may be equipped with state of the art science labs and modern technology, Adventist education offers something distinctly different. This difference is the presence of God. In Seventh-day Adventist classrooms, God is invited every morning into the hearts of the students. What sets Adventist education apart from public education isn’t the buildings, the educational standards, or the administrators—it is the presence of God, and only God! This godly Christian influence exerted by Holy Spirit-filled teachers helps to mold the characters of boys and girls so that they will be guided by a moral compass that is unmovable—so that they will be as “true to duty as the needle to the pole.”
A diligent cultivation of Christian character and grace is what the Jordan River Adventist School produced— and precisely what we are striving to do at Bermuda Institute. Remember, the Spirit of God makes the difference in Adventist education! Thank God for those who believe in, and have invested in Adventist education!
Wayne D. Edwards is the principal of the Bermuda Institute in Southampton, Bermuda.