Dear Parents,

As part of our school mission, we believe that ‘inspiring learners to reflect Jesus everywhere” is an outflow of equipping students. We desire for them to live out their faith through service both in our immediate community, as well as in our larger world. Part of this is providing good models that will inspire and guide them in that direction.

This morning, we heard from Wendy Thiessen during our chapel time. She is the director of PiFò Haiti, an organization that provides education bursaries, food programs and teacher training scholarships on the island of La Gonâve in Haiti. While Wendy is from Burlington, she travels to Haiti 3 to 4 times a year and has partnered with Haitian staff that take care of the daily operations. 

As part of her presentation, she asked our students to reflect on Mark 10:51 when Jesus asks,  “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 

Oftentimes, we assume that we know the needs of certain individuals or people groups. Whether we are correct in our assumptions or not, we can follow Jesus’ lead and ask the question, “What do you need?”  This gives space for us to hear from that person and take a position of humility. In turn, this will help us to build better relationships with those we wish to help. 

She also gave us the following advice when serving others: Learn their language and culture (or background). Respect others’ opinions and perspectives. Be open to different answers. Tell others about what you have learned.
All of these things will help us to have a more positive and long-lasting impact on the people we wish to bless. This is even applicable to us in our Burlington context as we serve our neighbours in the Tansley Woods area or as we partner with the Men’s Street Ministry to make masks for those who are homeless and walking the streets of Hamilton. 
Our hope is that this will spur us onto be the hands and feet of Jesus in Burlington and wherever else He calls us to serve as individuals and collectively as a community. Please continue to pray that the initiatives that we have undertaken this year to serve others will be a blessing and have a great impact. 

Sincerely,
J-D Lussier, Principal