Students put beliefs to test

Published 10:54 am Monday, March 24, 2014

Mountain View Christian School’s principal Larry Arnott decided to use news images and stories from Haiti’s recent earthquake as an compassion exercise. When he asked the students, ages 6-14, if they’d like to help, the answer was "Yes!"

They put donation containers into two of their churches, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Eastern Hills Community Church, both in Sequim. The students created the containers, progress charts and advertising posters, and the results exceeded expectations: They raised $540.

Adventist Development and Relief Agency was chosen to distribute the money in Haiti.

Two of the 20 students wrote:

"I thought it was sad about Haiti and I wanted to be generous with my things and share." – John Cotter, 12.

"My first reaction was, are the people there OK? And my second reaction was, what do the towns look like after the earthquake?" – Sam Manders, 14.

Students were encouraged to do small jobs to earn money or to give of their allowances, making this a personal lesson in applying their Christianity to the world as well as showing compassion to strangers.