Ireland Students Visit Liberty Christian School
- Ireland 2010
One of the most significant outcomes of the Liberty Spring Break mission trip to Ireland last year was the partnership that began between LCS and another LCS, Limerick Christian School, in Limerick, Ireland.
“This school is separated from us by thousands of miles and the Atlantic Ocean, but their vision to educate students with a Biblical worldview lies at the heart of our own mission statement,” said Liberty Youth Pastor Chris Searcy. “It was such a blessing to work alongside these generous and grateful teachers and students that entire week.”
Liberty went to Ireland, and now Ireland came to Liberty, with the arrival last week of its five seniors and their founder and administrator, Dorothy Hall.
“The Limerick students attended Liberty classes, were recognized at a pep rally, went to a football and volleyball game, and participated in a school Bible study and service project with our students,” said Searcy.
In the staff devotional this morning, Dorothy Hall said this trip was life-changing for her and the Limerick students. She said that her students want to be just like Liberty’s because she said, “Your students are so much like Christ.” Hall said she was so encouraged seeing the light of Christ shine in Liberty students not only at school but also in their homes.
She said the highlight of her trip was her time receiving wisdom in her visit with Liberty President Dr. Rodney Haire. She said the students’ highlight was seeing the football team bow their knee in prayer when a player was injured on the field last Friday.
“It brought tears to our eyes,” she said.
Before the staff devotional came to a close, Upper School Vice Principal Mark Bowles made an important announcement to staff. He said he really felt led, after visiting with Hall yesterday and learning about how limited their finances are at Limerick, to ask Liberty’s faculty to give the Limerick team a financial gift to possibly provide the first Christmas bonuses Limerick teachers have ever received.
Within 45 minutes, the Liberty faculty contributed more than $10,000 to Limerick Christian School, just in time before the Limerick group departed and returned to Ireland today.
How did the idea come about for Limerick students to visit Liberty?
Searcy said, “On our Spring Break trip to Ireland, several of our veteran teachers, Dr. Sarah Lippe, Claire Batey, and Ann Smith, all had opportunities to sit down and encourage Limerick’s relatively young staff, who are the educators and ministers in their school. By the end of the week, it was very common to hear our teachers inviting them to come see our school, but even more common was to hear the Limerick teachers saying they would love to see what happens here at Liberty on a weekly basis.
“The students at Limerick were also inspired and motivated to do the same thing that our students did, which was to raise money and travel around the world to visit another Christian school that has the same heart as they do.”
Searcy added, “The students in Ireland had a Texas barbecue last spring and raised a few thousand dollars to come here, and our own students bought Limerick Christian rugby T-shirts to help raise money to make this trip possible as well. That project was spearheaded by Athletic Director Greg Price and Yearbook Sponsor Vickie Morgan.”
Morgan said, “It was awesome last Spring Break to have the opportunity to minister through service for our Lord at Limerick Christian School in Ireland. You could feel God’s presence as we walked through the doors of their school. He has given Liberty the heart to mentor this wonderful school, and true to God’s amazing power, He supplied the way for the seniors and Limerick’s founder to come visit us at Liberty. Words cannot express the joy this has brought to us!”
It was a pleasure and honor for Liberty to host Limerick’s five seniors, who are the first graduating class of Limerick Christian School. Both LCSs are striving to glorify the Lord in every way and send students into the world prepared to make a difference. Limerick will soon change its name to Liberty and will adopt Liberty’s mascot of the Warrior, so there will be another Liberty Christian School across the Atlantic. To learn more about the school, visit www.limerickchristiancentre.org.