Stepping out in faith

Stepping out in faith and trusting in God's provision

Darren and Brenda Bjork

We are so thankful for Maranatha Christian Academy! We have been members of Living Word since 2003 and started our children at MCA a year later. We have been blessed to send all five of our children to MCA. Our oldest son, Connor, started in third grade and is now 25 years old. He is doing great and has been in property management for the last seven years. Our daughter, Alyia, 21, started in preschool and is now in her last year of college. She just accepted a full-time position with an energy company where she started as an intern. Our second son, Alec, 18, graduated from MCA last year and is playing Jr. hockey on the Minnesota Squatch team out of Elk River. Our youngest children, Luke and Anna, 15, are in 9th grade this year. Luke is playing hockey for Osseo/ Maple Grove this year and Anna is on the MCA junior varsity volleyball team.

Sending our five kids to MCA was definitely a faith journey. The Lord put it on our hearts to enroll our oldest son almost 20 years ago, not really knowing how we’d do it financially. We were stepping out in faith that first year and every year thereafter. One year in particular, we really didn’t see how, in the natural, we could possibly come up with the tuition.

I remember on a Sunday, after a tense morning of worrying about finances, my husband and I decided to pray, saying “Lord, we know you want our kids at MCA, so we look to You to provide for their tuition this year, we put it in your hands.” The next day we got a call from the head of school, telling us that someone had paid for all four of our kids’ tuition in full. We still do not know who that was but miraculously God provided! Things happen when we finally put it in His hands. Thank God for His faithfulness! He is our provider!

I am convinced that the faith-filled messages, based on the Word of God  that we were hearing at church down the hall, were what gave us the faith to believe for each year at MCA. I encourage you, if you know the Lord has put an education at MCA on your hearts, to believe in Him to provide financially.

I challenge you in this, as He is no respecter of persons, and what He has done for us, I know He will do for you! Take advantage of God’s provision by faith, to enable you to become part of the Maranatha family. God is good! The school worked with us many times throughout the years and trusted God with us. We are so thankful for everyone, from the head of school, the administrative team, the teachers, and faculty. They have covered our kids with God’s love and wisdom and the time and dedication they put forth are evidenced in the good fruits we see in our children today.

The environment at MCA is so supportive to the spiritual and academic growth of the kids. I also believe the synergistic bond between MCA and Living Word has greatly impacted our kids’ lives, as they were able to see many of their friends from school at church. I love that at our school, kids have the chance for praise and worship through chapel and other activities that allow them to demonstrate their faith and grow closer to the Lord!

Clearly, our experience at MCA has been a huge blessing and is something we are so thankful for! To God be the glory! I want to agree in prayer with any family that desires to have their kids at MCA. “Thank you, Lord, for meeting their needs and providing a way for them to get their kids in MCA and keep them there!” With all that is going on in the world today, we have even more reason to believe and trust God for our kids to be at this unique school. I believe MCA has been put in place for this time!