Yellowstone Academy

Yesterday my wife and I attended a breakfast to kick off the 10th Anniversary of Yellowstone Academy. It was an amazing event! It was held at the Westin Galleria, an upscale hotel in one of Houston's Galleria, which is one of the cities landmark locations. The Galleria boasts of some of Houston's finer retail establishments and shops. We were invited by and were guest of kind friend from our church, the City of Refuge,  Karen Geisen. She is a kind lady with a generous heart and it shows. We had dining on white linen tablecloths, fine china, and black tie servers.Yet for all the pomp of the hotel and its service, and the stores and shops in the Galleria, the most beautiful thing that would happen in the Galleria on that day would be the testimonials that would be given by the teachers, students and administrators for Yellowstone Academy.

Yellowstone Academy is a miracle. It is located in Houston's 3rd ward, and is a high quality, faith based private school for those living in poverty, below poverty, and some cases extreme poverty. ( See history here http://www.yellowstoneacademy.org/history/ ) But it is more then a school. It is a sign of hope. For too many children in the 3rd ward, like most poor inner-cities, poverty, crime, drug abuse and a lack of education are go hand in hand like a beach and sand. Its just expected and the way things are....but things are different at Yellowstone Academy. Yellowstone Academy is demonstrating that with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27) The students there are excelling academically far beyond there peers and have high aspirations for the future., while still dealing with the struggles and trials of living in some of the worst and most dangerous situations imagineable. But, they are not allowing the struggles of today to determine their tomorrow. And the statistics show by the cyclical nature, that is not an easy task. But they see their future as given by divine decree. Jer 29:11  says "for I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord, "plans for good and not evil, to give you a future and a hope". They see that hope and dream of that future being able to be realized because of the faithful servants that poor their hearts into their lives at Yellowstone Academy. Because people step outside of their comfort zone to be a blessing to others.

Gadara Ministries is following the lead of ministries like Yellowstone Academy. Although we are not scholastic ministry to children, we see are call as one and the same. A call to make a difference by the power of God. Because real hope and real change only come about as the people of God do the "good works that good prepared in advance for us to walk in"....Eph 2:10