July 2007 

It was just after midnight when my daughter, Shannon called out to me, “The school is burning!” “What?” I asked incredulously. A call had come notifying us of the fire. My wife Julie, who is a teacher at the school, the administrator, (who ‘happened’ to be at my home that evening) and myself rushed to our cars and sped off to the school. As I drove I could smell the smoke even up to several miles away.  

Upon arrival we had to park two blocks from the school due to all the fire vehicles on the block. It was a three-alarm fire (9/11 was an 8 alarm fire) and there must have been at least 25 trucks, ambulances, police, and emergency vehicles at the scene. We looked on as the flames came bursting out from the place we have called “our school” for a year now. We stayed until three in the morning as the efforts of the firemen were winding down. While no one was hurt, PTL! we were told that the building was totally destroyed. I am enclosing two photos of the damage. As you can see the fire devastated the facility. 

Messiah’s Reformed Fellowship (URCNA) is the church plant that I serve here in New York City. One of the many things which set us apart as a Christian church in NYC is our view of the covenant. Scripture teaches that God and His promises are to us and to our children (Gen. 17:2, Acts 2:39). Historically this has meant that whenever our forefathers planted a church, there was usually a Christian day school not far behind. Believing this to be a Biblical pattern, I have sought to imitate it here in the Big Apple.  

NYC needs churches that are uncompromisingly committed to the Reformed faith. We are planting one and envision others. But in order to have a multi-generational impact on this town we must have Christian education. Hence the need for a school to disciple converts and their children “teaching them to obey everything” Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:20). 

Inheritance Christian Academy began three years ago with three students and one teacher. Today we have 15 students and five teachers for five grades. All of our students are children of first generation Christians. The families are committed to a Reformed Christian education where students learn to see all of life through the lenses of Scripture. They are taught to apply all of the Bible to all of life and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 

The building which burned down was the parish hall of an Episcopal church. The school was one of many tenants that used the facility (a theater troupe, two other churches, a narcotics support group, etc.). We however, were there on a daily basis for 10 months of the year. So while this fire has displaced many, our school was hit the hardest. 

We need your help!  Will you prayerfully consider with us the following options as we look to September and a new school year? 

The ideal would be to purchase our own building or a house that could be converted for our purposes. This could serve our ministry in more ways than just as a school. It could be a multi-purpose facility. The building would be a school as well as house teachers and also serve as housing for church missions trips. Housing teachers (those who would come as short-term missionaries) and church groups (here to do evangelism) has been a problem for us. Hotels are prohibitively expensive, apartments are crowded and small thus impractical, and homes are in very short supply. A facility would solve the space problem. It would meet the school’s need, and aid in the church’s efforts as well. I think it’s a win-win if ever there was one. But it is not an inexpensive solution – such a facility runs in the $ 400-500,000 price range. 

A second option would be to rent a building or house large enough to accommodate us. Apart from the obvious downside of renting versus owning (money gone vs. equity built), we would have to find a willing landlord. That is no small task in NYC! Let me explain. Immediately after the fire we needed somewhere to meet! A Christian friend generously offered her apartment. We accepted and moved the girls’ division into the space only to have the landlord request we vacate. He, for various reasons, did not want a school meeting on his property. So we had to move again, this time moving to our parsonage. This has been fine to finish out the year, and we were thankful and happy to offer our home. However we cannot have our small house accommodate my family of seven plus three or more classes of students.  

A third option is to find another facility to rent similar to what we lost in the fire. Preliminary searches have yielded nothing except to show us that such properties are difficult to find. The churches we have looked at are already full and have no available space for rent. Other possibilities (such as Knights of Columbus and American Legion halls) have told us that they do not want to rent to a school since most have a bar where alcohol is served. Not an ideal environment for our Christian students. 

I have found this letter very difficult to write.  Asking people for money has never been an easy task for me. I must however, put forth this plea not only for my own children (who attend the school) but for the other families and our ministry at large. 

God in His kind and gracious providence has used you to help grow our small church.  Now, I ask for your financial support, if possible, to keep our school open and expand our ministry opportunities. 
 

His servant,

  and yours, 

Main Hall where three of the classes were held

Firemen the next day examining for any embers still burning