First Baptist Church Litchfield
LCS Fundraiser 04/12/25
  • Goodness Of God
  • Empowered by the Spirit, Guided by the Word

  • The struggle is real

    In the hallways of her school, Emily walked with her head down, trying to escape the relentless bullying that had become a daily torment. Her clothes were old, likely handed down or bought at the Salvation Army; just another stark reminder of the poverty that gripped her family. She felt the sting of isolation as her classmates jeered and taunted her, their words cutting deep into her fragile self-esteem. The school was supposed to be a place of learning and growth, but for Emily, it was a battlefield where she struggled to survive each day.
    Emily's home life offered no respite from her troubles. Her family was fractured, broken by years of substance abuse and neglect. Her mother had fallen into the grip of addiction, leaving Emily to fend for herself. Her father was long gone, serving a ten year prison sentence for drug related robbery. The weight of their absence bore heavily on Emily, dragging her down into a mire of despair. Without guidance or support, she found it difficult to focus on her studies. Her impaired learning became another hurdle, and the gap between her and her peers widened with each passing day.
    Despite the chaos that surrounded her, Emily yearned for something more, something beyond the harsh realities of her life. Sadly, she had never been introduced to the solace and community that faith and the church could offer. Her days were devoid of hope, and she wandered through life with a sense of lost direction.
    Emily represents a group of children I never new existed in Litchfield until the Lord began to press on the heart of our church a burden for our community. It began with a simple question,
    “Would the community of Litchfield weep if First Baptist Church were no longer here?”
    As the elders of the church gathered to ponder this question, we were left with a sense that we were not reaching our community as effectively as we could. This prompted us to begin praying for the Lord to reveal the darkest areas of Litchfield and Macoupin County. We asked ourselves,

    In which parts of our community and county does Satan have the strongest hold?

    Where can we commit our resources to be the brightest light of Christ?

    God answered our prayer. After months of analyzing our community, we identified five areas of darkness that need the hope of Christ: poverty, substance abuse, broken family dynamics, impaired learning, and being disconnected from the churched.
    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a concerning 17.8 percent of our children are living below the poverty line, adding up to nearly 5,000 children in Montgomery County. Additionally, over 20 percent of the population struggles with binge drinking, and evidence from the Illinois Department of Health shows that Montgomery County has sadly experienced one of the highest increases in opioid abuse and dependency since 2017. The Montgomery County Health Department reinforces this observation in its health assessment plan, revealing that 21 percent of children aged 0 to 3 have a parent facing challenges with substance abuse. Family dynamics can be particularly challenging when parents deal with a mix of limited education, mental health struggles, and past trauma. According to the report from the Montgomery Health Department via their assessment survey with Learning Express, about thirty percent of these children have at least one parent grappling with a mental illness. Alarmingly, thirty-seven percent have a parent without a GED or high school diploma. It's heartbreaking to note that twenty-six percent of these families face homelessness, while twenty-three percent include a parent who has experienced some form of sexual abuse. Our community is also affected by family breakups due to divorce or incarceration.
    According to the latest data from the Illinois Report Card, our K-12 students' math proficiency rate is between 11 percent and 22 percent. This means that 78% of our children are not quite reaching grade-level standards in math. Only 18% of 8th graders are successfully passing algebra. At the high school level, we see 22% of students proficient in reading and math, while 54% do well in science. In our Litchfield School District, about 20% of our children have Individual Educational Plans, meaning there are 260 students with special needs who need support. Additionally, we have 19% of our students facing attendance challenges, and 9% experiencing homelessness. It's worth noting a recent survey from The Pew Research Center, which found that 34% of Illinois residents attend church weekly, 33% go once or twice a month, and 32% seldom or never participate. We have so much to be proud of in Montgomery County and Litchfield. Yet, beneath our quaint and relatively stable community lies the hidden struggles faced by many of our neighbors. These statistics became more than just numbers when the challenges of the world pandemic brought stories like Emily's to light doorstep.
    During the COVID-19 pandemic, FBCL created a wonderful program called Tending the Vine. As schools shifted to a hybrid learning model, where students attended in-person classes just two days a week, we opened our doors to support those who needed a little extra help at home. From 8am to 2:30pm, our amazing volunteers welcomed fifty students in grades 1 through 6. We were there to assist them with their schoolwork, even for those who came with up to 100 overdue assignments! Every day, we provided breakfast and lunch, along with tutoring in math and reading. Through Tending the Vine, we had the privilege of getting to know the “Emily’s” of Litchfield. We learned the names and stories of the children and their families behind the statistics- those facing poverty, battling addiction, experiencing family challenges, and many who were discovering faith for the first time in a church community.
    I once heard a pastor say,

    “Your community’s problem does not become a problem until you make it your problem.”

    These people are our neighbors, and this community is our community. That means their problems and struggles are our problems and struggles. We can no longer turn a blind eye to what God has revealed to us. After three years of using Tending the Vine as a platform to help students, we realized that TTV was a small part of a greater calling. We were overwhelmed by the magnitude of these struggles. We kept asking God,

    How can we sufficiently address these issues with real solutions that have a lasting effect over time?

    What can we do to help stop the generational cycles of poverty?

    How do we help break the chains of substance abuse?

    How can we help families flourish and heal?

    How can we best serve children who struggle in the classroom to find competence and confidence to be successful?

    How can we disciple them in the faith?

    God made the answer clear:

    Litchfield Christian School.

    What better way to stop that cycles of poverty than to give children robust skills that equip them and a value system that serves them? What better way to break the chains of addiction than to constantly cast a vision for their life that not only inspires them, but equips them to keep the chains off from the start? What better way to help families heal and to flourish than to teach them God’s design for family and create a space for intentional family ministry? What better way to help a child with impaired learning than to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment where they are given the tools and opportunity to succeed, while their dignity and worth remain intact. What better way to introduce them to the community of faith, than to use the space and the church body to serve these students and families.
    God has given us a mission:

    Mission: To strengthen families and empower children with a Christ-centered education so they can learn, lead, and serve in the church, community, and home.

    God tells us in his word
    Proverbs 22:6 ESV
    6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
    To train up a child is to dedicate them to the right way of living. It is the set them on the right path at a young age to fear the Lord, walk wisely, and avoid the danger of foolishness. Parents are the primary teachers in their child’s life. The church is a champion of the family. The school is a tool of the church uses to help champion parents to apply Proverbs 22:6 in their child’s life. With this in mind, our mission is driven by seven convictions:

    Every child needs faith in Christ.

    Children are spiritual beings made in the image of God. Therefore, we will instruct your child’s heart and mind to worship God in spirit and truth (Genesis 1:26-27; Proverbs 1:7; John 4:12).

    Every child needs to learn to reason well.

    God has endowed children with reason. Accordingly, to flourish, we must develop their ability to exercise their reason. Therefore, we will teach your child to exercise discernment and to walk in knowledge (Proverbs 4:7-9; Psalm 32:9).

    Every child needs wisdom.

    God has sovereignly set consistent patterns of creational order in place; hence, education must teach certain basic subject matters that reveal those patterns to all people. Therefore, we will instruct your child’s heart and mind in moral and practical wisdom that helps them flourish (Genesis 2; Psalm 19; Matthew 5-7).

    Every child needs truth.

    God’s truth is the center of all instruction. Consequently, teaching truth must be the priority in the learning environment. Therefore, we will teach your child eternal and creational truths and ways to practice them so that they can flourish (Psalm 19:1-7; 119:142; John 14:6).

    Every child needs inter-generational relationships.

    Throughout the ages, God's eternal and earthly wisdom has been passed down and proven over time. It is passed down by the old mentoring the young. Therefore, we will cultivate a value of community with intergenerational relationships to help develop connection and instruct your child's mind and heart with the wisdom that has stood the test of time (Job 12:12; 32:7).

    Every child needs to mature.

    God commands children to be discipled into adulthood. So, education must prepare the child to walk wisely in the ways of the Lord. They must learn to value work ethic, responsibility, accountability, courage, compassion, and excellence. Therefore, we will guide your child toward maturity as they grow into adulthood (Deuteronomy 6:1-6; Proverbs 7:1-3; Ephesians 5:15-21).

    Every family needs the church to champion them toward the work God has called them to accomplish.

    God has designated parents as the primary disciple-makers of their children.  One of the church's primary ministries is to champion families toward health and prosperity so that they can flourish.  When families flourish, society flourishes. To champion families is to support marriage relationships, equip parents with wisdom and resources for effective parenting, value intergenerational relationships by using older saints to mentor younger saints, set high expectations for fathers and assist them in meeting those expectations, advocate passionately for orphans and widows, and train future families to have healthy relationships with God and one another.
    Our mission will be realized when

    Vision: We see families flourish and students empowered to learn in the faith, lead with purpose, and serve with love, shaping our community with Christ’s abundant life.  

    L.C.S: Where families flourish and children are empowered

    God has not called you here tonight to simply invest in education. He has called you to invest in reformation and transformation. He’s calling you to be an agent of mercy that makes straight what darkness has made crooked. He is calling you to be an instrument in the Redeemer's hands, loving your neighbor by participating in a mission to bring the warmth and life that His light provides to the darkest corners of our community.  He’s calling you to be a means of grace to families and children who yearn for abundant life.
    As I raise my own five children in this world, I am convinced, if we are not diligent to train up our children in the way they should go, the world is waiting for the opportunity to shape them in its own image. No child or family in our community, should ever feel devoid of hope, aimlessly wandering without purpose. Every family should have the opportunity to give their children the chance to flourish. So we invite all families, rich or poor, broken or whole, abled or disabled, church or unchurched to join the L.C.S family so we can flourish together and empower our children to learn in the faith, lead with purpose, and serve with love, shaping our community with Christ’s abundant life.
First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
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