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For
the Love
of
Coulee:
A
Student
Testimonial
Written by a member of the Class
of 2011
If you drive by
on your way through town, you might
never know about the brown brick
building with two sidewalks bordering a
beautiful lawn towered over by trees.
It's a refreshing sight to see as you
drive down Garland Street in West Salem.
At 25 miles per hour, you have just
enough time to read the marquee out
front. However, for the three odd
seconds that you take in this sight, you
do not get the whole picture.
Coulee Christian
School is a wonderful school to attend.
To an outsider, it might just look like
an extremely small-size school body in a
building so old that it qualifies as a
historical landmark. But, Coulee
is more than the average school.
It is not just the old building that
makes it special. It is not even
the word Christian in the name.
It is the people who make up the student
body and staff.
The real pride
and joy of Coulee lies in the students.
These young men and women have resolved
to invest their time into a school that
would not only better them academically
but, moreso, spiritually. In
Coulee, Bible class is a resource that
public schools lack in their curriculum.
This is a way
that Coulee students are set apart.
Their exposure to God's Word every day
adds to their knowledge of God and His
wonders. The students acquire more
ammunition in their arsenal for
spiritual warfare than the average
teenager who goes to a public school.
Their hearts are
different as well. Many students
have made an extra push in the area of
their Christian walk. After the
yearly high school retreat to Living
Waters Bible Camp in the fall of 2009,
the students decided to have extra
prayer and worship time during lunch two
days a week. These times are
available for anyone in the student body
or staff to access and spend more time
with the Lord. A member of the
class of 2010 said, "We wanted to have a
time other than chapel where we could
worship God." It just shows the
application of Philippians 3:13-14 where
Paul urges us to strain and press toward
the goal of Christ.
The focus on
God's Word changes the students from the
inside out. Witnessing this change
is an incredible sight. A
committment to Christ leads to the
filling of the Spirit. The fruits
of the spirit, as stated in Galatians
5:22-23 are:
love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and
self-control. This is
why the students of Coulee are the way
they are. As new students come in,
whether they are believers or
unbelievers, they are almost taken aback
by the kindness and acceptance of the
students. When asked, our high
school Bible teacher said, "I have seen
many students come through Coulee over
the years who have been deeply touched."
You cannot spend any time at Coulee
without witnessing the great love that
bonds the students together. The
students really try to show Christ's
love through their actions.
So, what is the
big deal about Coulee? It is the
things that set us apart. The main
thing is that the students love the Lord
with all their hearts and have the
opportunity to learn more about Him!
THAT is the big deal about Coulee.
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