It was hot, humid and the ceremony had been going for three hours. This beautiful Christian school in Mwanza, Tanzania was holding its graduation ceremony and I had been invited as a guest because of its partnership with my former school. Everyone was incredibly gracious, from their energetic and engaging Head of School (pictured) to the five-year-olds sitting quietly in the front row. My presence there was invited, but not because of my (cough, cough) sparkling personality; rather, because of my position as the Headmaster of a partnering Christian school in the US. Every word I spoke to the attending crowd had nothing to do with me. It had everything to do with what I was a representative of–my school, and American Christians generally. I was fulfilling a role as ambassador.

The mission of NCS is to equip ambassadors. And for 68 years, we’ve been doing so. Children and young adults receive formation…guide rails by which the paths of their lives are marked out (Prov. 22:6).  The goal of our forefathers and those of us here today is that students would become fully ready to set their egos aside, find fulfillment in their purpose (to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever) and serve as Christ’s Ambassadors in the world. Interestingly, in both the Old and New Testaments (Hebrew and Greek), the term for Ambassador ( צִיר and presbeuō) means “messenger” and “representative,” respectively.

That is what Christ’s Ambassadors do, they deliver the message of Christ as they represent Him in the world. They do this not by sitting back and critiquing everything and everyone that they believe to be wrong, or conversely, conforming to the image of the world. Rather, a true Ambassador engages with the world, shining the light in dark places.The Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Ps 119:105). Picture an oil lamp that brightens only the area around which you are standing, not a spotlight that can light up an area from afar. In order for ambassadors to bring the light to the darkness, they must go to where it is dark.

Our mission at Norfolk Christian, above all else, is to equip young humans with both the knowledge of and experience with God’s unchanging Word so that when they leave this community, each one will shine the light wherever God sends them.

It is the mission of Norfolk Christian Schools to equip students spiritually, intellectually and physically to love God and to serve Him as Christ’s ambassadors in the world.