There are some people whose work makes you grateful they are part of your community, and for me, the people of Peacemakers and the scholars of Southside Academy are among them.
Thursday evening I attended the Peacemakers Rocky Mount Picnic, their annual fundraiser, where a bluegrass band provided the beat and energy as people arrived, friends, supporters, generous givers, all gathered around an organization that is an important presence in our community.
As I thought about the evening afterward, a verse came to mind.
“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
1 John 3:18
That may be as good a description of Peacemakers as I can find.
There is no shortage of conversation about what our communities need, about children who deserve opportunity, about education, poverty, families, faith and hope. These are important conversations, but eventually somebody has to put love to work.
Peacemakers does.
Their work surrounds children and families in many ways. There is an after school program, summer programming, tutoring, Book Parties, the Christmas Toy Store, and other efforts that meet practical needs while also building relationships. Each one says to a child, and to a family, you matter, we see you, we are willing to show up.
At the center of it all now is an increasingly clear long term commitment to education.
Southside Academy has 81 scholars this year. I love that the children are called scholars, because there is expectation in the word. It looks beyond where a child may be standing today and speaks instead to where that child can go.
Peacemakers’ educational work is producing measurable results. In its six week Level Up summer literacy program, scholars gain an average of 14 months or more in reading growth, an extraordinary result in such a short period of time.
Southside Academy also keeps its classrooms intentionally small, with about a 12 to 1 scholar to teacher ratio, giving children the individual attention that can make such a difference in both confidence and learning.
The education they receive is Christ centered, but the mission reaches beyond a classroom lesson. Peacemakers approaches children through the lens of the whole child, spiritually, academically, emotionally, socially. God uses the school, the teachers, the volunteers, the families, and all those who support this work to make a difference that may not be fully visible for years.
That is the long view.
A Book Party matters. An afternoon spent with a tutor matters. A summer spent strengthening reading skills matters. A parent choosing Christmas gifts with dignity matters. A teacher encouraging a child matters. None of these things stands alone. Together they become part of the foundation on which a life can be built.
Education may be the clearest expression of what Peacemakers believes God is calling them to do, because education carries hope forward.
It is not the quick answer.
It is the patient answer.
Changing a child’s future happens one book, one tutoring hour, one school day, one encouraging adult, one prayer at a time.
Thursday night’s picnic was a celebration of what has already been accomplished, but the work continues.
Right now, Peacemakers needs volunteers willing to tutor.
They need people willing to pray.
And Peacemakers needs a bus.
If you are a praying person, you might add that bus to your list.
Peacemakers and the Academy have shown us what happens when love stops being only a good intention and becomes something that gets done.
