CBDS WORLDWIDE MISSIONS AND EDUCATION

Calvary Baptist Day School

The above link is to news about and from a missions trip by Calvary Baptist Students. These students are spending their spring break in service to others in the country of Costa Rica. In my article titled IT'S THE PARENTS FAULT, I told about recent studies showing Mormon students perform better than Protestant students at the University of North Carolina. The Mormon students are able to articulate their beliefs; they know who they are and why they are in school. They are less likely to engage in risky behaviors such as alcohol abuse, drug abuse and sexual activities. Their performance in class shows that the students are in school to learn.

I wrote that the major reasons for the poor relative performance of US high school students are the attitudes of the parents (which are passed on to the students). Many parents in our society see more value in having their 16 year old son or daughter earn extra spending money "flipping burgers" than participating on a mission trip or performing in a school play.

Maintaining a part-time job to assist with family finances is honorable, but usually not of high importance. In most cases, it is the child that wants the job in order to "live like a king". The parents support or condone the work activity but are then frustrated about the time and money spent at activities such as cruising the town, going to the movies, playing video games, etc.

The Calvary Baptist student statistics indicate that these poor attitudes do not prevail among Calvary Baptist parents. From memory, I believe it is true that 98% of the students attend college. Like any group, some folks make mistakes along the way. The statistics at UNC show that Protestant students as a group perform better than most other students in the same measures where the Mormon students excel. I suspect that the CBDS students perform equally as well as the Mormon students.

The students in Costa Rica are to be congratulated. These folks are making a difference in the lives of others. These young folks would not have made this trip without the support of their parents. Congratulations to the parents; they have started an unknown number of chain reactions that will continue throughout eternity.