Friendship Adventist School Sees Answered Prayers During Covid

Part 1 of our “Growing Schools” series. 

Michele Gavin, principal of Friendship Adventist School in Linthicum, Maryland, feared for the worst when the Covid-19 pandemic started. “It could’ve just destroyed us,” she says. “But we started praying. The first thing we did is we went to our knees, and God has blessed us.” 
 
Michele and others at the Linthicum church and school have seen God answer those prayers in a powerful way: the school has nearly doubled its enrollment during the pandemic.
 
Before Covid-19, Friendship Adventist School had 19 students enrolled in grades K-8. Today the school has 36 students in the elementary school grades and an additional 10 students in the preschool program. The school recently hired another teacher to accommodate the growing student body. 

“It was just amazing what the prayer did!” says Gavin. “When our enrollment was low, we got together, and we prayed. We prayed for two more students, and then we prayed for four more students, and those prayers just kept getting answered.”
 
Pastor Bob Uhrig of the Linthicum church believes the school’s growth can be directly attributed to prayer and trusting in God’s providence. “It’s when we step out in faith that we see the miracles of God take place,” he says. “It can be scary, but it’s a commitment that’s well worth making. The benefits and rewards of Christian education for our own children and for the children of the community are amazing.”
 
Gavin believes that other churches can learn from their experience in Linthicum. “Linthicum is a pretty small church, and yet here we have a school—that is a testament to what God can do when He wants His light in this community,” she says. “The lesson here is don’t be afraid. Let God lead and just turn Him loose and see what wonderful things He will do.”