“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” — Psalm 127:1

Spencer, West Virginia, is a small community of just over 2,000 people. We are not located in a large city or a rapidly growing suburb. We are simply trying to be faithful with the ministry God has given us in the place where He has put us. That is one reason this season has been so encouraging to us.

When we look at what God is doing at Faith Christian Academy, there is really only one appropriate response: to God be the glory!

For some time, we have been praying and asking the Lord to help us reach more students and families for Jesus Christ. Our desire has never simply been to grow a school. Our heart is to build a ministry where young people receive an excellent education while being taught to view their lives, their world, and their future through the truth of God’s Word.

God has answered those prayers in ways that continue to humble and amaze us.

We share what God is doing here because we hope it can also be an encouragement to other Christian schools serving in small communities. It can be easy to look at the size of a community, the number of students available, or the resources a school has and assume there is only so much that can be done. We are learning that our responsibility is simply to be faithful with what God has given us and trust Him with the opportunities He chooses to provide.

We have watched students trust Christ as their Saviour. We have seen students saved and even baptized through our chapel services. We have watched the Lord work beyond the classroom and reach entire families. Parents have been saved, baptized, and have become part of a local church.

Those are the victories that matter most.

Academic achievement is important. Fine arts are important. Athletics are important. We want our students to work hard, develop their God-given abilities, and pursue excellence in everything they do. And we have been blessed to see our students succeed in the classroom, in fine arts, and on the athletic field.

But our greatest success will never be measured by a report card, trophy, banner, or award. Our greatest success is seeing lives changed by Jesus Christ! And God continues to change lives almost every week at Faith Christian Academy.

Growing Because God Has Opened the Doors

As we prepare for the 2026–2027 school year, we are excited about what God has placed before us. At the time of this writing, Faith Christian Academy has 114 students, and we are incredibly thankful for every child and every family God has entrusted to our care.

With growth, however, comes new challenges and new opportunities.

Our Spencer campus has more than outgrown our current church facilities. It is a wonderful problem to have, but it is also a very real need. For this school year, we are adding smaller buildings to provide additional space for our students and staff, along with an office building to help accommodate the continued growth.

At the same time, God has opened another tremendous door through the addition and development of our Walton campus. A brand-new 120-by-60-by-14-foot building is being provided for the Walton campus. What an incredible blessing! The communities of Walton and Geary have both experienced the loss of their elementary and middle public schools. Because of that, the opportunity to provide a Christ-centered education and new opportunities for children and families in these communities is tremendous. We believe God has opened a great door for Faith Christian Academy to serve these areas, love these families, and reach another generation with the truth of God’s Word.

Like Spencer, these are small communities. From a human perspective, they may not seem like the places where someone would expect to see a Christian school expanding. But there are children and families in these communities who need to be served, and we want to remain open to whatever opportunities the Lord places before us.

We are humbled by what God is allowing us to do, and we are so thankful that He has allowed us to be a part of it. As we look at the doors He continues to open and the lives He continues to touch, we are reminded of Psalm 118:23: “This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.”

We are also looking forward with great anticipation to what God may do in the Geary area. Our desire had been to open that campus this year, but we came up a little short on the number of students needed to make that possible. For this school year, those students have been combined with our Walton campus. However, we believe the future of a Geary-area campus is very bright.

We are prayerfully looking forward to the possibility of opening that third campus next year, giving Faith Christian Academy another opportunity to serve families, reach young people, and provide Christ-centered education in another community. Sometimes God’s timing is different from ours, but His timing is always right. We are learning to follow the doors He opens, trust Him with the doors that are not quite ready, and remain faithful with every opportunity He places before us.

When you have prayed for God to enlarge your opportunity to reach people and then watch Him begin providing the facilities, people, and resources necessary to do it, you are reminded that this is much bigger than any one person. This is the Lord’s work.

For those serving in smaller Christian schools, we hope that can be an encouragement. A school does not have to be in a large community or have abundant resources for God to use it. We can be faithful where God has placed us, pray for the doors He wants to open, and trust Him to provide what is needed as He leads.

God Uses People

One of the greatest lessons we continue to learn is that when God is doing a work, He often uses His people to accomplish it.

We are especially thankful for Chad and Nona Perkins, who have invested tremendously in Faith Christian Academy and have helped make so much of this growth possible. Their generosity, heart, and investment in this ministry are blessings that we deeply appreciate.

We are also grateful for the many other donors and friends who have contributed during this season of growth. Some have given financially. Others have provided resources, labor, encouragement, prayer, and support.

Every gift matters. Every prayer matters. Every person who has chosen to invest in these young people is helping us accomplish something that reaches far beyond buildings and classrooms. They are investing in the next generation.

We are also incredibly thankful for the fantastic staff God has assembled for the 2026–2027 school year. Buildings are necessary, but buildings do not disciple students. People do. God has given us teachers and staff members who love young people, believe in Christian education, and desire to make an eternal difference. We do not take that for granted.

Committed to the Core

As Faith Christian Academy grows, there are some things that must never change:

• We are committed to the core of who God has called us to be.
• We remain committed to a biblical worldview.
• We remain committed to a Christ-centered education.
• We remain committed to discipling our students and staff.
• We want our students to graduate prepared academically, but we also want them prepared spiritually. We want them to know how to think biblically, live faithfully, serve others, work hard, stand for truth, and follow Jesus Christ in whatever calling God places upon their lives.

Growth is exciting, but growth without purpose can quickly become distraction. Our prayer is that every new student, every new classroom, every new building, and every new opportunity will help us accomplish the mission God has given us. We do not simply want bigger.Rather, we want to have a greater impact for Christ.

We Are Not Doing This Alone

We are also extremely thankful for the WVCEA and the tremendous work they do each day on behalf of Christian schools throughout West Virginia.

The opportunities they provide, the support they offer, and the encouragement they give have been an incredible blessing to Faith Christian Academy. Christian education comes with unique opportunities and challenges, and it is encouraging to know there are people who believe in what Christian schools are doing and are working to help those schools succeed.

We sincerely appreciate the WVCEA’s investment in Christian education and in schools like Faith Christian Academy. Their support, encouragement, and commitment to strengthening Christian education across our state have been a tremendous help and blessing to us.

The Best Is Still Ahead

There is still much work to do.

We continue to pray for God's provision for the future of our Spencer campus. We desperately need a campus that will accommodate the students and families the Lord is sending our way. We are praying, planning, working, and trusting God to lead us one step at a time.

We are thankful for the growth taking place at Walton, and we are excited about the possibility of expanding into the Geary area as God provides the students, resources, staff, and opportunities necessary to make that third campus a reality.

For us, the story is not simply about adding buildings or campuses. It is about watching God work through a Christian school in a small community and then opening opportunities to serve other small communities as well. We hope that reminds other Christian school leaders not to underestimate what God may choose to do in the place where He has called them to serve.

But as we look toward the future, we do so with tremendous confidence—not confidence in ourselves, but confidence in the God Who has brought us this far.

The same God Who:

• saved those students is still saving.
• changed those families is still changing lives.
• provided our staff is still providing.
• opened the door for the Walton campus is still opening doors.
• is preparing the way for future opportunities in the Geary area is already at work.
• has faithfully led Faith Christian Academy to this point already knows what the next chapter holds.

So we move forward with gratitude. We move forward with faith. We move forward committed to the Word of God, committed to Christian education, committed to our families, and committed to reaching another generation for Jesus Christ.

There may be new buildings and new campuses, and there will certainly be new students and new opportunities. But the mission remains the same: Christ at the center, the Bible as our foundation, excellence as our standard, and changed lives as our prayer.

God has been so good to Faith Christian Academy, and for everything He has done, everything He is doing, and everything He will do—

To God be all the glory.