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Faith and prayer are reclaiming their place in the heart of America’s academic institutions — thanks to dedicated Christian leaders and a supportive Trump administration.

Last Monday, President Donald Trump declared, “America has always been a nation that believes in the power of prayer, and we will never apologise for our faith — ever, ever, never, never. We will never surrender our God-given rights.” This statement was part of Trump’s remarks at the second Religious Liberty Commission gathering at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, the president said that “the Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools.”

In a time where children are being bullied for their faith, and anti-Christian, LGBT agendas are rippling throughout society, this development is being welcomed by many. In fact, Trump’s comments were met with a standing ovation from those in the audience.

Freedom for Faith

At the event, 12-year-old Shea Encinas spoke of his experiences. “I’ve been a Christian my whole life,” he said, “and Jesus means everything to me. When I was in fifth grade, my school forced me to teach my kindergarten buddy about changing his gender using a book called ‘My Shadow Is Pink.’ The book said you can choose your gender based on feelings instead of how God made us.”

Encinas continued, “I knew this was not right, but I was afraid of getting in trouble.” As he went on to explain, his family did speak out, and they were met with hostility. “[K]ids started bullying me and my brother because of our faith,” Encinas stated, “and the school did nothing to stop it. It hurt a lot, but I kept trusting God. I believe kids like me should be able to live our faith at school without being forced to go against what we believe. I hope no other family has to go through what mine did.”

This case marks one of many that have inspired the Trump administration to act and, ultimately, inspired this initiative protecting prayer in public schools. It’s also part of what fuels organisations such as LifeWise Academy, which serves to legally teach the Bible to public school students during the school day. On last Tuesday’s edition of Washington Watch, Joel Penton, founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy, discussed these developments with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.

“This is pretty exciting to me,” Perkins said. “The president is helping to create an environment that is welcoming of faith and not hostile to it. But [for] the church, this is not a time to sit back and become complacent. I think we should be compelled to get behind ministries like yours and start other ministries to get into our schools.” Penton agreed, noting, “It definitely feels as though the pendulum is swinging back.” After decades of “pulling God out of the lives of public school students,” he insisted, “we as a society are seeing how detrimental that has become.”

Time to Act

Penton emphasised the urgency of the moment: “Now is the time to … reintroduce students to the Gospel. Let’s see the word of God go to work.” Perkins reinforced the idea of a cultural shift, cautioning that “there’s a sense of urgency that we need to act now,” because the pendulum could swing back in only a few years.

“Culturally, people are realising the path we’ve gone down has not been working,” he said. “However, the policies of the federal government have a big influence on the direction that, in this case, schools go. And that could change in just a few years. So, now is the time to act.” One group that is seizing the opportunity is LifeWise Academy, which Penton said has seen “incredible” growth.

“We launched our ministry just six years ago,” Penton shared. “Our goal was to serve 25 schools by 2025, and we are already confirmed for this school year to be in over 1,100 schools across 34 states. People all over the country, when they find out it’s possible to teach the Bible during school hours, they’re raising their hands and saying, ‘I want this in my community.’”

He encouraged action, adding, “Go to our website, lifewise.org. You can look up any school district in the nation, and you can see the status [in your area]. … Maybe there’s already a program up and running. Maybe it’s in process. Perhaps you would be the first one to raise your hand and say that ‘I want this in my community.’”

Each school LifeWise is able to connect with is an opportunity for more children to hear the Gospel. As Perkins concluded, “the Trump administration is opening doors, but the church has to go through them. We have to take this truth to children, and we have the opportunity.”

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Republished with thanks to The Washington Stand. Image courtesy of Adobe.