Ready to Celebrate

April 3, 2025

From Jeff Freeman

This time of year, everyone begins to think about the sacrifice that Jesus and the Father were willing to make for Their lost world. They pulled out all the stops. The ultimate gift was given! Jesus willingly left all of heaven and gave His life. Over the Easter season, please take a few moments to consider all His story consists of - all the steps before His death & resurrection and all His decisions & choices that had to do with saving His lost world.  

I would like the opportunity to tell you the story of decisions and choices that are being made here at MAC and Carman. To be fair, this story of choices & decisions technically is not as serious as Jesus’ decision, but it could be part of His story. Consider this story and how your choices and decisions could impact lives today!

With the homeless population increasing around our area, we have seen a higher occurrence of homeless and unknown people coming onto our property when school is in session or trying to live/sleep on the premises. Even though the police are called, and individuals are talked to and removed, they continue to come. During these encounters, it has become obvious that if there were a boundary around the premises it would be better. Despite having signs that this is a church and school campus, a physical boundary (fence) speaks louder than the words on our signs.

This has created many discussions & concerns like:

1.      How can we have a fenced, gated, and more secure campus?

2.      How do we keep from looking like a prison?

3.      How do we afford putting up a fence?  

After much discussion between MAC families & board, Carman families & board and local authorities, a plan has been put together. The plan started by putting a fence at the entrance to the campus and fencing in our outdoor classroom. Just this step alone has cut down on any unwanted traffic coming through the main entrance. Praise the Lord! That still leaves the entrance at the bottom of the hill (by the AAA/Carman North building) exposed. We are still having issues with unwanted people coming onto campus this way.

The next step of the plan will be to finish fencing the rest of the campus. This will also include installing a manual gate on the AAA/Carman North exit, which will be kept closed during school hours. Part of this step is also clearing almost all the trees behind the gym, all the way to the new fence line. We’ve had issues in the past with people camping in these “woods”. By taking down most of the trees/foliage, we hope to eliminate the ability and desire to hid out on our campus.

Do these steps guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen on the MAC property? No. Do we believe that these steps are the best that can be done in the world in which we live today to maintain the safety of our kids and staff while also being able to connect with our local community? Yes!

This does lead me to share with you that these steps don’t come cheap. Step one was covered by the school & church.

Step two comes with a higher price tag, and the boards can’t just “cover it”. The cost is $35,000, but a donor has committed to a matching fund of $15,000 towards the goal! That means we only need to raise the remaining $20,000, and Carman & MAC Families have already begun donating towards this goal. Over the last two weeks, the school has challenged the students to see who can bring in the most coins and which class can bring in the most money. The competition has been fierce!

I am happy to share with you that as of this writing (on Thursday, April 3), we have raised $11,750 towards the $20,000 goal!  

We would love to have the fence and gate up before the end of this school year on May 22. For that to be the final part of this story, we must finish the fundraising first. I dream of writing the date of April 30, 2025, when every dollar was raised. Will you join us in being able to finish the story in that time frame?  

If you can assist in helping us finish this the fundraising, here are 3 ways you can help:

1)      Click this link and make your donation

2)      Bring in cash or check to the school office

3)      You can print this off to share with your friends

April 30, 2025 is just around the corner, and we are ready to celebrate what Jesus is doing here on the MAC/Carman campus! Thank you in advance for joining us for this great celebration!