Student Update!

Although we tend to focus on New Americans who have initially settled in St. Louis City and the challenges they and their children face, CFNA is also supporting students who are attending suburban Lutheran schools. In 2019–20, New American children are attending Christ Community Lutheran School in Kirkwood and Webster Groves, Grace Chapel Lutheran School in Bellfontaine Neighbors, and Immanuel Lutheran School in Olivette.

At Grace Chapel, Ellen, a fifth-grader from Liberia, has been supported since she was in first grade, following in the footsteps of her older brother and sister, both of whom now attend Lutheran North. Billy, a fifth-grader from Uganda, and Iye, an eighth-grader who lived in both Liberia and Ghana, have been supported for two years with CFNA scholarships. Iye and her family are debating between Lutheran North and Cardinal Ritter for high school.Daniel and Yusseff, whose parents came from Egypt and are missionaries to Arabic-speaking families in St. Louis, attend CCLS, where they are in second and third grades. With help from their congregation, Epiphany Lutheran in St. Louis, they have received scholarships for three years. Thelma, whose family is from Liberia, is a seventh-grader who has received scholarships since she was in second grade. Webster Gardens and Concordia Lutheran Churches have helped support her as well as her brother, who is now a senior at Lutheran South.

Immanuel Olivette has taught CFNA scholarship students periodically over the last thirteen years of the program. A new student, Ruth from Ethiopia, has just enrolled in fourth grade for the spring semester; fortunately, CFNA could help make that possible with a scholarship. She is very happy in her new school, saying, “The students are a little bit nicer and the work is harder and we get to learn about God. Thank you so much.”

In previous years, Salem Lutheran School in Affton and Green Park Lutheran School in Green Park have also had New American children enrolled with support from CFNA scholarships.

The support that congregations and individual donors provide for the CFNA scholarship program is critical for allowing these children to attend high-quality Lutheran schools in St. Louis County, where few other scholarship resources exist to help these New American families afford a Lutheran education for their children.

By Judith Meyer Timothy Lutheran Church