Faith in Action: NRCA Partners with North Raleigh Ministries to Serve Local Families

By Grier Herring, Shield Editor 

With open and ready hearts, students at North Raleigh Christian Academy are turning faith into action through the schoolwide service project. This fall, NRCA is partnering with North Raleigh Ministries, a local nonprofit that helps families in the Raleigh area who are facing challenges or financial burdens. 

Mr. Josh Leonard, NRCA’s Dean of Spiritual Formation and Discipleship, helps lead the project. He shared the purpose behind this year’s effort. “North Raleigh Ministries is an organization that serves families here in our area that may be going through hard times or maybe families in need,” Leonard explained. “NRCA is coming alongside NRM to [collect] items to support the ministry that they are doing in our area.” 

NRCA’s service projects are intentional in their design each year. The school chooses one ministry or organization to focus on. According to Leonard, this decision is part of a bigger idea for the school. “The reason we do this is really a part of a broader vision that, as a school, our desire is to engage the heads, the hands, and the hearts of our students,” he said. 

Projects like this allow students to practice serving others with their hands and to connect hearts to the greater lesson of caring for the community. “We don’t just come in to try to bring in a bunch of items and see how high the number can get—it’s not meant to be a game or activity,” Leonard said. “The hope is that students begin to see the very real needs in the world around them, starting with our local community.” 

Leonard encourages students to be the hands and feet of Jesus by participating in the purchase of donations. “My hope for projects like these is that students would take the time to actively go search out these items in a local store,” he said. “And they would put them in a plastic bag and bring them to school, but my hope [is also] that families will begin to pray over those items that are being brought in and how they are going to be used in families in our community.” 

He emphasized that service at NRCA is rooted in the gospel. “When we step into those spaces to meet those needs, we get a bigger opportunity to share with them the ultimate hope that can be found in Christ,” he explained. 

This year’s service project will meet significant, immediate needs in the community. North Raleigh Ministries provided a list of items that families request most often. These include everyday needs, from food to household items like detergent. The school divided the list across the three divisions, giving every family a chance to participate in an impactful way. 

NRCA students can also get involved outside the walls of their school. North Raleigh Ministries always welcomes volunteers to help with sorting donations, organizing, and assisting in the distribution process. Students are encouraged to reach out to North Raleigh Ministries to find opportunities to serve their community. 

The schoolwide service project is more than a school activity. It’s an opportunity to live out faith in action. Leonard said, “Our prayer for this service project and all the ones we do, is that we would seek to share with people the hope and freedom that can be found in Jesus.”