I’ve been blessed enough to spend time with the Upper Primary classes during their practice for their Upper Primary concert! And let me tell you that it’s going to be such an incredible experience. The amount of passion our students have on stage, it’s almost surprising that we’re not a performing arts specialised school.

PPN is one of those rare schools that kids can not only flourish but pursue almost any avenue they wish to adventure into. It’s awesome to be a part of all of their experiences, whether it’s academic, STEM, sports, performing arts, did I mention that our chess team came first out of the primary schools and second overall (including high school teams) this week?

God has really blessed this place.

PPN do many things well, but there’s one thing above all others that it is hands down the best at, and that’s being a God focused school. Seeing the teachers attitudes under light to extremely heavy workloads, it’s awesome to see Jesus love shine through them regardless of the challenges they’re facing.

In staff worship this term the chaplaincy team has been dissecting the book of Romans form the Bible. Romans is a letter was written by a man named Paul to the new Christian church in Rome. Paul’s been highlighting what makes Christianity so special. It’s a great question to ask because when we look at it, most religions all around the globe have the same goals and purposes. Be a good person, be kind to others, be diligent in your worship, all for the same goal, whether it’s called Paradise, Shamayim, Vaikuntha, Nirvana, enlightenment, Valhalla or Heaven.

We as religious people all have similar goals, so what makes Christianity different? What makes PPN different from any other religious school?

Paul identifies it perfectly in his letter to the Romans. The answer is grace. Christianity is the only religion where you cannot work your way to heaven. God loves you and by His grace, you are righteous only by faith, and not by doing the right thing. Salvation is a gift, not a reward. We serve a God that’s so loving, there is nothing we can do to make him love us more or love us less. So how is it that we get to heaven? It’s so simple, most people miss it. Our only prerequisite for salvation, is to believe. That’s the kind of love we extend to our students here at PPN. Sure, actions may have consequences, but It’s that same unbiased, unapologetic, unconditional acceptance that we strive emulate that makes PPN special.