Red Sands Christian School Update

Written by Joel Augustus, Executive Vice President of Global Strategy

Lifeline has a long-term goal for all of our ministry sites to financially self-sustain their ongoing operating costs, including our school in Winslow, Arizona: Red Sands Christian School.

Red Sands Christian School has taken a major step toward arriving at that goal of self-sustainability! 501(c)3 papers have just recently been filed so that the school will be recognized as its own legal identity. This is exciting news for them and for Lifeline!

Self-sustainability will not happen overnight. Or even in a year’s time. Growing sources of revenue to cover all operating costs will happen incrementally. 

So, Lifeline will still need financial support to support this ministry for the foreseeable future, until the school’s revenue streams are sufficient to fully cover operating expenses.

The school’s advisory board and leadership are exploring new funding sources (including local and state sources) and are considering a potential school expansion that would allow more students to attend the school while also bringing in more revenue.

As the school becomes self-sustaining, Lifeline will shift away from being the primary financial partner and focus instead on being a ministry coach and investor. As a ministry investor, we will assist the school with capital improvements, major projects, and more to help expand the school's capacity to reach greater numbers of children and families. 

Excitingly, Lifeline will continue a strong collaborative partnership with the school, and mission trips to Winslow and the school will continue! Principal Dan Bewley has strategically identified half a dozen different short term mission team opportunities during the school year to enhance the students' normal learning process. Additional teams may also visit in the months when school is out of session. God does great things through visiting teams who want to serve the wonderful people of Winslow. 

We want to be wise stewards of the Kingdom resources that God has entrusted to us. As we've considered new team dynamics, we have placed the team housing facility on Route 99 up for sale since it would otherwise be underutilized. Once the property sells, we will make other housing arrangements for visiting teams, similar to what was done several years ago. This will also allow teams to be closer to the school facility.