A PERSONAL NOTE
from Gary Hiller, Director of Development
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Like all the other KCA administrative staff, I have had a long career in school administration. I recently left a school where I had a beautiful office, the slickest marketing materials, the most up-to-date office equipment and procedures, and administrative assistants to handle office tasks. Coming from that background, I have some concern that KCA and I might not be taken seriously without these trappings of stability and success. However, I am reminded that most schools started in humble circumstances when everyone sacrificed, pulled together and pinched pennies so that Christian education could be affordable and accessible for everyone. In fact, that was the case with the first PreK-8 school for which I worked more than 28 years ago.
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Instead of ending my career, I have gone back to the beginning.
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KCA’s founders have been inspirational to me at this stage of my life. They are sacrificially working without salaries to get this school started. After four years of working to develop the school, the time has not yet come for them to either draw salaries or to retire. The school still needs them or, rather, STUDENTS still need them, because the issue is not about helping the school to survive but helping STUDENTS. For all the KCA staff, whether they volunteer or are salaried, it’s not a job, it’s a ministry.
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A Missionary Effort
A few years ago, a family immigrated from Africa to attend a church in Lancaster County, PA, that sponsored an African missionary school that helped to bring them to Christian faith. When they wanted to enroll their children in the local Christian school, the African family was surprised to learn that the congregation would not help pay the tuition. The family wondered, “Why did you help us with Christian education when we were in Africa but not when we are in the United States?” That’s a good question.
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Christian schools have been an effective component of missionary efforts around the world. Yet, many York families need the ministry of Christian education as much as any family in Africa.
About Gary Hiller
Gary Hiller served as Director of Development for Kraybill Mennonite School from 1990 until 2006 when the school became part of the Lancaster Mennonite School system of five campuses in Central Pennsylvania with up to 1,600 students at its peak. In the LM system, he served in various administrative roles, retiring as Director of Marketing and Communications in 2018. Earlier in his career, he was Director of Field Operations for Azusa Pacific University and held leadership positions in the field of human services. He holds a B.A. in Psychology and English from Dickenson College and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology with a minor in Theology from Biola University’s Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology. His wife, Doris, is a retired high school and adult education teacher.