$3,000 Per Student Provides a Christ-Centered Education and Life-Changing Opportunities

9/20/2022

Help Inner City Students at Christ The King Stay in School

Scholarship Goal: $48,000
Raised so far: $13,600
to Support 16 of the School's Total and Growing Enrollment through the 2022-2023 School Year

LCC volunteer Bob Morris delivered a check with your donations to Pastor John Brazeal for the scholarship needs for the current school year.

Your generosity and commitment to helping Pastor John Brazeal and Principal Geri of Christ the King Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, Illinois, continue their 49-year ministry are appreciated.

Each week, we are closer to our scholarship goal!

Principal Geri and the teachers at Christ the King pour themselves into each student. Often bringing students who were falling behind in public schools, back up to speed and on track with their peers.

Offering small enrollment, providing the opportunity for more individual attention, violin class, dance class, a community garden, and an emphasis on serving others, Christ the King is an anchor of hope and light in their Chicago neighborhood.

Supporting Christ the King Lutheran School is an investment in an incredible ministry where life-changing relationships are established and an incredible education is earned.

DONATE — CHRIST THE KING, CHICAGO, TUITION FUND

Christ the King Student Stories

Mark, 2-nd Grader

Hello,

My name is Mark White Jr., and I am a new enrollee at Christ The King in 2nd grade. I came from a school with over 20 kids in a classroom to now a very small setting. Wow! This is going to be different but different in a good way because now my teacher knows me and what I may need to improve my errors. It also wouldn't be hard making friends, which I've already done. It looks like I'm over the butterflies I had before school started, and it didn't take long.

Mark White Jr.

Hi,

I'm Ebony White, Mark's mom. I was referred to Christ The King by a family who also attended there. It has only been a couple of weeks, and already, Mark has made improvements on things that I thought I only recognized. I can already see that I've made the right decision to enhance Mark's education. Thank you, Ms. Lloyd, for seeing what I may not see.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming years of more achievements and overcoming hurdles Mark may run into. Thank you, Christ The King, for being that new family we needed in education.

Thank you to all who are assisting with tuition relief for my son Mark.

Ebony White

Dylan, Kindergartner and Lacole, Preschooler

Hello,

My name is Regina, and I graduated from Christ The King. I was a troubled kid, but Christ The King never gave up on me. They always pushed me to be my best and to do my best. And I'm so grateful for them and the guidance they have on me.

Now that I'm grown, I want the same for my two small children, but I can't afford to pay the tuition. Since COVID-19, it's been really hard to find a job. This had been challenging for me, and I'm also homeless and living with my grandmother. I'm thankful for all the things I have. And I just want my kids to go to school that will never give up on them, no matter what. Christ The King never gave up on me, and that's why I'm still here today.

Your Support Helps Magic Graduate from CTK

Magic is an 8th grader who has been with CTK since preschool. He is a talented violin player who assists in playing the violin for service.

His mom is a teacher's aide in a public school classroom. She helped CTK with online learning while school was virtual. She has a daughter who attended Christ the King and just graduated from high school. This is a year that will be a bit more difficult for mom as she has to assist with college tuition at Indiana State.

Your Donations Enable Jaylen to Finish School

Jaylen lives with his mom. They both have been working virtually from home for the past two years. Jaylen has been working very hard in his Zoom sessions with teachers at Christ the King. Since 2020 he has completed the curriculum for 5th, 6th and 7th grade. This year he began 8th grade in-person.

It will be a pleasure working with him again in person. Even though he reported weekly to have his assignments checked, he was missing the interaction with his classmates.

His mom is thankful that she still has employment, although her salary was cut. She is also looking forward to Jaylen graduating this year after skipping 7th grade; after great scores on his end-of-the-year exams. He looks forward to someday going into real estate investments.

We are proud of his success, he has been with us since Kindergarten, and he will always be a part of this family as he moves on in his educational pursuits. Pastor John and Principal Geri

Your Donations Support Additional Educational Assistance for Zion, 8th Grader

Zion has been with Christ the King since second grade. He has seizures and suffers from severe asthma. He enjoys learning new things and likes his classmates. His favorite subject in school is science, and he likes "Generation Genius" because the experiments are great.

CTK has a special ed teacher who helps Zion once a week because they have problems getting him assistance from the Board of Education.

Zion likes working on IXL and helping his grandmother. His mom is a clerk at Home Depot who has been out of work a few times during the pandemic. He does not want to graduate this year because he wants to stay at Christ the King, where he feels "at home."

Your Support Enables Donte to Stay in School

Donte is in 7th grade. He lives with his grandmother, who has been having problems this year because of an accident she had while cutting trees for the city last year. It set her back financially, and she is trying to catch up on her account.

She much appreciated the help she received last year from the friends of Lutheran Church Charities. She is paying what she can and has not asked for help, but her family is her main concern.

Donte loves to play the violin and does not want to leave Christ the King.

Please prayerfully consider sponsoring a child, $3,000 for a year of schooling, or donate as you are able, that they may have hope for their future!

Your generous donation will enable Christ the King to continue the ministry of Christ-changing lives through their dedicated staff.

DONATE — CHRIST THE KING, CHICAGO, TUITION FUND

Your Donations Provide a Life-Changing Education for Mirahri, 6th Grader

Below is a letter from Terina, Mirahri's mom, who speaks to the importance and quality of education her children received at Christ the King:

My name is Terina, and I'm a mom of five. Mirahri is our baby boy that's currently enrolled in Christ the King as a 6th grader, and we would love for him to continue the outstanding education that this school offers.

Our son, Marquan, who's 20, graduated from Christ the King and is now a college student studying cyber security. Milan, who's 16, also graduated from Christ the King and is currently a junior with honors at Kenwood Academy High School. Torri is four years old and will soon be enrolled in Christ the King preschool program.

We are greatly appreciative of your support in helping us provide a life-changing education for our children. Thank you all in advance.

Terina

Your Generous Support Enables Cayman, 6th Grader, to Continue His Quality Education at Christ the King

Cayman has been with Christ the King since Kindergarten. He comes from a single-parent home and is being raised by his mom. He lives across the street in a small apartment. The landlord is very kind, and if his mom gets behind on the rent, he allows her some time to catch up.

Cayman's mom has had difficulty paying tuition since COVID-19 started. She is a secretary but has worked from home for the past two years because the office was closed. She had to take a reduction in salary. Christ the King helps her through the food pantry.

"If it were not for the donors of Lutheran Church Charities, she would have had no way to meet her tuition obligation. We would like to see Cayman graduate from Christ the King. He is now a sixth grader who tries very hard and loves science. He wants to have good grades and perfect attendance so that he can be accepted at a good high school. He wants to have a good job so that he can take care of his mom when he grows up and finishes college." Geri Brazeal, Principal, Christ the King Lutheran School

"I have to work hard in school so that I can get a college scholarship," says Cayman.

Your Donations Make a Difference in Zayd's Life, 8th Grader

Zayd is 12 years old and will be entering 8th grade at CTK, his last year. Six years ago, his mother abandoned him at the airport, and he was found wandering around looking for her. When asked where he lived, he didn't know, but he remembered that he went to school at CTK and remembered Pastor Brazeal.

Through help from LCC, Pastor Brazeal, working with DCFS, was able to have Zayd's grandmother (who was in her 80s) be given full custody of her grandson. Grandma Kenny, now in her 90s, with the help of the Church community of CTK, the Brazeals, teacher TaAqua, and grandma Kenny's daughter, Zayd, has thrived in so many ways.

Over the past years, he has jumped the 1.5-grade level. A child age 12 would typically function in the later part of 6th or 7th grade. Academically Zayd can do 8th-grade work.

Zayd plays the violin, acolytes for worship services, and excels in math. When he enters high school, he wants to play on the high school baseball team. He plans to become a doctor when he grows up. Zayd has a servant's heart and is always willing to help other students. He helps Pastor Brazeal with the cleaning of the school, and when Pastor Brazeal goes to the tent cities, Zayd always goes with him to help.

Your Donations Make a Difference in Morgan's Life, 1st Grader

This school season Morgan will move to first grade. While in Kindergarten, Morgan was already reading at a 1st-grade level.

She's a voracious reader! She's also very artistic and inquisitive and loves to take pictures, especially of nature.

Morgan enjoys going on field trips and exploring the world around her.

She loves to help out Pastor John, Principal Geri, and her mom, a CTK teacher, around the school.

On Thursday, August 25, LCC staff member John Pejchl presented a check with your donations to Principal Geri Brazeal and had an opportunity to see firsthand your contributions at work, touring the Christ the King classrooms and meeting the teachers and some of the students.

One of them was Morgan, a 1st-grader, who sang “He’s Still Working on Me” accompanied by CTK music teacher, Jeanne.

"We are indeed blessed to have so much help to make it possible for the children to attend a Christian School during this time of stress and sickness and job uncertainties. Bless you!" Principal Geri Brazeal

About Christ the King Lutheran Church and School

Pastor John Brazeal and Principal Geri Brazeal, and Christ the King Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, Illinois, have been pillars of hope and life in the Bronzeville community for 49 years. Christ the King (CTK) Lutheran Church has been the only Lutheran presence in this gang-infested ghetto of Chicago since 1951.

The addition of the school in 1973, serving children from 3 years old through 8th grade, is a way to reach the future generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ and pave a path to better education and a way out of poverty. When the school opened, eight students were enrolled, and by the following year, that number increased to 60.

Over the past 49 years, John, Geri, and the staff of CTK have touched the lives of hundreds of children and their parents with the gospel of Christ's love and forgiveness, giving them hope, a purpose, and a future. Christ the King has a proven track record with students, who learned their worth in Jesus by keeping them on the straight path, focused on making a difference in the lives of others and staying away from an inner-city life, which could be so very easy to fall into.

As they prepare to begin a new school year, it is crucial that they can continue serving their community. Currently, Christ the King has only one full-time paid teacher, and the rest are volunteers. Out of her love for the students and commitment to the community, TaAqua voluntarily cut her salary in half and stayed to make sure the school would remain open. She supports herself and her daughter, Morgan, and is a caregiver for Zayd, both Christ the King students.