our 2025 service project

Helping Those In Need

Each year, Dublin Christian Academy participates in Service Day, a day on which our staff and students can give back to the community that supports us in many ways.

Service days in the past have covered many different needs. Last year, we were honored to serve our first responders by delivering care packages to police, fire, and EMTs in our region. We have also served with food donations for school children, baked goods for local healthcare workers, and hot meals for local families in need in other years.

This year, we had the joy of serving refugees who have been resettled in New Hampshire. But rather than have us share this heartwarming experience with you, we are handing over the writing reins to one of our students, Joel Hill. He was completely immersed in this year’s project and has much to say about displaying Christ’s love through our service as we lead the lost to Him.

Take it away, Joel!

Service Through Loving and Giving to Others

Giving can go a long way in showing Christ’s love to others and sharing the Gospel. It can be a way to share the joy God has given us with others and be a light in a broken world. Christians can give to others and serve in a variety of ways.

DCA’s Service Day was a memorable day of giving and loving others, from repairing, tuning up, and delivering bikes and baskets of basic household necessities to visiting with a Middle Eastern refugee in a neighboring country via Zoom. Starting in the morning, our upper school students got to hear a personal testimony from Ani, who was once a Muslim, but was saved by God working through Brenda, who answered English grammar questions through an online social media platform, which led to her discussing Christianity and Islam with Ani for over three years.

After hearing Ani’s testimony and asking questions, our upper school students had various times to work on the bikes throughout the day, and our lower school students packed baskets with soap, toilet paper, laundry baskets, rice, and other household essentials. Near midday, Mike and Wendy from the International Institute of New England (IINE) gave us a look into the lives of refugees who resettle in New Hampshire and the struggles they may face when trying to adjust to the culture through a presentation.

Finally, at the end of the day, our Senior class helped deliver the bikes and baskets to the organization.

The Morning

The morning began with a Zoom visit with Brenda and a Middle Eastern refugee named Ani, currently in a neighboring country. Ani shared his testimony of how he came to Christ and how God used Brenda to share the Gospel with him.

Brenda created a social media account that she would use to answer English questions. Although she was a nurse, Brenda had heard of how many people had questions about English, so she decided, “Why not answer those questions?” This led to encountering a Muslim man from the Middle East. Once Ani began talking with Brenda, it didn’t take long for the debates to arise. For three years, Ani and Brenda exchanged passages from the Bible and the Quran, a long time for what was initially supposed to be a simple English discussion. Finally, after much debate, challenging times of patience, and verses sent back and forth, Ani accepted Christ as his Savior. However, with his new faith, this was only the beginning of his next chapter in life.

Being a Christian in the Middle East could not only get him in trouble, but his entire family could be punished as well. It is most dangerous for new Christians, and Ani did not feel safe. Being forced to keep his newfound faith a secret was challenging, and Ani wanted to grow in his relationship with God. Eventually, God led Ani to a Bible school in Africa, where he met Mr. Brent Meyers, the current principal of our school, Dublin Christian Academy. While in Africa, he never told his family what he was doing due to the risk of not only him not being welcome back into his country, but also the risk of his family being punished. Radical Islamic forces had taken over his town, and to be a Christian would mean danger for him and his family. Since the Bible school is only a one-year institution, Ani had to find somewhere else to go. The US did not issue him a visa, but by God’s grace, he could go to a neighboring country, where some of Brenda’s friends live, to further his pursuit of Christ. He still hopes to make it to the US someday. Though his future seems uncertain, Ani is trusting God.

During this interview, Brenda and Ani shared insights on how to share the Gospel with Muslims. It can be very challenging since followers of Islam believe their faith to be true, and are taught this from a very young age in Muslim communities with very little, if any, exposure to non-Muslims. Sometimes they grow up being taught that American culture is Christianity, which can distort their views about what many Christians believe. Ani taught us that one of the best ways to share the Gospel with a Muslim is to build a personal relationship and get to know them more before sharing. Oftentimes, if a Christian engages with a Muslim without knowing much about them, the Muslim is very firm and confident in their beliefs, and it can be a challenge to share the Gospel with them and even make them question their faith. Building a personal relationship with a Muslim enables you to get to know them better and care for them more, and it also builds trust. Just as Brenda explained to Ani that America as a whole is not Christian, we can explain how America is not a Christian country, and can better explain the Bible to the Muslim, being more open to listening.

Along with these tips, our students learned about the importance of patience and perseverance, the power of prayer, and trusting in God.

Midday Activities

After the meeting with Brenda and Ani, our students regrouped with their classes and went to work on the bikes at different intervals. While preschool through 6th-grade students packed up 15 laundry baskets with supplies, 7th-grade through 12th-grade students worked on cleaning and restoring 18 bikes. A variety of projects were performed on the bikes. Some bikes required air in the tires or new tubes, while others needed cleaning and oiling. The laundry baskets contained toilet paper, laundry detergent, soap, rice, and cards created by students. Once some classes completed their tasks, our student body gathered for the Service Day presentation.

Michael Mailloux, a volunteer coordinator, and Wendy Brooks, a volunteer manager for the International Institute of New England (IINE), shared an overview and picture of what those who come to America as refugees may face. From language barriers to trying to find a job, refugees have a lot of new things to adjust to. Our students learned about the difference between immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers and how we can help and pray for the Refugees.

It is easy to group all who migrate into the US into the same category, but there are distinct differences between refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, and parolees. Mike and Wendy helped explain these differences to us by presenting those differences. Refugees and asylum seekers are both seeking protection from persecution in their home country; however, asylum seekers are those who have not yet been put into the category of refugees. Immigrants move for personal reasons or because they may have family or a relation to the US. Parolees are granted temporary access to the US for urgent reasons. Still, they are not automatically put into the process of becoming a citizen unless they decide to apply for other statuses. Most of the refugees and asylum seekers that IINE in Manchester works with are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan, as the Congo is struggling with a resource war, and Afghanistan is struggling with instability and radical Islamic forces spreading throughout the country.

Donating bikes and other essentials to IINE will allow easier transportation to the refugees who may have to walk to get to work, and can allow the refugees to get jobs a greater distance away. When a refugee first arrives in America, it can take at least six months to have the means to drive. They still have to go to work, medical appointments, shopping, and many other places, but not having a vehicle means their options and travel time are limited. With bikes, their area of opportunity expands as they can travel greater distances than walking.

The End of the Day

Near the end of the day, our Senior class, Mrs. Paquin, Pastor Dave, and Mrs. Burt, loaded the bikes and laundry baskets, and drove to Manchester to deliver the donations. Once there, the bikes were carried into the basement, and the laundry baskets with the basic necessities were put into storage.

Matthew 22: 36-40 says, “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Giving is a great way to live out the second commandment when loving others. Whether it is time, money, or prayers, many people need Christ’s love, and we can help in many little ways.

To learn more about Service Project 2025 and other projects we organize at DCA, please contact us to see what we’re all about and how we serve Christ by serving others.

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our 2025 service project