Toongabbie Christian College

FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS JOHAN GRIESEL Principal 2016-Present

I will praise and give thanks to You, 0 Lord, among the people; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your faithfulness and loving kindness are great, reaching to the heavens, And Your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, 0 God; Let Your glory and majesty be over all the earth. Psalm 57: 9-11 (AMP) Toongabbie Christian College celebrated 40 years of God’s faithfulness in 2021. This anniversary is testament to our Loving Father’s faithfulness and the faith, commitment and hard work of those who responded to God’s call to open a Christian school. Many people involved with the College, both past and present, have left an everlasting imprint on the lives of our students and helped the College to stay true to its calling “To be a caring Christian Community that supports families by providing a quality Christ-centred education which develops the whole person for life and eternity”. Without a doubt, the faith and visionary outreach of Toongabbie Baptist Church should be acknowledged for helping to provide access to Christian Education in Western Sydney. We are so grateful to all those pioneers who not only answered God’s call but, in humility, rolled up their sleeves and ensured God’s call could be celebrated 40 years later. Toongabbie Christian College honours each and every person who has contributed to our story over the past 40 years. We want to express our gratitude to the founders of the College, parents/carers who partner with the College for their child’s development and education, students past and present and the staff of the College who have all made a contribution by serving the College with their dedication. So many people contributed to this publication. Thank you to all the contributors of the 40 stories of God’s faithfulness we received. Thank you for telling your story, our story. Your care and passion is heartwarming and captures the amazing love of our Heavenly Father. The dream of this publication required an enormous commitment from several of the College staff: thank you for a spectacular outcome and for facilitating the telling of our story. Thank you to Laurel Offereins, Rachelle Baker and two former students for the collection of stories, the layout, graphic design and spearheading this publication, namely Adrian and Rebecca Elmer, who are current staff, parents, and graduates themselves. Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in every remembrance of you,always offering every prayer of mine with joy [and with specific requests] for all of you,[thanking God] for your participation and partnership [both your comforting fellowship and gracious contributions] in [advancing] the good news [regarding salvation] from the first day [you heard it] until now. I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return]. Philippians 1:2-6 (AMP)

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