One of the simplest ways to love a city is to serve its schools. Education, among other structures, is one of the main components on which a city thrives, creates culture, and builds the well-being of its population. Christians are called to seek the welfare of our city (Jer. 29:7), and we can do no better than to invest our time and energy into a local school.

Several years ago, my wife and I spent time serving at a public elementary school our kids attended while they were young. We enjoyed serving there because of the relationships we were able to build with normal, everyday people and the opportunities we had to bless them. More than just the practical and social reasons, though, there are theological reasons. We served there because we have a great Lord and Savior who served us perfectly, laying down his life and dying for us while we were still sinful and rebellious. And on our best days, with God’s help, our motivation, strength, and resources flowed directly from our savior, Jesus who first served us. We now reflect on this season of life with much older children. But with the gospel in mind, we’d like to encourage you with four ways to serve and bless your local school as kids prepare to go back.

1. Pray for the school.

We share this first, because it is the most important. Prayer works, because God works. It is not a magic formula, but a command and reality that God has called us to. Our family did not have a systematic way of doing this; mostly we prayed when the Holy Spirit reminded us. When we took our kids and our neighborhood friends to school, we prayed for them, their teachers, and the school as whole. It was an encouragement for us to just pray, because we were reminded of how much we needed his power and grace to work in and through us at the school.

2. Ask how to help, and then show up.

We began to realize the significance of this when we first moved to our city and began serving. Derek had called around to a few schools asking how we could help. One of them had a laundry list of ways that we could serve, so we decided to show up and help there. At the time, they were conducting monthly Family Fun Nights, so we showed up to serve the meal and clean up afterward. This was a good, simple, and tangible way to serve and meet people. Additionally, it came with the by-product of giving us and our kids a context and familiarity for where they would eventually attend school.

If you’re lost for ideas, try to think outside the box!  Extracurricular clubs and organizations are great places to serve. Our school had a unicycling club led by a family in the school. We decided to team up with the family and try it out. Initially, we knew nothing about unicycling except that you sit on one wheel and try to stay on the thing! These kinds of clubs and activities can be such great ways to serve and build relationships with people at your school. Being a part of the unicycle club as a family was a great way to serve as a family—plus, if everything else in life falls through, we could always run off and join the circus!

The classroom is always an easy way to help. Colleen made time once a week to serve in one of our kids’ classes. Derek also served here when he could, and it  was a great way to connect with some of the boys our kids were with everyday.

These suggestions are only scratching the surface of the possible ways you can serve your local school. Colleen served on the PTA board; Derek served on the Site Council. There are so many ways that you can show up and serve—in the classroom, extracurricular events, committees, fundraisers. Schools have so many needs and just showing up and asking, “How can I help?” will be a welcome way to show the heart of Jesus.

3. Give generously of your time and resources.

Generosity is part of the definition of grace—giving extravagantly to someone who doesn’t deserve it. You might bring high-quality and generous portions of food or other items to bless the students and staff. If you have kids at the school, you can send them with snacks or cupcakes on their birthday, or send extra money with your kids to give away during PTA fundraisers. Bless the teachers and staff with donuts and coffee. Give them coffee gift-cards as an expression of thanks for their hard work.

Often it seems we give according to cultural standards of what is assumed to be expected and appropriate, which can translate to just giving the bare minimum. However, to bless someone is to go above and beyond the normal expectation—and it’s an area in which we are all always growing. Practicing generosity is difficult, because our default mode is to give minimally, not extravagantly. However, when we remember how much we’ve been given in Christ, we will often find we are compelled to give generously to others as he gave to us.

4. Practice hospitality.

Finally, a good way to serve a school is to practice hospitality outside of the school. Besides being a practical tool to reach out to people, it is also a command from Scripture (Heb. 13:2). You can invite kids and families into your home for the purpose of building community, shared life, and celebration together.  You might plan a fun event centered on a season, or a rhythm in the calendar year like the beginning or end of school. Most schools celebrate “100 days of school,” which is a great time to celebrate with a party. At the beginning of the school year, we hosted a “Back to School Bash” party for some of our kids’ friends. It was awesome! It gave us the opportunity to meet some of the kids’ parents, and it was a great way to help bring momentum to the school year.

In reality, our ministry at the school felt long and slow. We often didn’t get to see the fruit that Jesus was growing in people’s lives. There were some things we did  that didn’t work as well as we hoped, and others that seem to work better than we imagined.  Whatever the outcome though, we were being sanctified as we learned to more fully pour out our lives, share our resources, and give time and energy to others. And as we enjoyed the goodness and grace of Jesus poured out for us generously, we were able to funnel some of that grace to others at the school in order that the school might enjoy the grace and presence of Jesus as well. We pray your endeavors to serve your local school will be for the same lofty and worthy end.