A Simple Yet Powerful Way To Celebrate Religious Freedom

Basic First Amendment right to freely without their faith. They don't have to leave the face behind the door when the locking will not have been back through multiple court decisions all the way at the record. This is family policy with NC family Pres. John Weston thank you for joining us today for family policy matters. On October 4, many students across our state and nation will take a bold stand for their faith celebrate their religious freedom and ensure the love of Jesus Christ. A simple act of bringing their Bibles to school our guest today is Candi Cushman, founder and facilitator of Focus on the Family's bring your Bible school day which is grown from 8000 participants. Just a few years ago to more than half a million expected participants this year were delighted to talk with Kandi today about bring your Bible school and how students across our state and nation can participate in this exciting and meaningful event on October 4 Candi.

Welcome to family policy matters. It's great to have you on the show in honor to be with you.

Well were delighted to have you candy now as we begin our conversation tell us about bring your Bible school day.

What is the purpose of this event will bring a nationwide religious freedom that sponsors like to garden level at college level heard about the different grade levels and age of participating in the whole purpose of the advantages to have this one day when state and can have an educational way to be reminded of their most basic rights and know they're not alone in expressing their faith in a really simple way, taking the Bible to school and talking about it with friends and because a few years back we are getting contacts from students and their families about that they were being told that they couldn't do a simple thing like how their Bible out on their desk during free time and even kids were having these experiences were there walking through the hallways with their viable and in a school official say not really sure you want to have that done. Your locker might want with which is just totally wrong. They didn't have basic First Amendment right to sleep freely without their faith. They don't have to leave their faith behind the door when they walk in that school and not have been back that through multiple quote court decisions all the way up to the Supreme Court so we found celebratory way to remind kids and their families of what their religious freedom rights are in their school lets out right now. Can you put on the legal guidelines and boundaries that students, parents, teachers and school administrators need to be aware of this relates to bring your Bible school dates are particularly in our public school sure why basic level have the right to bring their personal Bible school will read it during free time talk about it with friends as long as they are not disrupting you know formal classroom teaching thing to understand in general and are talking about kids being free to express their faith is that the kids expressions students expressions are regarded as private speech. The students are not representing the government because you hear a lot you know about the three.

The separation of church and state runaround establishment clause well applies to mostly to adults who are representing the government in a public school that does not apply to students private speech. So they have the right to do things like say little prayer before lunch talk about the Bible. During periods like recess or lunch.

Have before afterschool Bible studies or night. You know, part of the formal class day and like I said to read their Bible during free time as long is these activities are not disrupting formal classroom instruction. So some students perspective.

What is it look like to participate in bring your Bible school dates do they simply carry around a bottle with him throughout the day, or are there other suggested activities and forms of engagement look like as involved as they went to be, or simple they wanted to be if it's really up to the students.

We provide resources on the website for your Bible.org so that they can make this as involved as they would like. But just as an example, I can be a simple the student is doing it for the first time to stick that Bible and the backpack maybe has some versus underlying case someone asked them about their favorite verse or something they can be simple date they take their Bible school.

They take a selfie with that imposed their picture with the hashtag bring your Bible cannot still an easy way to represent and be part of letting all these thousand hundreds of thousands of kids know they're not alone once again. It can be simple. Sticking your Bible school taken it a selfie with the hashtag bring your Bible and just reentering free time maybe have a conversation with another friend of God brings out opportunity and other students choose to make an event out of it so they will use this free downloadable poster that we have online and they will put the posters up a few weeks in advance. They will pass out conversation cards that explain why they're doing the event that help them initiate conversations example the conversation cards again that are available online to bring your Bible.org. They just help the student have basic questions like you know what if there is a God that cares about us and he does have a personal message of hope and love for us in his word. How would that change your life so it provides basic conversation tools to just help them get a dialogue started and so there's things like a T-shirt design that sticker that they can print out and if they want to make it a full-fledged event as well. That's great interest to those resources are available. So how can students find out if there are no plans for bring your Bible school day at their school looks even if I if I decide that there may not be plans yet take on a leadership role.

To do so with the room school to go to the website they can find an easy tool used to just start spreading around social media so they can rally their own classmates or I would suggest that they get in touch with the Christian club in the school or at the top is resources. I think a great idea is to meet with their church, their youth group their children's group and just get some prayer the night before the event. You know, the event is on Thursday, October 4 so it's it makes it easy for churches to meet with kids the day before Wednesday night.

During that the Wednesday night services and I suggested they just get some support at their church is at the with the youth there and pray together over what topping the various schools so that you know even if even if you're the only one doing it at your school. You know there are other kids doing at other schools around you so that might be the easiest way to get word out and find out about other students via social media alive people will create bring your Bible events on their own.

As far as our part. Yeah, we really are trying to cite this being a student led of the law were making yeah were making available to free resources and and we do encourage people to find that to be counted so we have a good estimate of the number kids doing this across the nation. It's really up to them to lead and organize it in their particular school was listening to policy matters a resource to listen to our radio show online, and someone resources that will be a voice of persuasion in your community. Go to our website and see family.org so it can't candy from your perspective, word does bring your Bible to school-based food into our national conversation about religious liberty and academic freedom, but it seems like there's a lot happening in this arena and that there are a lot of misunderstandings frankly about what is permissible and what's not permissible, especially in the academic arena that the court keep blocking the student free speech and religious freedom ride every year we have new cases where the courts of active backlinks. I just found out about one of the first legal went for a bring your Bible school day participant and without a Rhode Island and it was all first grader that brought some of the bring your Bible school day coloring sheets to school and wanted to give a Bible to her friend Mary and she was. She actually had those things confiscated and was and was told to go to the principal's office. Those really over-the-top, but you know, five months later they have finally acknowledged okay yeah we can't do that. She does have a right to give a Bible to a friend to share coloring sheets during free time but the cool thing about that is not just her small accent has now set a precedent for every student in her school so every time a student is both like this in a family of bold. It paves the way for thousands of other kids to have their religious freedom rights respected and to express what they believe about God with their friends so it's it's interesting we see these cases happening every year whether it's a grad student graduating. It's told they can't say the name of Jesus or or mention God in a graduation speech so we keep having it made clear that we kids want to express a Bible verse or simple expression of faith who cannot centered out out of really high bar for doing that like that. There's been a beacon's protest, which is really the case. Well I think that's is just a great encouragement and the stories of children and students who just express their faith throughout the day.

In the end they may be challenged by the their teacher by those in the school administration that I think you would probably agree and what we've seen more often than not, is if and when those challenges calm, and then those teachers or school administrators are informed of the wall that they will change their tune fairly quickly and realize that I students do have a lot of rights when it comes to just living out their faith in the powerful waves shining the light in our schools because what happens is if people don't exercise this right then you just have increased censorship in the youth environment of the Bible is banned in your faith is something to be ashamed of that when you take small steps to just be bold in expressing your faith that usually at the quick turnaround know of any student that is participated in this event that is lost their writer lost the case with their right to express to bring a Bible school, or express their fate. I know of zero buses in that area. It's prayer even if there's a longer battle but even when there is a toy that a victory. It's exciting to hear about this. The first grader and the impact that she has had. But I know that so since bring your Bible school day has been going on for a number of years that there many stories of that type of thing.

Some of your favorite stories from bring about school, but what my favorite story that Carson has done that multiple years in a row now, but the first time he did it.

His mom shared with me that there is this school bully was actually making fun of the Christian kid heat that was happening before they get bring about the school day and he was saying things to the kids like what you believe the stupid hotkey with something so silly and and so when Carson decided to stay and bring about the school that he had all these little Bible that he was going to distribute and got on the school bus with them and he was sorta geared up for his first encounter with the school bully and then it turns out, as God would have at this this kid walked up and was the first kid asked for a Bible that I want to have one of those and then after that he and Carson were actually reading it together and talking about together and he he stopped bullying the kids after that for putting the Christian faith.

I don't know what God is doing in that kid's heart that it was an amazing experience for Carson so the next year he went even more full steam and did a big fundraiser. They had a little booth like a bakery big cell, and they raise enough dollars to buy 600 Bibles and distribute them in for grade levels. Some of these kids. I think they're going to be running for president Sunday. The main themes initiative. They show Sunday when my favorite three. That's so cool and candy I know is you just fear the intent of going about school day is not just a one-day event to do something that has a long-lasting impact. So once October 4 passes what can students do to build on the momentum that's created during bring your Bible school day and then keep the conversation going about living out their faith insuring the good news of Jesus Christ at school and on the website, we do have tips for kids that want to keep the conversation going forward. Challenges type thing but a lot of kids do start an afterschool Bible study.

As a result of this, and then, but I'm thinking in one student, she got a video on the website. People can watch your story that she started Bible study and action when the first thing that happened was that one of her classmates gave her life to the Lord gave her life. Jesus, as a result of conversations happening in that afterschool Bible study, and in fact when we did the survey after the event. We found that the hundreds of kids you know were reporting that experience that their friends were deciding to follow Jesus out of conversations. Following this event so the Bible study is is just one way that I would refer them to the website. Bring your Bible.org for a list of nuts had a ton of other fun activities they can do everything from doing a Bible celebration Sunday after church to giving a Bible the family to the school bus driver.

There's lots and activities and ideas as a way to keep it moving forward like you so sure about candy. Now I want to assure that website one more time.

Focus on the Family's bring your Bible school breaks which is bring your Bible.org again. Bring your Bible.org and was at Kenny Cushman. I want to thank you so much for being with us on family policy matters and for your incredibly important work at Focus on the Family's to encourage students, parents, teachers, and all of us, for that matter, to live out our faith in our schools and in our community. Thank you so much, not just one more thing and to encourage tenants and their parents and that is that every individual who signs up for bring your Bible school day this year have a chance to win a trip for a family of four to meet Steve Robertson in person.

She has a real heart for things like this if her kids yet feeling the freedom to express their fate, so she's a partner with the sender.

And that's her way of helping encourage youth as well. That's awesome like so much living with us and God bless you and all your listening to family policy matters and to listen to every show online, and for more valuable resources and information about issues important to families in North Carolina go to our website and see family.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook