President's Message, February 2000

I want to commend the members of Upper Columbia Conference for a remarkable achievement in completing the Project 90 goals. Over the past decade, you have contributed 4.1 million to support the capital improvement needs of K-12 Adventist education. This is an incredible testimony to the goodness of God and the faithfulness of His people.

Scores of projects in each of the 37 church schools in our conference, as well as the Upper Columbia Academy convocation/health education complex and the Campbell administration building, stand as witness to your commitment to Adventist education.

As we begin 21-C (the twenty-first century) and 3M (the third millenium) we are suggesting that our focus turn from buildings to real live students. Unless we fill the buildings with enthusiastic young people, our investment won’t pay the rich dividends we expect.

Starting January 1, 2000 we have launched the KEEP Scholarship program. KEEP stands for Kids Educational Endowment Program. We urgently need your financial support to fund this combination scholarship/endowment plan. You may designate your gift for either one or both. Scholarship funds will be disbursed immediately on an annual basis to provide aid to students who otherwise might not be able to attend an Adventist school. The endowment will provide on-going interest income to fund annual scholarships. All funds will be distributed through each of our K-12 schools on a proportional basis. We plan to make special efforts to make sure assistance is available to all Adventist kids including those from minority cultural backgrounds.

Only Adventist “education on earth is an initiation into the principles of heaven. . .” Education, page 307. The KEEP Scholarship program will guarantee that Adventist education ministry will continue until Jesus comes.