McCLURE — Forty years ago, Mifflin County Christian Academy opened its doors with a simple mission: teach children truth, point hearts to Christ and partner with families who desired a Christian education for their children. What began in the Ferguson Valley area with a handful of students and a great deal of faith has grown into a ministry that has shaped generations.

This school year marks the MCCA’s 40th anniversary, a milestone that invites both gratitude and reflection. For those who have been part of the journey, the story of MCCA is not just one of classrooms, buildings and school years, but of God’s provision through seasons of growth, uncertainty and renewal.

The school’s early years were marked by movement as the ministry expanded. After beginning in Ferguson Valley, MCCA relocated more than once before making its final move in 2004 from Burnham to its current home in McClure. Each transition, leaders say, came with challenges, yet each one also carried a sense of direction.

“When we moved to McClure, there was a season where we truly wondered what the future would hold,” longtime MCCA Administrator Craig Todd explained. “It was a lean time, and there were real questions about whether the school would be able to continue. But through it all, God was faithful.”

That faithfulness became unmistakable when two local men stepped forward and paid off the school’s mortgage of more than $90,000. The gift arrived at a moment when the future felt fragile, and it became a turning point that reminded the school community that the ministry belonged to God, not to any individual.

“That moment was a huge encouragement and reminder that this has always been God’s work, not ours,” Todd shared.

For him, the story of MCCA is intertwined with his own. Originally from Minnesota, he did not grow up in a Christian home. He was what many churches once called a “bus kid,” faithfully attending Sunday services when church buses came through his neighborhood.

Through that ministry, he accepted Christ as his Savior and was introduced to Christian education — an experience that shaped the course of his life.

“Christian education had a profound impact on me,” Todd said. “There were people who took me under their wing and invested in my life. That made all the difference.”

After graduating from college, he prayed about where God would have him serve. Several opportunities were available, but an invitation to visit MCCA changed everything. Through prayer and time in scripture, he sensed that God was leading him to Mifflin County.

That was 36 years ago.

Since then, he has witnessed seasons of growth, seasons of uncertainty and countless moments that confirmed his calling. “It has never really been about staying somewhere for a number of years,” he said. “It has been about following where God leads and serving where He has placed me.”

Through four decades, MCCA’s mission has remained steady. At the heart of the school is a desire for each student to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Academic growth, social development and physical education are all important, but the school’s purpose reaches deeper.

“Our goal is to impact our students’ hearts with a desire to serve God in whatever capacity He leads them,” he said. “We want to encourage our students to live lives that would be pleasing to God and honor Him.”

The school’s history is filled with memories — soccer games, senior trips, camp retreats, field trips, friendships, laughter and tears. But the moments that stand out most are the ones that reflect the school’s mission: students accepting Christ, growing in their faith and discovering God’s direction for their lives.

“I could write a book,” he said. “But the most incredible memories I have to share are those of students accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and growing in their relationship with God.”

As MCCA celebrates its 40th anniversary, the school community is looking back with gratitude and ahead with humility. The verse that has guided many through the years — “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it under the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) — remains a reminder that the ministry’s strength has never rested in circumstances, resources or people, but in the God who called it into existence.

“In our 40 years in Christian education, students and families have come and gone, locations have changed, staff have changed, but the one constant has been God and His faithfulness,” he said.

The Academy continues to rely on that faithfulness as it looks toward the future. The needs remain real — staffing, provision, unity, protection and wisdom — and the school continues to ask its community to pray.

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8 reads, a verse the school has adopted as a banner over its anniversary year.

As MCCA steps into its fifth decade, its leaders, families and alumni carry the same hope that marked its beginning in 1986: that God will continue to use the school to shape lives, strengthen families and point students to Christ.

“Thank you for being part of 40 years of faithfulness,” Todd said. “And thank you for walking with us into whatever God has planned next.”