Hannah Shin, a supervisor at New Heaven Academy, with her husband, Reverend Hyunho Shin, who is also the principal of New Heaven Academy.
“The blatant teaching of homosexuality is just one part of the anti-Christian tendencies of public schools that has been manifested recently.”
Public schools in America are becoming increasingly anti-Christian as they continuously expel biblical ideas, and instead teach evolution and homosexuality openly. Reverend Hyunho Shin, the principal of New Heaven Academy, said that there are other issues in the public school system, including a nonexistence of spiritual teaching; an absence of an effort to develop students’ character; and a lack of high-quality education. Public schools do not teach about faith, focus more on the grades than on the character of the students, and cannot fully invest in each student due to the standardized system of public education.
New Heaven Academy is a K-12, private Christian school run by New Heaven Church.
“Education is a command given by God in Deuteronomy 6:7,” Shin said. “If we want to obey this command, churches must teach and run schools.”
New Heaven Academy uses the curriculum that A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education) ministries developed 45 years ago for those who wanted to homeschool their children. In the 145 countries of the world, there are currently 6,000 schools who use the A.C.E. curriculum. There are no teachers, but while students study independently, supervisors help and guide them to find the answers.
Some may be skeptical about the approach, but it allows students to learn and grow in faith and in character, and allows them to study at their own pace of learning. Even those who were valedictorians or salutatorians in public middle schools said they realized they “had good grades but didn’t study well,” and now put in their best effort in studying, while also growing spiritually. They realized that studying is not necessarily simply doing the homework and answering the questions. Though New Heaven Academy, which has now been operating for two years, currently has around 10 students, the spiritual growth of the students has been dramatically noticeable, according to the school administrators.
Hannah Shin, Reverend Shin’s wife and a public school educator of 20 years, said that she understands the problems of public school education more than anyone else.
“The Bible is not simply a good book, but it is the truth that God Almighty, who is sovereign over all the universe, has given to us,” she said. “Rather than thinking of which university we’re going to go to, it’s more important to consider what we are to do with the potential that God has given us.”
However, that doesn’t imply that the students are not able to go to prestigious universities. On the contrary, multitudes of students who have received an A.C.E. ministries education have gone on to receive higher education in high-ranking universities.
When asked about how he feels about the increasing interest in Christian education recently, Reverend Shin said, “Yes, big churches should open and run Christian schools, but I think it’s just as important for smaller churches to do so as well.” Shin said that he would be happy to introduce the A.C.E. system to churches and to help them to implement it as well.
One can earn a license to be a principal by attending a one-week education program by A.C.E. and must receive training to be a supervisor. After reporting to the city, the school can become officially established, and can receive formal accreditation after the school meets certain guidelines set out by A.C.E.
“You don’t need a lot of money, or people, or power. If there’s just one person who is completely selfless and surrendered to God, any church can start a school right at this moment.”
