Students Celebrate World Heritage Chapel Series

Story by Ashley Peterson, Eighth-Grade Homeroom Teacher

America is known as “the great melting pot,” where people from around the world have become “one people.” This is something to be celebrated. Equally important is to acknowledge and celebrate the places from which we came.

To that end, once a quarter Lake Nelson Adventist Academy (LNAA) celebrates specific cultures during its world heritage chapels. This year, the academy has already celebrated Hispanic, Black, and European heritage in chapel, with Asian Pacific heritage still to come.

From Kenya and the Dominican Republic to France and Brazil, LNAA has many students with distinct heritages. During the Hispanic heritage chapel, speaker Jonathan Carrillo, pastor of the Edison Spanish, New Brunswick Spanish and Freehold churches, spoke on immigration and how he is not ashamed of having been born in Mexico. During the Black heritage chapel, speaker Juliana Marson, pastor of the Grace Place church in Lakewood, N.J., spoke on worldwide education and her mission trip to Ghana. Finally, during the European heritage chapel, speaker John Pifer, pastor of the Cherry Hill, Laurelwood and Woodbury English churches, discussed heritage, spreading the gospel and the difference between national pride and national superiority.

Following each heritage chapel day, students ate hot lunches with ethnic-themed foods: pupusas and empanadas, representing Hispanic heritage; jollof rice and cassava leaves, representing Black heritage; and pizza and pasta, representing European heritage. LNAA students say they look forward to the next world heritage chapel, as they celebrate their cultures with one another.