Isaiah, 7th Grade

Isaiah came as a new student to River of Life School during the 2025–2026 school year. From the outset, Isaiah was, at best, pessimistic about his life’s future, though just 12 years old. He feared he would follow the same path as his close relatives — a path to incarceration. However, from the outset, Isaiah’s intelligence, talent, and longing to succeed shined brightly in the classroom. He answered questions with understanding and proved to both himself and his teacher that he does indeed have what it takes to succeed.

On the basketball court, Isaiah learned not only about the game, but, over time, the valuable skill of controlling his emotions when the game was not going his way. Perhaps most importantly, when Isaiah first entered River of Life, he had a limited knowledge of both the Holy Scriptures and what it means to follow Christ from his heart.

Through weekly Bible classes, school worship services, and spiritual encouragement from the school’s faculty and staff, Isaiah learned more about how much God loves him. Eventually, Isaiah made the personal decision to follow Christ, giving his life to Him. As the school year drew to a close, Isaiah’s worldview had changed — and he had formed strong friendships with classmates and was in a much better place academically, athletically, socio-emotionally, and, most importantly, spiritually.