From the Director’s Desk (August 2023) – Trent Kennedy

From the Director’s Desk (August 2023) – Trent Kennedy

Each August is exciting at Southwest. As the school prepares to start a new school year, we love seeing our second-year students return from their breaks. We were especially glad to welcome back the Tabora family, who spent a month in Honduras, and Christopher Willcut, who spent the month in South America. Both of these students spent their entire break doing short-term mission work. The other students were busy preaching, reporting, seeing family, and catching up on their studies. In all, eleven students will be continuing their second-year studies at SWSBS.

We also love seeing new faces and families as the first-year students move to Austin and begin to settle in. This year we welcome nine new students to SWSBS. All of them are from Texas: Kirk Fitzsimmons (Victoria), Greyson Freiley (Mathis), Jerry Hill (Winnsboro), Joshua Hutzler (San Antonio), Jaston Richter (Houston), Fred Scherffius (Buda), Alejandro Viquez (San Antonio), Annabelle Bond (Marble Falls), and Kylie Lloyd (Buda). Each of these new students brings energy, perspective, experience, skills, and interests that will make their class unique. Moreover, each of them, as members of the Southwest congregation, makes the body of Christ in South Austin stronger. Most of these students will only be members here for two years, but they contribute as song leaders, evangelists, babysitters, servants, teachers, drivers, and all-around workers.

One of the strongest assets of SWSBS is the Southwest church of Christ. The congregation embraces the students each new year. For nearly fifty years the Southwest congregation has overseen and worked hand-in-hand with the school. And, each August the congregation buzzes with excitement as our student body begins their studies. Families adopt students. Plans are made. Friendships are formed. Please keep our congregation, school, and individual students in your prayers as we begin our forty-sixth year of training Christian soldiers.