Kingsway Academy
50th Anniversary Banquet
Oct. 17, 2009

The Honorable Carl Bethel, Minister of Education, Mr. Chairman, honored guests, principals, teachers, parents, students, and friends of Kingsway Academy:

I am honored to join you tonight in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Kingsway Academy. I never dreamed I would see this day! It is a special pleasure to renew friendships with the many supporters of Kingsway over the years. One special friend, however, Mrs. Madelin Greene, is conspicuous by her absence. If she were here, we would be celebrating together. Instead, tonight she is celebrating around the throne of God which far outdoes anything that even the illustrious Wyndham Nassau Resort can conjure up.

It was she who gave me this bag which I carry tonight in her honor.

Kingsway Academy’s motto, “training children in the King’s way,” encapsulates the reason for its existence. As a Christian school, we seek to prepare students for eternity. By preparing for the future, we bring perspective to the present.

James. 4:14 says, For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and ... vanishes away.

To be educated without God is to have knowledge without wisdom.

Proverbs. 9:10 says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

In 1968, to memorialize the fact that Kingsway Academy is founded on the Word of God, we buried a Bible under the patio of the elementary school. As long as the school continues, I trust that the Bible will remain its “sure foundation.”

During a visit to Nassau on Feb. 11, 1957, my father, C. Ernest Tatham, wrote in his diary, “exercised about a Christian school here. Clarence Lowe and I looked at land for a school.”

His vision became a reality in Sept. 1959, when the Charles Tatham Memorial School, named for my grandfather, opened the door of its newly built, one room school located behind Jack and Jill Nursery School on Dowdeswell Street. Shirley Redpath, the first teacher, taught its 7 students from Sept. 1959 thru January, 1960. She told me that, one day, after telling the story of Lazarus, she asked the class, “What did Jesus say to Lazarus?” One bright student, fresh from learning mathematical ordinals, blurted out, “Lazarus! Come fifth!”

I began teaching in February, 1960, with 12 students, intending to stay only 5 months. 10 months later, however, the Lord spoke to me in an inaudible voice, telling me I was to remain with the school until it was firmly established. Standing on the back steps of Jack and Jill Nursery School, I committed myself to stay for as long as it took.

11 years later, on a beautiful November evening of 1971, I found myself standing outside another building. This time it was the L-shaped elementary school of Kingsway Academy on Bernard Road. The occasion was the first PTA meeting in our new Activity Centre and I paused to savor the moment. The place was bustling with life! The auditorium was quickly filling with parents as teachers hurriedly put finishing touches on their classrooms. I saw mothers carrying trays of food for the reception that was to follow and within minutes, music was wafting from the Activity Centre. As I drank in this happy scene, again I heard the Lord speaking to me. He said, “You can go home now.” I knew that meant that my mission was finished and that it was time to turn the school over to others which was my intention from the beginning.

The intervening years between God’s call to stay and his call to go, were filled with daunting challenges and memorable miracles.

In September, 1961, at the suggestion of my sister, Ruth Nottage, I changed the school’s name to Kingsway Academy, and relocated our now 24 students to a rented, 4 room, frame house on Dowdeswell Street next to Bay Street Garage. Within 4 years, we were filled to capacity, so when Dewitt Thompson, Chairman of the Board, mentioned that Mr. T.T. Bowles was selling his 10 acre property on Bernard Road. I decided to pay him a visit.

On Sunday afternoon, May 22, 1966, as I walked up the lane leading to his front porch, the Lord gave me the verse, “Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land ... ” (Deut. 1:8). From that moment on, I had no doubt that the Bernard Road property would be ours. I told Mr. Bowles that the reason his property hadn’t sold was because God was saving it for Kingsway Academy. He said, “Well, the Baptists wanted this property but they only had twelve hundred pounds.” Little did he know that my only asset for the purchase was a 4 shilling note given to me by Dorothea Nunez with the words, “I believe God is in this project. Here is my seed money.”

Standing on his porch, we agreed on a price of twenty thousand pounds (around $56,000) with a two thousand pound down payment due within a month. On June 21, 1966, the down payment was paid, the papers were signed, and the beautiful Bernard Road property belonged to Kingsway Academy.

A week or so later, I walked around the property for the first time. Beyond the decaying garage, tall weeds, and many fruit trees, I saw a large rock. Standing on it, I surveyed the land in all directions. Looking NW, I envisioned the L shaped elementary school with its classroom doors painted in different, primary colors.

One morning, shortly after the teachers and I prayed for someone to build the school on the newly acquired property, the late Roy Beverly called from Cat Island with the question, “Grace, do you need someone to build a school?” The next day, Roy flew in a man named Chic Anderson. Chic built himself a shack on the Bernard Road property, picked up a shovel, and went to work. Almost singlehandedly, he built the 7 classroom elementary school including the foundation, plumbing, and electric. He lived primarily on peanut butter sandwiches and 3 day old coffee. His daily routine was to work on the school for 18 hours, sleep for 4 hours, and spend 2 hours praying in the wooded back 5 acres now occupied by the high school which, perhaps, grew out of the seeds of Chic's prayers. After 18 months he left and I never saw him again. For his efforts, he earned not one dime. At least, not on earth. Because of Chic’s obedience to God’s call, Kingsway Academy moved into its spacious new headquarters on Bernard Road in September, 1968.

One day, on one of my many visits to Mr. and Mrs. Bowles in their new home, I talked to him about his relationship with Jesus Christ. He said, “Hang on. I want my wife to get in on this.” Mrs. Bowles rolled her wheelchair in from the kitchen and listened attentively while I shared the Gospel about how Christ had paid for all of our sins through his death on the Cross and subsequent resurrection. When I finished, both of them bowed their heads and prayed the sinner's prayer, accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It was only then I understood why there had been so many delays in our negotiations. The Lord was waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Bowles to come into the Kingdom.

One morning the Royal Bank of Canada, Palmdale, phoned to say our account was overdrawn by $2,000 and if I didn’t make a deposit by noon, cheques would start bouncing. I assured them that I would be there before noon although we did not have $2 in assets at the time, much less $2,000. As I made that commitment, the Lord brought James 4:2 to mind, “Ye have not because ye ask not.” My next thought was that I was to visit the Nassau Shop and ask the owner, Mr. Harold Saunders, for a donation.

As much as I hated the very thought, I feared disobeying the Lord more so I called the staff together to pray, and then proceeded on my mission, earnestly hoping that there would be no parking within blocks of the place. But, alas. For the first time in history, there was a perfect parking space directly in front of the store. As I spilled my tale of woe, Mr. Saunders wrote out a cheque, handing me the needed $2,000 with 2 stipulations. No receipt and no thank you note. Then he added, “If you ever need help again, please come back.” The recording angel took note.

Dewitt Thompson told me about Grant-in-Aid offered by the government for the support of private schools. Of course, as with most grants, applying and receiving are often far apace. Meanwhile, all our financial resources had completely dried up and there was no money for our upcoming payroll. So I visited the Ministry of Education to have a talk with the director, Sir Brian Marwick. The secretary informed me that he would not see me nor anyone else. I told her I would wait. Which I did..for several hours. Finally, she said they were closing and I would have to leave. I told her I would not leave until I saw Sir Brian. Shortly thereafter, she ushered me into his office. He listened sympathetically to my plea, at the end of which he said. “Good for you. Just leave it with me.” That was Tuesday. By Friday we had our first Grant-in-Aid cheque for $19,000. It was only later that I learned the reason he would not see me. Dear Sir Brian had throat cancer which claimed his life a few months after my visit.

When my family and I left Nassau in 1973, the teachers gave me this gold locket that I am wearing. On the back it says, “Kingsway Academy, 1959 to 1973. By Faith.”

What is faith? It is believing what God has revealed and doing it.

Returning to Nassau in 1982 for the dedication of the high school, I stood on the same rock where God had given me the original vision of the elementary school. By this time, however, the vision had been a reality for 13 years. Swarms of children rushed by me as they hurried into the Activity Center, probably wondering who was this strange woman and why was she standing on a rock, staring at the school. To me, however, it was a sacred moment worth savoring.

My contribution to Kingsway Academy was a mere 14 years. In the intervening 36 years, hundreds have given their time, talent, energy, and resources to make Kingsway what it is today. God knows who you are, although you may be unknown to me. Seven names that do come to mind are Dorothea Nunez, Carol Harrison, Kelly Hamilton, Clayson, the late Ned Wallace, Herb Treco, and the late Cathy Benjamin. Of course, there are scores of other unnamed heroes.

If any of you are interested in a more complete account of the early years of Kingsway, please see The Kingsway Academy Story on my website at www.scriptureseries.com. The address is in your program.

Paul said in 1 Cor. 3:5-9 - the Lord gave to every man; I have planted; Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

One day, when the books are opened in Heaven, every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor for we are laborers together with God. Job 16:19 says, “My record is on high.”

In the meantime, “let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9).

God bless you.

Grace Kemp