A Business Perspective
Why Christian Education Matters
By Gary Feazell
B
EING THE YOUNGEST SIBLING in a family of
nine children opens your eyes to a lot of human
qualities. As I got older, I realized there were strong
influences during my younger years that shaped my think-
ing and focus on life. My mom, Marie, and my Dad, who
traveled a lot with his job, raised five boys and four girls.
Mom’s influence was a Bible in one hand and a peach tree
switch in the other. We all understood the value of discipline
and hard work. Love and respect were always prevalent in
every aspect of life in our home—even in discipline. When
I was very young someone once asked me why my Mom
spanked me. My reply was “Because she loves me.”
The training and focus of those young years left an
impression on me that I could accomplish my goals in life.
At the age of nineteen, I felt the urge to start a construction
business. The thought of starting a business and the plan-
ning was a little intimidating, but the desire to achieve was
greater. In October of 1976, my wife Delores and I began
this journey of hard work, long hours, sleepless nights, and
slim finances that go along with a start-up company. Ten
years later, we opened our first out-of-home office. As the
company grew, I quickly realized the importance of good
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people. My aim is to hire people with diverse skills and
abilities that I don’t possess to enhance our effectiveness as
a company. Through the years, I have relied on those great
people to expand our customer base in the marketplace.
This brings me to the question, “Why does Christian educa-
tion matter?”
As I alluded to previously, I strongly believe the younger
years shape our thinking. Each day as I listen to the news
headlines, my awareness of the need for strong values in
our education system grows. I am watching our politically
correct society destroy the young people that will be my
future employees. I will depend on these individuals to
carry on a long tradition of who we are as a company. When
we remove the principles of God, family, and country from
our schools and homes, it reduces the pool of potential
hires that I want to represent our company.
Respect, work ethic, character, and integrity are all things
that matter. These characteristics allow our employees to
be the marketing arm of our company. Without Christian
worldview training at school and teaching at home, I see
companies like mine fading into the sunset. We need to
propagate this thinking to preserve our heritage and nation.