Hello FACE Friends,
My name is Michael Allan-Ross and I live in Newcastle, New South Wales in Australia. I am currently teaching Year 7 and 8 English, History and Geography at a Christian school called St Philip’s Christian College. I have been teaching for 24 years and I am married to Kelli and have four children – Felicity 31, Grace 21, Toby 15 and Nicolas 11.
I first became interested in America’s rich heritage of Christian history back in 2014 when I watched Kirk Cameron’s inspiring documentary called Monumental: In Search of America’s National Treasure. I was so inspired by this film that I chose to visit Plymouth, Massachusetts, among other historical sites along the east coast by myself in May of that year, to conduct my own Monumental tour!
As a history teacher, I was also wondering how I could connect what I was learning with my teaching and I came across the FACE website. I reached out to Carole Adams and Kathy Rader and organised a visit to Stonebridge School and to the FACE Library. This was a life changing experience for me. I also met with Max Lyons and Herb Titus and had meals with them and discussed the Biblical principles that make a nation prosper before God.
On returning to Australia I set about applying the Principle Approach in my Year 6 class and took part in the online Lessons in Liberty that were conducted through FACE. I began to think about how I could apply this approach to the teaching of history more broadly across schools and made connections with Christian historians and ministries in Australia. As part of this, God gave me an opportunity to take part in leading prayer in our Parliament House in Canberra in 2015. Max Lyons recommended the work of Elizabeth Kotlowski, a fellow Australian whom he met while she was working at Stonebridge School. She had written a seminal book entitled “Southland of the Holy Spirit – A Christian History of Australia”, which I purchased second hand and began to read and study. I began to view her work as our own potential equivalent of the Red Books for Australia.
Fast forward to December 2018 and I returned to America and stayed with Max and Margie Lyons over Christmas and was blessed to be part of their family. God really began to show me the heart of America and I fell further in love with the people along with the history. Having visited the second of the Original Parent Colonies – Plymouth – in 2014, I now had the opportunity to tour the first colony in Jamestown with the Lyons and the knowledgeable Chris Evans as my guides. I feel very blessed to have had such incredible patriots to teach me America’s true Christian history.
I have developed a deep love for America’s Christian Constitutional Republic as it expressed the Biblical principles and God’s character so powerfully. In July 2019, I took part in the Foundations for Authentic Christian Teaching and Learning and was blessed to more fully understand the Principle Approach and the potential it held for our Australian Christian Education and Government. As part of this study I was required to write a series of lessons and I decided to base my teaching on the amazing Nation Makers course that I purchased when I was in Chesapeake. This process has been truly life changing and created a deep desire to come and live in the United States for a period of time to be part of a Principle Approach school so that I can be further discipled and then take this back to Australia.
I wonder if the Lord is preparing me to start Principle Approach schools in Australia in a way that meets our unique needs and history. This may be in the form of an online school or face to face. I believe that the Lord is stirring my heart to write a Nation Makers course for Australian students and educators. This is such a crucial time in our history where the Lord appears to be resetting for the season ahead.
In conclusion, if I had to sum up what I think God is calling me to at the moment in regards to America it is this – to be part of rebuilding America’s Christian Republic and heritage. I have a sense of calling in God that He is calling me as a missionary to America; a nation that has sent out more missionaries by far than any other nation on earth. America needs Rebuilders of its Christian foundations in order to fulfil God’s mandate for this great nation and for it to continue to be a leader among the nations for God’s glory. And I can see clearly that the Principle Approach has a significant part to play in seeing that happen.
Yours in Christ,
Michael Allan-Ross