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Cornerstone duplicates itself in Guadalajara!
August 8, 2007

Redeemer Academy of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico has now renamed itself “Cornerstone Academy” to further underscore our sister school relationship which began two years ago, when Mission to the World missionary Jim Haynie found our school web site by looking for a classical Christian school in Tucson.

Jim, a former school administrator in Maryland, and his wife Patti, a teacher, began Redeemer Academy in the fall of 2005, after several years of preparation. Sponsored by and located at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in the Guadalajara suburb of Bugambilias, the school was originally conceived to be uniquely bilingual in a country where most schools teach exclusively in Spanish. In the course of their preparation to open Redeemer, the Haynies read several articles about classical Christian education and were captivated by its vision. Their search for an American school to partner with was narrowed to Tucson, because Tucson and Guadalajara are official Sister cities, and partnering with a school here would give Redeemer some unique cultural and legal benefits.

In its first two years, Redeemer grew from 6 children in preschool and kindergarten to 27 children in pre-school through grade 6. The Haynies have since returned to the states and the school is in the hands of missionary Keith Thomas, who has been serving at Redeemer Presbyterian Church for 11 years.

In 2006, Dr. Askew went to Guadalajara as the guest of (then) Redeemer Academy, and a delegation from Tucson Sister Cities. While there, Dr. Askew and the delegation were welcomed by the mayor of Guadalajara at a special breakfast in the City Hall. The Haynies gave a tour of historic sites and Dr. Askew way also able to see all the ministries which have been launched through their mission activities there. In a special meeting with representatives form the Ministry of Education, Dr. Askew presented information about Cornerstone Christian Academy of Tucson, with the result that an official agreement was drawn up by the state of Jalisco recognizing Cornerstone of Tucson and Redeemer Academy as sister schools under the provisions of the Sister Cities program. It is in honor of this agreement that Redeemer has changed its named to Cornerstone Academy.

Since that visit, a private basketball club, the Clippers, has visited Tucson twice under the Sister Cities program, and because there are members of Redeemer Presbyterian Church on the team, Cornerstone has hosted them for games and fellowship twice, during the Easter season of 2006 and at Easter of 2007, as well. Many other possibilities are in the talking stage for future exchanges between the two schools.

Redeemer Academy, like all Christian schools, is a seed-sowing ministry, but sometimes results come right away. Jim Haynie shares this story with us from the early years of the academy:

“Hiding God's Word in the heart of children can bear some interesting results. Three and a half year old Lily was walking around the neighborhood in Bugambilias with her mom, dad, and little brother. God had recently provided them a lovely home to rent at a great price, and her mom exclaimed, ‘This house was such a steal!’ Wide-eyed, Lily stopped in her tracks and piously announced, ‘Thou must not steal, Deuteronomy 5:19.’”