A Willing Heart with Albert Sandoval
A Willing Heart with Albert Sandoval
Heavenly Father, we come before you thanking you for your Love and Mercy for our school. We pray for your protection over it and our children. Keep them safe and from evil, protecting their hearts and minds. We pray that they will grow in their knowledge of their Savior, Jesus Christ. We ask for your Wisdom for the administration, teachers, and staff. Glorify yourself through them. Thank you for the parents and the sacrifice they have made to keep their children in a Christ-centered school. Bless them financially, Lord. In Christ’s name we pray, amen.
Albert Sandoval is an unassuming, humble man—the kind you can’t help but chat with in the grocery store line. In fact, Mr. Sandoval recently retired after 45 years as a cashier and manager at Stater Bros. Markets where he befriended customers, including many parents and teachers at Woodcrest Christian.
“In my checkout line, I got to know a lot of the parents that sent their kids here and some of the teachers, so I had my eye on Woodcrest Christian when we were deciding where to send my son, Tyler, to elementary school,” says Sandoval.
“I remember, I took a tour of WCDS and walked into a classroom with close to 30 students in it, and it was so very orderly. The students were sitting at their desks so attentive. I was impressed right away. There was also a choral rehearsal going on for the 6th graders, and I remember hearing them worship the Lord, and my heart melted. I thought, ‘This is where I want our son to be’. I could see the love the teachers had, and that’s what I was hearing from parents in my checkstand, is that this school loves the kids.”
When asked what he loves most about his son’s experience so far at Woodcrest Christian, Sandoval says first its the teachers and then the parents who have the same heart protecting their kids’ spiritual lives. “I see how the school puts Christ first. They instill that love relationship with the Lord which is essential, and they integrate it through academics. They pray for the kids, they want them to succeed. They’re preparing them for college, but I know their heart and their goal is to make sure that the students’ relationships with the Lord comes first.”
Sandoval says that as a Christian parent, the number one thing is his son’s spiritual life. “Life goes by and they grow up fast, so my hope for him is that his walk with the Lord stays strong, he serves at church, and that he would be a good influence with his friends and make long-lasting relationships. I just look at him and think, ‘You’re a great kid. God gave us a great kid.’”
During Tyler’s 7th grade year, Sandoval joined the on-campus prayer group, Parents in Prayer. “Last year we were inundated with tragedies,” recalls Sandoval. “We were a team of eight parents who just constantly prayed for the needs presented to us from the school. I felt at that time that God planted us all there. We were all kind of new to it, but we were committed to interceding for this school every day. We really wanted to see God’s spirit move amongst the school and really do a mighty work in the lives of all these families and children. I love praying before the throne and asking God to really know His heart first and pray His will first. Yeah, sometimes we walk out of there weeping. We know God hears us and God honors those who humbly come before the throne and petition because He’s a strong God. He’s a good, good Father. And He does great and mighty things if we ask it.”
“So that’s our heart in Parents in Prayer when we come together,” he says. “We go to the Father and we know where our help comes from. We’re not all perfect in praying, but God didn’t ask for perfection. He asked just for willing hearts.”
Albert Sandoval has an eighth grade son who has attended Woodcrest Christian since Kindergarten. Mr. Sandoval has been a devoted prayer warrior actively involved with Parents in Prayer and leading the group this year to pray for our school’s needs and protection. Find out more about getting involved with Parents in Prayer.
