Where is your heart home? For our Seniors, it happens to be all over the world! Most have a US or Canadian passport yet have lived with their parents on the mission field before coming to live in Germany while attending high school. They can fit into almost any culture, speak 2 or more languages, and can surprise you with their experiences so far!
To begin our year at Black Forest Academy, Seniors carry their "home" flag into the auditorium passing by their parents, 5th through 11th grade students, faculty and staff. It is nearly impossible to keep a dry eye as they pass by! These flags represent 59 places in the world where God is impacting individual lives!
Our keynote speaker was Dr. Joseph Kim who shared a story of a young boy who attended a school in Switzerland several years ago. He was from Korea and the school was told he was a diplomat's child. He struggled to make friends since he did not speak German. Another young Korean girl also attended the same school, so he tried to become friends with her. She apparently did not want to be friends with him and would tell him to go away. So, he spent his time alone and played violent video games. After about 2 years, his parents took him out of this school and he disappeared. Dr. Kim then asked if we knew who he was talking about? The current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, who is a violent and brutal leader.
He also shared a positive story of our current principle teaching a Bible class at Dr. Kim's school in South Korea. His students loved him and one day, Dr. Kim saw why he was do loved. His screensaver had pictures of his students along with their names. At the beginning of the year, the teacher asked the students to share their names and he wrote them down with a phonetic spelling. The students loved and respected him because he cared and called them by name!
Every year, our Senior student body president also speaks at our opening ceremony. David likened our school to an international ice cream shop and our flavors dependent on our experiences. He talked of the importance of community, fellowship and reaching out to others. Here is Laura's blog (high school Bible teacher) about his speech: International Ice Cream Shop
The Call of Nations is a fun and exhilarating way for our students to call out and identify with their country! As each country is called and the flag is shown, students who call that country "home" jump up and cheer! Many students jump up on more than one country!
Giving the high school dorm students a time to say good-bye is important. High school students and families are given time to say good-bye to each other, pray over each other and say hi to classmates from last year. This is so valuable and precious! Here is a quote from our dorm leaders after our first week of school:
"the flurry of the "firsts" are over...our students arrived safely and our staff are doing wonderfully...so thankful for those who filled the gaps, painted ceilings and walls, drove to airports and train stations including a middle of the night trip to frankfurt, shopped, baked, cleaned and cleaned some more and just made it more "doable" for our dorm staff through these last days...so THANK YOU to Jordan Cummings, Hannah Cliff, Lucas Fultz, Bob Speizer and Nancy Gott, and Calvin Howe and Jodi Howe Hammondand Don Ansley and Jeff Cyr for the many ways you supported our staff so they could do what they do so well! we have never had SO many parents stop us in the hallway or come to our office to say how confident they are in leaving their children in your care...many with tears of their own sadness but with such a thankful heart for this place...one said "it's really hard to do what's best for my child" and you have calmed their fears and their hearts...great work dear staff!! we're off to a great start for a new year of peace in our own hearts and homes!"
Thank you so much for providing the means for me to be here serving these students! Some of my small group girls are dorm students and I have already welcomed them and given them hugs! You are such a vital piece of this ministry with your prayer and financial support! Thank you and God bless!
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