Tag: Haven of Peace Academy Page 19 of 23

So some people might actually call us insane.  Including myself.  But we planned back-to-back weekend retreats in September.  Oh, and with teenagers.  When you say “retreat,” you may think calm and peaceful, but when you add in the word “teenager,” you know it won’t be. 

But we felt both retreats were really important, so we did it in spite of the insanity.  The first was with the entire 11th grade class.  11th grade is weird at HOPAC.  For various reasons (which I won’t bore you with), we’ve had half of each 10th grade class leave at the end of the year.  So that means that for 11th grade, half of the students have been at HOPAC for years, and half are brand new.  Since previous classes have really struggled with this, we decided we would nip those divisions in the bud at the beginning of the school year and take them on a retreat.  Our goal:  Bonding and shared memories.  That’s about it.  So that’s what we did:  lots of fun games and lots of fun.  Did I mention fun?

This was from a game of Extreme Spoons.  I love it because it looks like Jenai is going to bite Izumi’s leg off (over a spoon, no less). 

But see?  In real life they actually love each other. 

HOPAC Class of 2012

Weekend two was with our new Executive Student Council.  Gil and I decided that we really want to focus on leadership development this year, and one of the ways we will do that is by taking over Student Council.  So we took our six newly elected officers to our favorite beach house for the weekend.  This time, one of our goals was fun, but the other was planning.  We spent over 8 hours planning during the weekend, and it was excellent.  We came up with a year-long plan and started working on how we would carry it out.

We all decided that planning sessions while at a beach house, eating smores, is much more inspirational than a classroom.

All the students took turns getting pictures like this….

…so of course, Grace had to get in on the action as well.  You could say that Tesfaye got just a little more air than Grace did. 

The best thing about this beach is that it looks like this at low tide….

…and this at high tide, just a few hours later.

And there’s our amazing team for the school year!  Tesfaye is Ethiopian, Ab is Tanzanian, Eve is half Tanzanian/half Russian, Anja is South African, and Jenai and Benji (brother and sister)….well, I’m not really sure what they are.  They have an American dad and an Irish mom but spent their lives growing up in a variety of other places.  In fact, they just got their U.S. passports but have never actually stepped foot in America before.  Go figure.

On Friday Gil got word that baby turtles were hatching. Which happens to be one of his favorite things to photograph. So he spread the word around, and by the end of the school day, we had about 25 people caravanning out with us on the two hour drive out of town!

So of course, he got some great pictures. As you can see.

But that’s not really what I wanted to write about.

At dinner that evening, I sat across from one of our new staff members, who has been in the country all of two weeks. All the usual “get to know you” questions ensued, when we came to a common one, “How did God lead you here?”

I love these stories. And I especially loved this one.

This man and his wife have lived their entire lives (maybe about 50 years?) in their home country as good citizens, involved Christians, excellent teachers and school administrators. Then, a couple years ago, they were at a big revival type conference and God separately got a hold of each of their lives. “God wanted all of me,” he said. It changed their lives.

Not long after that, his wife saw a small magazine ad which was recruiting for HOPAC. She brought it to her husband, and they sent an inquiry to the school, not really thinking anything would come from it. The school immediately said they were interested, and invited them to apply.

So they applied, again thinking nothing would come from it. Then they were invited to visit the school last February. Both felt the call of God on their lives to serve at HOPAC, but at the same time realizing for the first time that this was not a paid position—they would have to raise support.

Their call from God was strong. But both understood the huge implications on their lives and those around them. Both had very successful careers—and they knew they would be giving that all up. They told their three adult daughters (the youngest who is 18), that if they did this, they would have nothing to contribute to the girls’ weddings one day. And helping the youngest with university would be tough, especially since her financial aid was based on their previous salary.

The girls said they should go anyway.

Their small church had never before sent out missionaries. This couple was very involved and would leave a lot of holes. It would be a stretch of faith for the entire congregation.

Despite it all, they said yes—to God and to HOPAC. And now they are here. Still not knowing where all their support will come from, still not having a renter for their house, still not knowing exactly how they will adjust after spending their entire lives in one place.

I love all the stories, but that one made me cry.

What faith! What obedience! And these are the people we get to work with! These are the people who will be leading us—propelling our school into the next era. What a blessing, what a privilege for us to be a part of such an amazing team of people—each with their different story of how God brought them to this place.

Some international missionary schools have started paying their teachers a salary (by making students’ tuition quite significantly higher). HOPAC has played around with that idea since every year we have such a hard time recruiting. But that’s one thing about HOPAC that I hope never changes, and not only because it would make it much harder for missionaries and pastors to send their kids here. Having to raise support is probably one of the hardest things a person has to do. But what it means is that the entire staff is tangibly living by faith to be here. And it means that every year the existing staff has to live by faith that God will provide for our staff needs.

I know that you certainly don’t have to work overseas to work with such extraordinary people. But I feel blessed every day that I can call them my friends.

Haven of Peace Academy Teachers and Staff, 2010-2011

Coupled with the T-Square incident, I stopped blogging for a couple weeks simply because I had way too many projects going on. Planning the Bible Verse Competitions, being on the graduation committee, being put in charge of the Last Day Assembly, and chaperoning some students on a weekend retreat all kept me pretty busy. But today was the Last Day of School. I am free! Expect a lot more posting in the next week!

Elementary School Bible Verse Quiz winners.  Every year it gets harder and harder to get down to the last three! 

Secondary School Winners

The Secondary School Verse Competition.  The girl holding the microphone on the left won the whole thing. 

Yay Christa!

Some of the sophomores who were such good friends and will almost all be split up next year asked us to chaperone them on a weekend beach trip.  Such awesome, awesome kids…all but three are leaving this year…we will miss them so much!

My kids always convince our teenagers to allow them to play with things like cell phones, cameras, and iPods…you know…those things we never let them touch. This is Josiah, complete with headphones and iPod, and his buddy Jenai on the beach trip.

My kids and me at the beach.  We love that we get to include our kids in our ministry.  We love that they have so many big brothers and sisters to love them.  We love that we can spend a weekend at the beach and call it ministry!

Annual (I can call it annual now because it’s the second year!) Family Graduation Banquet

HOPAC Graduating Class of 2010  (this was yesterday!)

 Beautiful families; beautiful day!

and…..

Today. 

The Last Day of School. 

All School Assembly with many parents in attendance as well.

Gotta love kindergarteners.  And my husband’s ability to capture great shots.

Last songs, last speeches, last times of saying goodbye.  It’s hard, but I love being at a school where everyone is crying on this day: teachers, parents, students.  Because when there are tears, you know there has been a lot of love.

We’ve been at HOPAC seven years now, so the years start blending together. It’s hard to keep them apart.

But this one will be called The Year Everyone Left.

Because that’s what it feels like.

She is leaving.

And them.

And them.

And them.

And more I don’t have pictures of.

Every year, lots of teachers leave HOPAC. Many come out only for a year or two, so we have a lot of turnover. But there’s always been those “pillars,” those teachers that never leave…the ones you can always depend on to be there next year.

But not this year.

This year they are leaving too.  People like him.

And her.

And him.

And them.  Oh Lord, what will we do without them?  They are our friends, our mentors, the ones we called when we needed a repair man or advice or prayer or wisdom.

All the people who have been serving at HOPAC longer than us are leaving this year.  So that means that now, Gil and I, after being at HOPAC only 7 years, are the veterans.

It feels kind of lonely.

But I am thankful.  A new season will be starting at HOPAC.  God has filled in almost every single gap with new people–some who have already arrived, others who will be getting off those planes in the next two months. 

For example, I am thankful for them.  They arrived a few months ago; he will be our new secondary principal; she is already becoming my friend.

And Kate!  Kate is my friend, and she is NOT leaving.  Yay, Kate!

Many of these pictures were taken at the Annual Staff Appreciation Dinner last week.  It was beautiful.  But you can see that for yourself.

HOPAC teachers, staff, board and spouses, 2009-2010

A HOPAC era has ended; a new one is beginning.  What a privilege to be a part of it all!