Here I am.

Every year at the end of All Staff Orientation, a week before school opens, we close with a simple but deeply significant tradition. Having taken communion together, the staff (the administrators, teaching faculty, operations team, dorm parents and resident assistants, chaplains, nurses and volunteers) form a ring around the auditorium - a ring that bulges in many places as we try to fit in. This may be the only time in the school year we actually all see each other, the demands of the vastly differing schedules of the teaching vs dorm staff ensuring that when one group is off the other is automatically on. This year, as we looked around the room at the staff who God has called to serve at BFA, we were also prompted to think about all the people who support us and as I (Catherine) looked around, the image came to me of a vast invisible crowd of others stretching out behind each of us.  

It’s always a precious and humbling moment to recognise that the mission of Black Forest Academy (“to equip each student to influence their world through biblical thought, character and action”) cannot happen without a huge team of dedicated people - both here on the ground in Germany and around the world praying for us, encouraging us, and partnering with us financially. If you are reading this, it’s likely that you are one of those people - and we acknowledge this critical role you are playing in our lives as well as in the school’s mission. THANK YOU for being invested in us and in this work.

This last month has been full of preparation - firstly, training for our dorm staff followed by our New Staff Orientation and, finally, our All Staff Orientation. Because German tax law requires missionaries to leave the country for a full 365 days every five years, we always have a high turnover of staff. Thankfully, many of these return after their year away. In fact, as Phil sat with this year’s returning staff at a “welcome back” lunch, he was struck by the sheer calibre and length of service of many of the people sitting beside him - to the point where he had to wonder how the school had functioned without them! But it had. Despite leaving huge gaps behind them (some of whom have been pouring their lives into the students here for 30+ years), God has been faithful in bringing new staff to the school for the classrooms and dorms and offices, each one coming with unique experience and joy, and this year has been no different.

An additional highlight of the All Staff Conference is the stories shared by these newly arrived staff as they each take a few minutes to describe the journey that God has led them on to come here. Sometimes, these are long-haul journeys made over years. Other times, they are chance connections that opened up a new door at the last moment. Yet through each story, God has clearly been at work behind the scenes, calling and preparing people for these roles they are taking on now, and we celebrate His goodness to us in His finely-honed provision.

At the end of July, Phil and I also had the pleasure of hosting a work team from one of our supporting churches, Blue Ridge Bible Church in Virginia. With the school’s operations staff heavily occupied in the major task of moving our two oldest dorms from out of town into the new triple dorm building, much of the normal summer work for the rest of the school was going to be hard pressed to get done. Therefore, this team of twelve came to help with the rather unglamorous work of setting about to deep clean a couple of the dorms (getting them ready for our students to return to), and the transformation of a previously neglected little house on campus into attractive meeting and office space. They worked hard and accomplished much, and we were glad to help them gain deeper insight into the powerful role that BFA plays in the lives of its students and their families - who are serving in approximately 50 different nations around the world. In the end, we were not only encouraged by the work that was done but by the friendships that were developed.

So, after all this flurry of activity, school resumed last Wednesday with our colourful “Procession of Flags” at the Opening Ceremony.  This year, our little Sophie is a senior and took part in this long-time BFA tradition as the senior class paraded in flags for every country represented by this year’s student body.  She was thrilled to have been allocated the Kenyan flag and carried it proudly in honour of her childhood and the ongoing impact of the church in that country.  

As is also BFA tradition, Phil, as Head of School, gave the Opening Ceremony Address. This year, Phil’s topic was the phrase, “influence their world” that is in BFA’s mission statement. His conclusion provides an overview of the challenge he gave to the students this year:

So, in the end, what do we mean when we say that our mission is to “equip you to influence your world through biblical thought, character, and action”? What does that look like?

First and foremost, our hope is that your influence will bring honor to God and draw people to Jesus. 

Second, we believe that the Bible shows that God-honoring influence can be modest and behind-the-scenes (like Andrew or Ruth), or it can be prominent and visible (like we see in the examples of Esther or Paul or Moses). 

Third, regardless of whether our influence is understated or dramatic, heralded by the world or not, God’s call on us to influence our world demands that we make the most of the gifts He has given us (as we see in the Parable of the Talents).

But there is a critical fourth and final piece that I have not mentioned yet, and upon which all of this rests. The sort of God-honoring influence that we hope you will have, the type that attracts people to Jesus, isn’t forced upon us. God invites us into His mission, but we must choose it. The type of influence we hope you will have starts with a posture of your heart.

We see this pattern throughout Scripture but one example stands out. In Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet Isaiah remembers God’s call on him to influence. He writes, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

Isaiah’s powerful response is simply, “Here am I. Send me!”

Whether your life takes you into missions, education, medicine, business, law, art, politics, or any other field, Jesus is calling each of us to a deeply meaningful and eternally significant life of God-honoring influence. All we need to say is, “Here I am. Send me!”