Posts Tagged ‘BFA’
October 20th, 2011
Written by Israel Filed under: BFA, Dani, Family, Life, Newsletter, Sports, Support, Volleyball, Work & School
Well folks, it’s been a looong time since our last update. I’ll skip the list of reasons for our silence, and jump straight to the good stuff.
Summer Happened
This summer was full. We did some manual labor, had family visit, and moved twice. July was filled with an intensive German course, which gave us a little more language confidence. Wir sprechen Deutsch ein bisschen besser. (If you speak German, you may be able to tell just how little better by that sentence.)
School’s back in session!
In late August, BFA started up again. We’re so glad not to be new this year! It’s wonderful to know how BFA operates, know what all those crazy acronyms mean, and best of all, to know students! God has already blessed us with some amazing, truth-filled, life-changing conversations with students.
Israel and the Screaming Girls
Israel is coaching JV Girl’s Volleyball this year. Last year he helped out, but now he’s an official coach. This means daily practices and traveling to games every weekend. Israel seems to be uniquely equipped, by his five sisters, to deal with all the screaming involved in a six hour bus ride with 20 teenage girls. He’s very much enjoying coaching, but it makes for a very tiring schedule.
Dani Goes to School
I am in my last few weeks of a Biblical Counseling class through the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. The class is called Foundations of Biblical Change and has been incredibly applicable, both to my own life and to my conversations with girls. Already this year, several girls have come to me with some pretty serious things, so the training I’m receiving through this class has been incredibly helpful. I hope to continue with more classes next semester.
Hello Long-Term Commitment?
Our initial commitment to BFA was for two years; this is our second year. Because it takes several months for BFA to fill empty positions, the school asks us to make next year’s commitment in October. A few weeks ago, we turned in a sheet of paper indicating that we would be at BFA next school year. We feel that we need to stay here until God tells us to go somewhere else. We’re excited about this decision and about being able to invest here longer term. This will mean more support raising this summer and, hopefully, more language learning, but we’re excited about the ways God will provide through these opportunities.
Pray for Us. Pretty Please!
- Busy, Busy, Busy — As our lack of updates indicate, we’re crazy busy! We’ve had very little free time since school started. We hope things will slow down a bit in mid-November, once volleyball and my class are over, but we’re already looking forward to Christmas Break.
- Chapel Talk — I, Dani, am speaking in High School Chapel on November 11th. I think I’ll be speaking about the miscarriages and what God’s been teaching me through them, but I don’t really know what “the point” of my talk is yet, partially because I’m still in the middle of this journey. I’m also sharing my story of dealing with sexual addiction in a dorm on Sunday. Prayer is much appreciated!
- Student Issues — God’s allowed us to join girls in pretty serious issues this year. We feel privileged to get to walk with them toward Jesus, but we can also feel rather helpless! We know, though, that Jesus is the only one who saves and changes. Pray for wisdom for us, and for redemption and salvation for the students!
- Summer and Future Plans – We’re still many months away, but summer will be upon us sooner than we think. This will mean travel, finding temporary housing and a car, and raising more support. We’re also in the process of deciding what direction to take for our family, whether fertility, adoption or something else.
We love you all! We’ll try to get another update out before Christmas!
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Tags: BFA, Black Forest Academy, change, christian walk, church, Dani, Family, Germany, Giving, God, Israel, Life, News, Prayer, Support, work
June 4th, 2011
Written by Dani Filed under: BFA, Dani, Video
2011 Grad Walk Out Tradition from Israel Jernigan on Vimeo.
BFA has a tradition at Grad every year—each pair gets to personalize their walk out. Here’s what happened yesterday. I moved around a couple times, so forgive the shakiness.
Tags: BFA, Black Forest Academy, Dani's Video, Grad, graduation, Seniors
June 1st, 2011
Written by Dani Filed under: BFA, Dani, Prayer, Work & School
In two days, 60-something seniors will graduate from Black Forest Academy. This is a big deal. It’s a big deal because it’s a milestone they’ve been working towards for 12-plus years, but it’s also a big deal because graduation will usher in what will probably be the biggest change of their lives.
Senior Transition Day
In April, I had the privilege of participating in Senior Transition Day. It was a day meant to help prepare them for transitioning to their passport countries. The day covered topics like building community, what it’s like to go to college as a Third Culture Kid, how to say goodbye to BFA, and how to say hello to America. The Seniors even received practical information about opening a bank account, what documents they need to take, and what to consider when getting a phone plan. I spoke on a panel just for the girls. We talked about managing your time and money, The Freshman 15, drinking, dating, boundaries, sex, extracurriculars and more. I was very excited to participate and greatly enjoyed my time with the girls. I hope the Seniors learned from this day; I certainly did. I walked away from Senior Transition Day with a greater appreciation for the immensity of the change these kids are about to encounter.
College is a big transition for everyone. For most people it means moving away from home, being on your own for the first time, learning to manage your money, your time, your weight, and a whole slew of other things. But BFA kids aren’t your average American teens. These are kids who’ve spent more of their time speaking French than English, who grew up using the British Pound instead of the America Dollar, who know their shoe size as 41 rather than 9. The majority of the BFA Seniors have no bank account, no driver’s license and no idea how to pay their bills. For most Third Culture Kids, college is a HUGE transition.
Simple Question, Difficult Answer
For example, one of the questions I got asked most often during my first few weeks of college was, “Where are you from?” With BFA kids, I make a point not to ask this question. When I do, I get blank stares and then a slew of questions. “Do you mean in America? Where I’ve lived the longest? Where I live now? Where my parents are from?” Instead, I ask, “Where is your family now?” Can you imagine how challenging this seemingly simple question will be when they encounter it 500 times during their first week of college? Should they even try to explain?
Some TCKs have spent no more than a few months at a time in their passport country. They may speak the language, be an American (or Canadian, or Korean, or Australian) citizen, and look the part, but inside, they don’t feel American. They feel Turkish, or Italian, or probably a combination of all three. Finding out who you are is a difficult task for anyone, but for TCKs, there are whole other arenas of identity to figure out.
These students have rich, diverse, and distinctive histories, backgrounds and experiences. These aren’t your average American kids (I recently heard one student list off the seven languages that he speaks), they’re going to face more challenges than the average college freshman. But underneath all of the challenges are the same basic questions: Who am I? Where do I fit? What is my purpose?
Pray for Seniors
Could you pray for these seniors as they embark on the journey of adulthood?
Pray for courage. Pray for grace. Pray for patience.
Pray that they will be willing to ask for help, would be gracious with their fellow countrymen who might not understand, and would run to Jesus in their distress. Pray that they would know the nearness of God in the midst of what might seem like a vast loneliness. Pray that they would learn that He is their identity; He is their home.
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Tags: america, BFA, Black Forest Academy, College, Grad, graduation, Missionary Kids, MKs, moving, Seniors, TCKs, third culture kids, transition, University
May 6th, 2011
Written by Israel Filed under: BFA, Dani, Video
Here’s a little video from one of the last times the small group of girls is meeting this semester. They went to the monument on the hill above Kandern. The other leader, Sue, is leaving after this semester. So she read a letter to the girls she had written them. It was a really good evening of being together and enjoying the outside.
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Tags: 2010-2011, BFA, Black Forest Academy, Dani, Dani's Video, forest, Germany, Goodbyes, Kandern, Nature, small group, students, Video
April 8th, 2011
Written by Dani Filed under: BFA, Dani, Life, Prayer, Travel, Work & School
Today is the last day of school until April 27th. Tonight we begin two and half glorious weeks of Spring Break. Happy sigh.
The entire BFA community is pretty excited about this, let me tell you. Not only are all the students heading home to see their families (Family!) and to return to the place they love, but 88 students and leaders are going on Mission Trips. We have five trips heading to Africa, Eastern Europe and East Asia. There was a trip going to the Middle East but it was canceled due to unrest there. These students and leaders will be doing construction, evangelizing, working with orphans, teaching and more.
I’m not looking forward to Spring Break because we’re going on a mission trip (we decided not to lead one this year), or visiting Italy or any other such thing. I’m looking forward to Spring Break because it’s a break—a wonderful, glorious, two week long break. Thank you Jesus!
I’ve been looking forward to this break so very much (as if you couldn’t tell). People keep asking us where we’re going over break, and I say “nowhere” with a big, toothy smile.
Rest = Goodness
I realized recently that with the pregnancies, miscarriages and resulting emotional roller coaster, I still don’t feel settled here. It seems that every few weeks some major event rocks my little world so much that I don’t have the time, energy, or normalcy to get used to life in Germany and at BFA. For example, going to the grocery store still frequently stresses me out, my house is rarely clean, and I still get overwhelmed by every new thing. I know many of the other first-year staff members are experiencing the same things, but I feel a little behind the adjustment curve.
We have yet to have a rest in Germany. We had Christmas Break, but with family visiting and then going to Turkey, it wasn’t restful in the way we needed it to be.
I firmly believe that people need breaks, even missionaries. BFA life is crazy. There is always something to do: a soccer game, a play, a small group, a student, a project…. It’s wonderful, but it’s also exhausting. We could literally fill up all of our time. Yes, our time would be full of worthwhile things, but we’d be too busy to be effective at any of them.
I’m looking forward to this break because I need to enjoy being here. I need some time to stop merely making it through the day, and to actually look forward to things again. The past few weeks, when girls come in to see me, I often have trouble having a conversation or staying focused. Sometimes I’m just so tired! I know this is all some combination of cultural adjustment and grief, but it’s frustrating and it makes me feel so ineffective.
My hope is that, when we return from break, I’ll be more present. I want to be able to soak up the last few weeks of school with these students. There are Seniors graduating who I’ll sorely miss. My small group girls will be leaving for the summer. The end of the year is quickly approaching and I want to value what’s left of it.
Pray
If you would be so kind, could you pray for a few things over the next few days?
Pray for:
- Safe travel for students, staff and mission trips. Many people are traveling even as I post this.
- For God to work through the mission trips, both in the teams and in the communities where they are serving
- For rest and rejuvenation, both for ourselves and for the rest of the BFA community
- Israel happened to roll his ankle quite badly yesterday morning. Please pray that his ankle heals quickly so he’s not confined to the house the whole break.
Since we’re pretty free over break, we’ll have lots of time to SKYPE! Let us know if you’d like to schedule a Skype date sometime before Easter. We’re skyping with our community group in Arkansas on Tuesday. So excited!
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Tags: BFA, Black Forest Academy, Dani, Germany, holiday, mission trip, Prayer, rest, spring break, Travel, vacation
April 6th, 2011
Written by Israel Filed under: BFA, Work & School
So this last Sunday we had two students come and cook a meal for us. There is a class that the students can take called Independent Living. One of the aspects that the class provides is the opportunity for students (usually a girl and a guy) to go and cook a meal for staff. It’s a great way for the students to learn how to cook and for staff to interact with students in ways that they might normally not.
We did this last semester, and it was a great opportunity for us to eat good food and learn about the students’ lives outside of BFA, so we signed up again this semester. A Senior boy and Junior girl sent us a list of ingredients and the menu, and we went shopping the day before, since stores are closed on Sunday.
What Did They Cook?
Our students cooked us Pasta Amatriciana, garlic bread, roasted veggies (Dani ate those) and Tiramisu. The food was really tasty, and it was fun to interact with the students while they prepared it in our kitchen. They came prepared to cook and even brought their own music, ipod + speakers. We provided all the cooking materials, but they had to do all the cooking with no help from us. They did a fantastic job, and we even had enough for leftovers. Yum.
Photos
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Tags: BFA, Black Forest Academy, food, Israel, Missionary Kids
March 1st, 2011
Written by Israel Filed under: BFA, Prayer, Travel, Work & School
One of the biggest BFA events is upon us—The High School Retreat. It’s happening this coming weekend, Friday through Sunday. The theme for this weekend is Restoration. A time of rest physical and of rest spiritually for staff and students alike. There will be time for sleep, sledding, ice-skating, snow activities, shopping, just loads of stuff not school related. My dad is going to be leading worship, and Rod Taylor will be speaking.
This is the Theme Verse for the Weekend
Restore us to yourself, LORD, that we may return;
Renew our days, as of old
Lamentations 5:21
Please Pray
We ask that you lift up this weekend:
- That Dani and the entire chaplains’ staff would get everything done that they need to regarding planning for this weekend.
- Pray that my parents arrive here safely—My dad is leading the music for the retreat.
- Dennis and Rod as they lead and speak.
- Safety traveling this weekend and while at Lenk.
- Pray that the weekend is restful.
- Pray that the students are receptive and open to Dennis’ worship style. It is different than they are used to.
- Pray that the students desire to see God change their lives.
- Pray that there would be an atmosphere of openness and stability.
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Tags: BFA, Black Forest Academy, God, Prayer, Switzerland, Travel, Weekend, work
February 23rd, 2011
Written by Israel Filed under: BFA, Work & School
The new website for the school is now officially launched! An announcement was made to the student body before school on Monday. I say it’s about time. Dani and I are excited that it’s live. Dani, because now I will be at home more. 
And myself because now I feel like I have something to show for my time here. There’s still plenty that needs to be done, but it’s a great starting point. And I am hopeful that it will improve BFA’s ability to communicate.
Check it out at bfacademy.com. And feel free to let me know what you think.
A Few Snapshots
- Coming Soon (home page advertisement)
- Application page – link »
- News page – link »
Designed for the weekend before the launch. It's what was shown instead of the homepage.
This is the new designed application page. The plan was to make it easier to use and to find the correct applications.
The new layout for the news page. This area is being developed, and exciting additions are coming in the next few months.
Some Exciting Features
There are now clear sections to feature documents for download.
The new and improved staff profile page. Includes easy category viewing and improved readability.
A dynamic contact request form. The form has specific links and descriptions depending on the department chosen.
There is much more content accessible directly from the website. No more having to download pdfs.
There's a new Showcase page that will house galleries and other media related to new media at the school.
A much more visual dorm page. And there are some really helpful additions like, date updated and contact information.
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Tags: BFA, Black Forest Academy, Germany, Israel, Kandern, Media, News, work
