European Championships

This past weekend our history team traveled down to Rome, Italy, for the International History Bee and Bowl European Championships! Back in March our team qualified to compete in this event. Last year they had a total of 12 teams that participated, and this year they had 36!! There were a lot of hard questions, but our kids did their best and had a lot of fun!

Our weekend consisted of traveling by plane, train, car, and metro! There were long hot days but our students were such good sports through it all. On Saturday, three of our students competed in the Bee (individual) portion of the event. One of these students came out as a semi-finalist in the Junior Varsity division! On Sunday our team participated in the Bowl (team) portion of the competition and placed 3rd out of 8 teams! We are so proud of the hard work they put in this year with extra studying on top of all their regular class work.

Our students had many opportunities during the weekend to share with other students about our school, why it exists, and how they are missionary kids. I'm not only proud of the way they played, but of the way they let their lights shine for Christ throughout the weekend!

Looking out the window as we landed in Rome!

A fun afternoon visit to the Colosseum!

Even Miss Custer (teacher) and Mr. Stewart (parent) played in a fun round!

These students love to read!

All ready to start a Bowl round!

Our winners!

Out of Character

Those of you that know me well know that I am fairly introverted. This past week has included more than one occasion where I have done things that seem "out of character"... in a good way!

This past Tuesday we held our annual "Chrysalis' Got Talent" night. This night included a variety of performances from skits to musical acts. A few other adults and I decided that we were going to put on a lip sync dance to a mashup of "Bye Bye Bye" and "I Want it That Way" to surprise the kids. Sunday afternoon we got together and spent a few hours watching and re-watching N'Sync and Backstreet Boys youtube videos to choreograph our dance just right. On Tuesday we got on stage, threw 50 glow sticks into the crowd and started our "moves" as the stage lights turned on. While it was definitely nothing like that of an N'Sync or Backstreet Boys concert, it was so fun to be a part of something that got the kids so excited. I think they enjoy seeing us being silly as much as we enjoy doing it!

Last night was another night that would have felt out of character to me 4 years ago but now feels like a new normal. Twice a year our middle school student council holds middle school wide parties - "Fall Party" and "Spring Party." Last night the staff dressed up as villains for the Disney-themed Spring Party. Can you spot me in the picture below? I dressed up as the witch from Snow White. It was fun to play life-sized memory with the students and to watch them dance and take pictures at the end of the evening.

I am thankful for these moments to do things "out of character" for our students as it shows them that we really do care about them. I know that God is using me not only within the walls of the middle school but also when I get to do crazy things and share life with these students.

"This day could not get any better!"

This past weekend my co-worker, Katrina, and I, took six middle school students to the International History Bowl and Bee a few hours away. The weekend consisted of traveling via train and metro, sightseeing, lots of eating, and many quotable moments! On Sunday our team competed against 5 other teams in a variety of history questions and came out in first in the Junior Varsity Bee, Middle School Bee, and the Junior Varsity Bowl!! I am so incredibly proud of how well our kids played and how they cheered each other on. I couldn't have asked for a better group of students to take on a trip like this. Here are some pictures from our fun weekend away! 

"This day could not get any better!!" - M.S. (grade 8)

MS Activity Day

Last Friday, February 28, was our annual "take over the high school campus" day! Each year around this time the high school vacates their campus and goes on a weekend retreat. The middle schoolers love this because it means we can invade!

In the morning we took a bus about half an hour away to an indoor water park. The kids LOVED the water slides and I am pretty sure they just ran up and down those stairs non-stop for two hours.

When we returned to the high school campus in the afternoon, we had a time of worship and watched part 1 of an intro video (Butterfly Circus) to our new theme on transformation. After chapel the students had the choice between watching "How to Train a Dragon," board games, or open gym time in the high school's full-size gym! I helped with the board game room and ended up playing "In a Pickle," which was new to me. Definitely a fun game for those with large imaginations!

After weeks of planning transportation, facilities, and activities, I think it was a fun and successful day! It even had me in bed before 9:00PM on a Friday!

MS Olympics

There were many conversations about the Sochi 2014 Winter Oympics in our Middle School hallways these past few weeks. It was a highly competitive atmosphere as we weren't all cheering for the same country. As you may have seen on Facebook, our 7th grade Geography class worked on updating an Olympic Medalists bulletin board as the games went on! It was neat to see the final results in each category! 

This past week at Chrysalis, we had our very own Chrysalis Olympics! The evening began with the lighting of the torch (football inside of a cone) and the passing off of the torch to 3 different Olympic athletes! Each country consisted of a girls and boys Chrysalis group that had to create their own flag and country name. Our program team came up with 3 different events (curling, 3-legged race, finger wars) that our 6 countries rotated between. The winners in our olympics, however, did not receive gold medals but lots of candy (which is probably more appropriate for our audience!)!!

Chrysalis Olympics 2014!!

"Let the games begin!" 

MS Basketball

Basketball is a highly popular sport at BFA. You will see a variety of ages who love to play the game. This year (possibly for the first time ever!?) we have our very own middle school basketball teams! They are committed by their early morning practices and playing in every free moment they have. It has been so fun to see them get so excited about this sport! Two weeks ago BFA held their first middle school basketball games against another international middle school. As you can imagine there was quite a difference between the abilities of our middle school girls and middle school boys, but the girls wowed us as they scored 3 baskets in the last 45 seconds, tying the game! The boys played an intense game against the other team and just barely beat them! My prayer for these kids is that as their love for basketball grows, their love for Jesus would also grow. 

Full and Fun Fall!

As usual, fall is jam-packed with lots of fun events at BFA! 

October 31 most BFA staff and students boarded buses and headed into Basel Switzerland for Herbstmesse. Herbstmesse is a fall festival that lasts for about a month, but BFA has traditionally always gone on October 31. The main highlight of the night is having an hour of middle school only bumper cars! While it usually ends with lots of bruised knees, it's a fun evening with our students outside the classroom! 

On November 5, Heather and I had our chapel band students over to our house for a "Hillsong Young & Free" CD Release Party! Our afternoon was filled with a photo shoot, dance party, and of course lots of food (that didn't last long!)! 

Last Friday our Operation Christmas Child time at BFA concluded with our 2nd Annual 

Packing Party! We had many high school and elementary students come, and lots of our 

middle school students ran almost the event! It was so cool to see so many people get involved. We had stations to pack a box, check a box, and pray for a box. In the end, BFA sent over 115 boxes to children around the world! 

  

Thank you for your support and prayers as I continue to serve at BFA. Please pray that we will be filled with energy,  strength, and love, as we finish off these 

remaining four weeks until Christmas break. 

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Philippians 1:3