Spring Update from BFA
‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17
Dear Family and Friends,
I begin this newsletter on our first true day of spring, sat in ‘Ken’s Court’ on the north side of our High School Janz Building. The sun is almost hot in the late afternoon, dots of yellow and pink are poking above grass level, and the air bears the sounds of chattering birds, hovering insects, and the buzz of a class that has been allowed out early to enjoy the afternoon. Two young musicians are cross-legged on the lawn, puzzling out the harmonies to a favourite song; a gang of tenth graders are practising kicks and shooting baskets; others are winging paper planes on the breeze. These simple joys are prized after long, dim days, and there is a uniting sense of hope as the old world of winter gives way and we see the renewed earth as though with new eyes. But the same sense of hopefulness reminds me that even this light is a shadow of things to come: of a world uninhibited by seasons, where ‘the sun shall be no more [our] light by day, … but the Lord shall be unto [us] an everlasting light, and [our] God [our] glory.’ And how we need the renewed eyes of faith to look for and see these things!
Classroom News
With these themes in mind, my Middle School Intermediate Strings class has been exploring worlds old and new through music this semester: from the modern-turned-prehistoric world of Jurassic Park, to Dvorak’s American South-inspired New World Symphony; from the illusionary longing for a perfect earth in Beethoven’s Ninth, to the promised hope of the New Creation expressed in various hymns. Another recurring theme for both Intermediate and Beginning Strings has been ‘big things that start small.’ We regularly learn stripped-back versions of ‘masterworks’, and the children get excited seeing how these began with, or can be deconstructed into, simple ideas which they can play for themselves. I enjoy witnessing their encouragement as they realise not only the potential, but also the innate value of what they are able to do now, in Middle School, though viewed by many as rudimentary—and indeed the Father’s own desire is that ‘no man despise [their] youth.’
A memorable day for Middle Schoolers was our final day of classes before Spring Break, when they had a musical egg hunt! After searching for chocolate hidden along with printed melodies from Easter hymns, they were tasked with learning and performing the tunes before cracking open their rewards, which they enjoyed together in the sunshine. Half the secret to teaching younger years music is disguising technique in puzzles and games, and even in our routine lessons we have a lot of fun together.
The growth of the High School strings programme has been slower, having lain dormant for the previous year or two and being a case of recovering and rebuilding. However, as a bridge to an official strings course which Lord willing will run next academic year, I started two new extracurricular groups this semester. String Orchestra is an enjoyable group that meets on Friday afternoons. We have been learning the theme to Chariots of Fire, and my seven students were interested to discover that Eric Liddell grew up in a missionary family and returned to China as a missionary himself—two overlooked parts of his biography. Twice a week I have a Trio session with two violinists in ninth and eleventh grade. I really enjoy this time with the girls, who feel like younger sisters and are so genuine in their gratitude for the teaching. We are currently learning Mendelssohn’s beautiful ‘Lift Thine Eyes’, a trio arranged from his choral work ‘Elijah’ and based on Psalm 121, among other repertoire.
One-to-one lessons tick on from week to week, with two new students recently added to my roster. Our Performing Arts department works hard to provide opportunities to perform, and I have been glad recently to find several students defying the usual music teacher woes and actively asking to go on stage. Each Wednesday we host a performance class where they can present works in progress, and last quarter also held a more formal evening recital. It’s a joy to see how our students encourage one another through the usual nerves, as well as to see friends and dorm families turn up as home crowd.
Department News
A wonderful provision for our Performing Arts department came about recently when one of our teachers received a call asking whether we would like a Steinway grand piano. The natural answer was that we would love one but could never afford it. ‘What if I said that you already owned it?’ was the caller’s response—and we discovered that the instrument had been left in a mission organisation’s recording studio that had been handed over to BFA some time ago. We are so grateful now to have a concert hall worthy piano in situ, and that our students can play something satisfactory to a world class artist without having paid a cent!
By far the largest recent project for our small department was the International Honours Music Festival: an annual event which brings together students from similar international Christian schools for six days of music making. This year it was BFA’s turn to host, and after months of long planning meetings, intricate scheduling spreadsheets, and more than a few logistics headaches, it was exciting to have around 100 students and 20 teachers arrive from 9 schools in 7 countries: Spain, Germany, Hungary, Albania, Turkey, Russia, and Kazakhstan.
We stayed in a youth hostel in the historic city of Freiburg, where the students had four days of intensive choir and orchestra rehearsals. Our guest conductors from the USA did an admirable job of bringing together the ensembles within such a short timeframe, as well as speaking into the musicians’ lives from a spiritual standpoint. The daily schedule also included morning devotions, shared mealtimes, lively evening activities, and a scavenger hunt around the city one sunny afternoon. At the weekend we gave two well-attended and well-appreciated concerts—one in a local church, the other at BFA—featuring a programme of mainly hymn and worship arrangements alongside a few classical pieces.
The venture was a demanding one for our department staff, who played in the ensembles while also running the event, but we felt the Lord sustain and stay off impending sickness until after all was over. Another outstanding mercy was God’s hand on our travel plans. We were relying heavily on public transport to ferry all 120 people around South West Germany and to/from airports on four of the six days, so we were praying that there would be no strikes. When it came to it, four strikes were announced just before the festival—but fell on the days before, after, and in between our travel days! We were also blessed to see how well the students gelled, how impressed the hostel staff were by the group, and how one staff member started listening outside the door during devotion times: fruit we couldn’t have planned for all our spreadsheets, but which we trust was planned by a sovereign God.
Personal news
After a full few months, our Spring Break was welcomed at the end of March by students and teachers alike. I enjoyed being able to spend more time in the German-speaking world and with friends both new and old. Among the ‘old friends’ were the couple with whom my family stayed during childhood summers, and whom God used so beautifully to instil my love for this part of the world. After almost twenty years, it was surreal to revisit them both as well as the locations of other early memories, and to find that many things have not changed for all that life has done otherwise.
A highlight from church life in recent months was an invitation to share my testimony with our small group of young people: children and foster children of a couple who run a hotel further into the Black Forest and who attend our fellowship. I frequently walked past their hotel during summers spent in the area during my early twenties, when I could have had no idea that the Lord would bring me back and give me such an opportunity to witness as a ‘local’. So the occasion was a blessing not only through sharing God’s mercy in saving me, but once again in remembering how He has guided my steps since.
Recalling past guidance makes the Lord’s ongoing leading all the more precious, and a very special instance of the latter was evidenced in February when Johannes asked me to be his wife! (For those who missed my last letter, Johannes’ sister is my close friend who first introduced me to BFA and whose parents I got to know several years ago, before meeting Johannes himself much later). He proposed by a tiny, white stone chapel, which lit up at night was the first thing I saw from the valley below when I first returned to the area as an adult. The sight of it came to hold a beautiful sense of homecoming long before I had any idea that this region would one day, in God’s perfect time and mysterious ways, become home. He has been so gracious to us, making His way plain and giving a story that only He could have written. We plan to be married later this year and live initially very near to school, and we look forward to seeing how the Lord will continue to direct us in serving Him together.
How you can pray
Looking ahead to the next couple of months, please pray especially:
For my colleagues and me as we start the last stretch of the academic year. The summer term has a busy calendar, so please pray both for energy in the routine work and for flexibility where routines are interrupted. Please pray that my strength would come from joy in the Lord, and that His blessing on my relationships with my students and colleagues would flow out of the blessing of my relationship with Him.
For the preparation and running of upcoming events in our Music Department, including the school Music Festival on April 26 and our end-of-year Middle/High School concerts in late May and early June.
For our students as they prepare for final exams in early June, and especially for our graduating Senior class as they end their time at BFA.
For God’s guidance and provision for Johannes and me as we prepare for our wedding and marriage.
I can never express too often how greatly I covet and treasure your prayers, nor how much I value your support in the more practical ways. May the Lord cause His light to shine on you in the coming days and bless you in your walk with Him!
Yours in Christ,
Hannah