Summer Update from BFA
‘Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.’ Genesis 26:12
Dear Family & Friends,
Hard as it is to believe, the next week marks one whole year since I first arrived in Germany! While thinking about where to begin this newsletter, I remembered the above verse which stood out from one of my daily readings a little earlier in the year. It was a great encouragement at the time and summarises so much of what these past twelve months have been. Like Isaac, I have been in my first year in a new land, sowing the first seeds in unknown ground. Often these seeds have felt small, few and planted in little strength as I have felt new aspects and measures of my human weakness while adapting to new environments, cultures, communities, ways of work, and language. However, when I look back on the year, I see how the Lord has given in ways that cannot begin to be explained by my abilities and inabilities. It is a wonderful and needful reminder that the measure of our yield lies not in the seed, nor in the sowing, required as these are, but rather that it is portioned out by our Father in Heaven in the proportion of His choice, to the end that the glory might be His alone!
End of year concerts
The BFA year culminated in a mass of events: a series of concerts in our music department, followed by a string of larger-scale occasions for the whole school. In May my colleagues and I hosted an evening Music Festival in which all of our one-to-one students performed across three recitals and received feedback from audience members. The children really enjoyed it, and as teachers it was a joy to celebrate the fruit of their many hours of lessons and practice throughout the year. It is also refreshing to have colleagues who continually encourage students to play their best to God’s glory rather than urging perfect performances, which affords so much genuine joy in music making.
I had the privilege of accompanying the High School choir during their rehearsals and performances throughout the last quarter, playing violin solo parts for a Mozart movement and a beautiful arrangement of ‘Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus’. Before the final concert, we gave a less formal performance in the elderly people’s home that neighbours BFA, gathering in an outdoor courtyard. After finishing the programme, one elderly gentleman asked whether we knew a particular Christian song that he remembered from the past. Some of our students did, so they gave an impromptu performance which evidently brought the man so much joy, as did the whole event to the rest of the residents. This was another reminder that it isn’t always the polished performances that matter most, but those that come from the heart and speak to the hearts of others, and we pray that we might have left a good testimony through words and behaviour.
Our main year-end performances were the Middle and High School Spring Concerts. A highlight for our Middle School students was a joint performance of ‘He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands’, combining choir, band and strings classes in a larger ensemble than they typically get to be involved in. High School performances and ensembles had also grown by the end of the year as more students admitted to having learned a string instrument in the past and got involved with the various opportunities I was able to offer. Even our choir director brought out his viola, which he had learned for one year some time ago, and joined in!
Other end of year activities
A personal highlight from the final quarter was a one-off hymn singing session with a group of high school students one Thursday afternoon. Very few young people are now acquainted with the rich theology and legacy of the hymn writers, and I had already been thinking about running a hymn-singing extracurricular class next school year. So when a fellow staff member asked me to help with the activity I was only too ready! It was a blessing to see the students enjoy the time, think about the words, and ask good questions which led to good discussions, and I hope that I will be able to host similar occasions in the future.
As the year came to an end and concerts became history, I had opportunity for more relaxed activities with students, including walks, ice cream trips, and joint sports games with the other music classes. Then, once exams were over, we had a packed week of events including Awards Night and Graduation. Graduation is a big affair for North American high school programmes, much like a degree ceremony in the UK, and parents travelled to Kandern to see the class of ’24 walk the stage after personal testimonials were read out for each of them. It was an emotional ending for many students, for whom BFA has become home and family, but mixed with excitement as many go off to college in the USA and elsewhere. With that, students were gone, and staff were left to a few days of campus cleaning and maintenance before a final evening of celebration and thanksgiving.
Summer vacation
As soon as the school year ended, I flew out to the UK for reunions with my parents after a year apart. I spent ten very happy days with them and was also able to see my grandparents, my brother Joel and sister Sarah, church family in Exeter, a couple of friends in Oxford, and former church in London. I then flew to Spain to visit my sister Eliza, who is working there for the summer. Now I am back in Germany amid preparations for my wedding to Johannes, which is fast approaching in around three months’ time, as well as for a change of apartment within the next fortnight. In August, BFA staff will come back together for two weeks of conferences and meetings before the new school year commences at the end of the month.
As this first year in Germany closes, I am thankful beyond measure to the Lord who has given ‘an hundredfold’ and more in such a short space of time. While this year, like any other, has brought its own set of challenges, they have been covered in His faithfulness to strengthen and support with so much given besides. I am so thankful, too, for the many people He has used to enable my work at BFA and keep me here for these first twelve months through prayer and financial support.
Going into the next year, please pray:
For our students currently on vacation, that they will have a blessed season with their families and be refreshed and ready to return next month;
For my preparations for the coming school year: please pray for the new high school course that I will be teaching, and that I will have wisdom in knowing how best to run it for the students that sign up, and most of all that the Gospel would be at the heart of all I do;
That new students will settle in quickly and new classes will run smoothly when the school year starts;
For Johannes and my preparations for our wedding day and our marriage beyond, and for God’s guidance for and at the start of our married life;
That my change of apartment will go smoothly at the end of the month.
For God to continue meeting my financial needs in order to remain at BFA this next year;
For our local churches, that the truth of the Gospel would be preached and that they would be deeply rooted and built up in the Word of God.
As always, please feel free to share this newsletter or any other information about my work with anyone you think might be interested. Thank you for your encouragement in the Lord, and may He bless you richly through the remainder of this summer season!
Yours in Him,
Hannah