Our last day of classes was last Wednesday, March 24th. However, today is the first full day that we feel is really "break." ACSI's (Association of Christian Schools International) ICE (International Christian Educators) Europe Conference was here at BFA from March 27 - 30th. It was a blessing to interact with Christian educators from across Europe and Africa. God is at work in our world, and it is so inspiring and encouraging to see the global perspective of His work. What a mighty God we serve!
BFA is blessed with the facilities and location to serve as host to this conference. (BFA also hosted the last ICE Europe conference in 2007.) However, we as BFA staff didn't exactly always feel the blessing of this. As a staff who is weary and has faced a challenging winter, we were weary and ready for spring break. For rest and refreshment. The work days spent setting up for the conference, and the extra work of serving meals and other tasks associated with being the host school, as well as the long days of the conference, weren't things we felt like we had energy for. I must admit I didn't hear much outward grumbling. And I don't think any (many) of us felt too negative about the conference - I think it was more the sense of weariness and fatigue that we were feeling.
But as I reflect on the conference yesterday and today, I realize how much we were able to bless our brothers and sisters by serving as host. And really, we saw the truth of "many hands make light work" in action. The steering committee put in many many many hours of hard work. Plus, we had three work teams from North America come and bless us all by cleaning, serving meals, and many other things that we might not even be aware of. They GREATLY helped to lighten the load for our BFA staff, and we thank them for their service.
I wish you all could have been here. To interact with these precious brothers and sisters. To hear the stories of how God is at work around the globe. To hear how He has protected them, or worked in spite of situations such as persecution, visas being revoked or threatened, and financial difficulties. To hear stories of revival in Africa. Who am I to doubt the power of my God and the power of prayer? God is God and we are not.
The conference ended with a banquet on Tuesday evening, which was a wonderful time of fellowship (and great food:), praising God, and hearing the story of the revival of Christian education in France. Mike and I both helped to serve for the banquet, and Mike helped to make some amazing White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. (His dorm experience in large quantity cooking and his sense of humor were invaluable during this time. The other ladies are wonderful cooks and amazing women, but were nervous about cooking in such large quantities. Mike helped to relieve their stress and keep them laughing. He's good at that!)
Mike with the cheesecakes ready to go in the oven
Carrie and Linda with their part of the cheesecake assembly line
Banquet servers getting their instructions
(Most are work team members, with some BFA staff mixed in)
BFA's gym was transformed into a comfortable and beautifully decorated area for our meals, especially for the banquet, as you see here
Kari ready to serve for the banquet with fellow BFA staffers Debbie and Susan
PS - Maybe we're still looking for the spring part of spring break too. We have had some nice weather the past few days, but as I sit here typing, it just started to hail/slush/something. :)
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