THE SAGA SECONDARY NEWS FROM MARANATHA ACADEMY Living in Balance Are you in awe of God? To truly explore that question will take eternity, but I want to just cover one aspect: balance. Now with God, things are not just in balance, but He is completely everything that He is. He is fully mercy and holiness. He is fully love and righteous judgement. As humans, the best we can do is to strive for balance. As we seek balance in our lives, we model and instruct the same in those that are watching us. For parents, summer is a wonderful time to teach balance. As parents who work outside of the home, can this be a time where you step off the gas pedal of work IN THIS Pray for Nepal ISSUE VOLUME VIII ISSUE VI MAY 2015 A Note from the Superintendent for a period of time and invest more in your family? Of course a vacation is a great thing to do. I might also suggest summer as a chance to change routines so that time with your children has a different flavor. If your work allows, go to work a little later and do something with your children before you go to work. Try a long lunch and experience something together. If you are privileged to stay at home with your kids throughout the day, what a joy to get creative and show how to balance productivity and fun. Build into each a day some time where they work to accomplish a task and thereby learn the joy of completing something. At the same, let them have time outside where they get to be creative and enjoy the things in God’s creation. For your older children, let them walk beside you as you figure out balance in your life. Let them in on the decisions you have to make to make sure you are successful at work, at home and making a difference at church. May your summer be richly blessed as you enjoy your family and keep God in the center of it all. By Mark Schultze Volunteer Always Connections Chapel On College By June 1, 2015— All official MCA communication will be sent to MCA email addresses only. Start checking your MCA email now! Haven’t signed up yet? Contact your school office or email [email protected] Volunteer Appreciation On April 29th, the school held a special chapel to honor volunteers. The service was purposed to thank parents, families and students for so often sacrificing their time and resources to Maranatha. This school would not be the same without all the help we receive, and for that we cannot say “thank you” enough. The chapel consisted of performances by the fifth graders and a performance by the high school choir. Dr. Dunn gave a compelling message on servanthood and stewardship, encouraging us in our roles as Christians to help each other and to share what we are given. Volunteers -- you are appreciated! Thank you for all that you do! Scripture Always On Integrating with Family By Tim Warkentin Deuteronomy 11:19 You shall teach them [God’s commandments] to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. God’s injunction to the ancient Israelites regarding the teaching of his commandments provides a model for how parents today should raise their children. Often the instruction of children in spiritual matters is left by parents to specific institutions and times. Children receive spiritual instruction during the church service, during the school day or during a planned devotional time. All of this training during scheduled time periods is good and necessary but God does not want spiritual instruction to be compartmentalized into just certain times or activities. God provides parents with a constant stream of valuable “teachable moments” that do not follow human schedules. As the above verse makes clear, spiritual training is to be constantly done as families go about their daily activities. If a home movie presents an unscriptural view, it should be criticized as it is being watched. When the news is being discussed over the dinner table, Scripture should be brought to bear on current issues. Pastor’s sermons, teacher’s lessons, social media and friend’s opinions should be all be evaluated against Scripture. This constant comparison of daily life to Scripture sharpens discernment. Children raised in this manner are prepared to understand a deceitful and increasing hostile world because they have been practicing their whole life. Godly instruction should be “Always On”. Art in the Community Here are some images from art this semester. Art students did an installation at the Pinwheel house in Shawnee. It’s a child abuse prevention and education center. This was our art service project. Students John Slattery and Max Flint designed and built a large pinwheel. Art 1 students Dillion, Peyton, Allison and Alayna, spray painted the work. Blue is the national color for Child abuse prevention. April is the month for child abuse awareness. We were glad to support this incredible mission to our county. Art 1 students also installed an art installation in the hallway of the high school. They did a natural weaving project designed by Mrs. Williams. Art 1 students learned about art installation and how to write artist statements with substitute, Ms. McCann. MCA Artist Statement: Our mission is to teach students an appreciation of God-honoring art, to develop our creative visual art skills, provide outlets for expression, and to minister to others through the arts. Pray for Nepal “We love this chance to see our kids’ artwork! What talented kids!!” -Jim & Jeanne Marmon The Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal on April 25th killed more than 8,000 people and injured more than 19,000. The catastrophe triggered multiple avalanches and puts areas at risk for landslides, also leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. Aftershocks are expected, and on May 12th the country experienced another earthquake killing over a hundred people and injuring another 2,500. MCA 2005 graduate Stephanie Plummer was in Nepal with Peace Corps during the first devastating earthquake. She had just left Pokhara that morning to take a bus back to her village. Due to a landslide on the road, she had to walk the remaining distance up a mountain. Her volunteer group has been sent home due to safety and medical concerns. Peace Corps headquarters in Katmandu and some of the staff lost their homes in the disaster. Stephanie’s mom asks us to please continue to pray, especially for safe return of the volunteers and for the Nepali people to encounter Jesus and the love God has for them throughout this recovery time and that God will make a way for them to face the future with hope. College 8th Grade Trip Connections June is a great time for juniors to take the ACT. The ACT is based on what students have learned in high school coursework, not their reasoning skills. Testing in June will enable your students to showcase what they know, before summer break, while knowledge is still fresh in their minds. Registration Deadline: May 8 Test Date: June 13 Register at www.actstudent.org for the June 13 test! Late registration fees will apply after Friday, May 8. Want to get more familiar with the ACT? Find free and low-cost test prep options at www. actstudent.org/testprep. May 7th-9th eighth graders went on their annual class trip to Hannibal and Springfield, Missouri. The class spent time exploring historical sights such as the Lincoln Museum and the Mark Twain house and caves. They took part in group building activities, daily chapels, and group devotions led by parent sponsors and trip advisor, Mrs. Morken. Students say their favorite parts of the trip were playing dodgeball at night, the Lincoln museum because it was so interactive, and the new and exciting experience of exploring the caves. The eighth graders had a wonderful weekend of bonding with each other. It was a great trip to unify the class and prepare them to come into high school unified and ready to grow together educationally and spiritually. Come join us for Graduation of class of 2015 on Saturday, May 16th at 1:00p.m. in the Crosspoints Church sanctuary Class registration is available and will be open through the end of school! Registration is available online including course descriptions and a video tutuorial to make the process as smooth as possible! Check it out at http://mca-eagles. org/?s=registration Specific course schedules will be officially released during the summer