One of the things that personally attracted me to IA last year was the step of faith taken the previous year by our faculty and staff. God had been stirring my own heart, and I felt that coming to IA would be an amazing synthesis of the burden of my heart and that of the faculty and staff here.
With a united focus, we are looking toward the future. I believe God is calling us to rightly train our young people to be equipped to finish this work. Look at this quote from Education page 271: “With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon coming Savior might be carried to the whole world!” That means that, if we are doing the job God has called us to do in our schools, our young people will be equipped to finish the work, and Jesus can come. After all, Matthew 24:14 says that when the Gospel goes to the entire world Jesus will come. I believe one of the greatest ways to instill ownership in our young people for their relationship with Christ is to provide avenues through which they will have opportunities for service and outreach to our communities. That is when Christianity becomes real and meaningful to them. Otherwise it is an unproven theory!
By God’s Grace, this school year Indiana Academy is implementing an outreach ministry into the very culture and fiber of our campus. “”Project 58,” (inspired by Isaiah 58) a program we are piloting this year, will attempt to build relationships with our local community through acts of kindness and service that will allow the Gospel of Jesus to impact hearts for Eternity. As we continue to move forward we hope to offer more opportunities for our young people to be trained in the mission and message of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and be leaders in fulfilling our Great Commission.
Some may wonder, with such an emphasis on service culture, is the academic program suffering? I would propose to you that it will excel even more! Currently, our academic program is sound and high quality. The reports that we hear regarding the performance of our students when they get to college is affirming this.
It is our goal in the 2012 Fall semester, to launch an electronic classroom pilot program with our senior class. We are currently fund raising for this project and because of the generous contributions of our Alumni, we believe it will become a reality. This would involve utilizing the iPad as a replacement for textbooks and as a tool to enhance the educational learning of our students. With this device, students can have access to cutting edge technology and utilize it to enhance their knowledge. By the grace of God, If we are able to meet our financial and benchmark goals for this pilot, our entire school will move toward this electronic platform in either Spring semester 2013 or Fall semester 2014.
We would love to team up with students and families who are interested in being part of the vision spoken of. Isn’t it exciting to think of the wonderful opportunities God has in store for us if we are willing to take the step of faith? The greatest investment we can make is in our children. Yes, Adventist Education takes sacrifice, but I would propose to you that the most meaningful things in life are won through sacrifice.
May God Bless you,
Jeremy Hall, M.A.
Principal, Indiana Academy