Welcome Students
School is back in session! In a huge answer to the prayers of many, we began welcoming students back to campus on Friday, January 15 and started in-person school the next Monday – kids in actual classrooms (with masks) and teachers in the same room (with masks)! How grateful we are to have over 400 students here at RVA again!
It’s not without its struggles, or at least inconveniences, but I don’t think there are many here who would trade it for going back to online school. We’ve been practicing our “Five M’s”: Masks, Meters (social distancing), Mountain Air (activities outside), ‘Maculate Hands (hand washing), and Most Cleanest (enhanced cleaning and disinfecting surfaces). I didn’t come up with the names!
There is good news regarding our protocols. On Monday we move from “burnt orange” to “standard orange,” which most importantly means dorm kids don’t have to wear masks inside their dorms anymore. Woo-hoo!
I don’t begin teaching at Moffat Bible School until May, but have loved working with RVA high school students as an academic coach. Lilli is thrilled to be back taking care of kids in Student Health. We’ve had zero cases of COVID on campus since we’ve returned.
Today we received encouraging updates from two missionary families whose children attend RVA. My takeaway from both? God is on the move! Despite COVID and political and social upheaval, Jesus is still calling sinners to find rest for their souls, still transforming hearts and transferring them out of darkness into his marvelous light, still equipping saints and sending them into his harvest.
So, fellow weary saint, take heart. Lift up your eyes, past the spectacle of the world, to the spectacle of Christ. Meditate on his words more than the latest politician’s or pundit’s. Look longer at the glory of his character than focusing on what others may lack. Remember what he’s done in putting away your sin, even more than the time you take regretting it. And ponder what he is continuing to do around the world at this moment – and consider that he asks you to join him in that work!
Prayer & Praise
- Praise for the safe return of our students! The campus is full of life again.
- Thank God for no positive cases of COVID
- We’re thankful to move protocol colors to ease a few restrictions and pray we can keep moving forward
- Pray for those RVA students and families that chose to continue online school. It can be even harder knowing their friends are together without them.
- Pray for us that we would take advantage of opportunities to share the gospel with those without Jesus.
- Pray that we would continually point students to the sufficiency of Jesus and the gospel – not to their sufficiency, not to ours – not to what they must do, but to what Christ has already done!
Foto Flashback
