Indiana—This year at Indiana Academy (IA) I have experienced many nights during which I had difficulty sleeping, not from stress and worry, but from excitement and anticipation. Like a little boy waiting for Christmas morning, I have found myself unable to fall asleep quickly."What has robbed my sleep," you ask? It has been the excitement of the spiritual journey that we have traveled so far this year at IA.
I have always looked at the Christian walk as a life through which the Holy Spirit flows like water in the rivers and lakes around us, an idea that originated with Jesus as He spoke to the woman at the well. We are first to allow the Living Water to flow in, and then we must allow that Living Water to flow out to those around us. This is the very thing that is exciting to me this year at IA. We have rearranged our schedule to allow students the opportunity every morning to have the Living Water flow in from above, and then we have provided outreach programs that enable students to let that Living Water flow out to those in the community.
Every morning after breakfast, students report back to the dorms where twenty minutes of quiet time is devoted for students to refocus on God in Bible study and prayer. This time is built into the schedule as personal devotion time. It is our goal to help our young people establish the habit every morning of meeting with God and allowing the Living Water to flow into their hearts and brace them for the battles of the day.
Bodies of water only stay fresh as they are able not only to receive, but also to send water out of their borders. In the same way, we are emphasizing outreach opportunities for students so that the Living Water can flow out to bless others. First, we instituted the Magabook program to allow students the opportunity to see God work as they go door to door selling religious books. Students learn how to be "seed sowers" as they distribute books like The Desire of Ages, The Great Controversy, Christ Object Lessons, vegetarian cookbooks, and a list of other inspirational books for young and old.
As a former Magabook director, I know firsthand the valuable faith lessons these students will learn as they put God to the test and pray from door to door. These lessons cannot be taught in a textbook, and they cannot be learned sitting in a church pew. They are the faith lessons that can only be learned in the field of spiritual battles that they encounter every day at the doors of their potential customers. We currently have ten students who participate in the Magabook program, and as I write this article they are completing their canvassing work in Arcadia, Ind.
Aside from the importance of the spiritual benefits of this program, students also learn practical lessons in salesmanship, communication, and hard work. As they learn to approach people in a courteous manner and lead them to a sale, they learn basic life skills in dealing with people of different personalities and backgrounds. This practical knowledge will assist them in all fields of occupation.
The student Magabookers complete their outreach in two shifts per day, which are 8:00–11:20 a.m. and 1:15–4:30 p.m. In spite of the fact that these are daytime hours when fewer people are home, they are still having great experiences and making a decent wage as well. One student, on her second day, turned in $102 in sales for a three-hour morning shift. We praise God!
Second, we have instituted a Bible study field-training program that allows students the opportunity to experience firsthand the harvesting aspects of evangelism. Students are being trained in personal evangelism, which includes learning how to prepare and give Bible studies, learning to answer Bible questions, learning to conduct door-to-door surveys to locate Bible study interests, and learning to follow up lead cards that are returned from Magabooks customers. Our prayer is that they will come to a deeper sense of commitment to God and the truth as it is in Jesus, as they experience the joy of sharing the Living Water with others.
Our students are also encouraged to participate in mission trips that take them outside our country. Through the Cicero Church, some of our students will travel to India and/or Ecuador during the course of this school year. The opportunity to experience other cultures, where students will have yet another opportunity to let the Living Water flow to those around them, will prove to be valuable to both the students and the persons with whom they share Jesus.
This philosophy of allowing multiple opportunities for the Living Water to flow in our students is already bearing fruit. I wish you could have been on our campus during the second week of school. You would have seen several of our students—on their own—commit to a day of prayer and fasting. I wish you could have seen the commitment and desire as students, staff, and Conference members fasted and prayed for revival on our campus, all initiated by students. I wish you could have been on a trip to the park the following Sabbath to see a group of our students gather in a prayer circle with two strangers who they met there. I truly believe God is at work on our campus, and He has great plans for IA.
We have also reinstated the CNA program, which will give students the opportunity to become Certified Nurse Assistants. Students who participate in this program can earn up to $12.50 an hour. This is an incredible opportunity for our students, because students earning this hourly wage could pay their whole school bill at IA. Aside from paying their bill, this opportunity has helped many students determine if a medical career fits their personality and life calling.
Pray for us at IA as we give our students an education that they can find nowhere else in the state of Indiana—an education that is balanced in the spiritual, mental, physical, and social development of our students. As our primary goal, we aim to prepare our young people to get ready and to tell others about the soon return of Jesus. There is no other reason that we exist as a school.
Remember, every month, that your $10 donation will help educate our young people to let the Living Water flow through their lives so others might see and believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Peter Cousins, Indiana Academy principal
