Less Than a Week Left

Graduation is this Friday! There is less than one week left! We have been packing the days absolutely full as the end draws ever nearer. Friday was the Spring Party which took place "up the hill" in the town of Marzell outside of the boys' dorm Sonne. Sonne and Blauen, the girls' dorm across the street, are about a 10 or 15 minute drive away and basically halfway up a mountain. The Spring Party is the last school-wide event before graduation. The theme was "Viking Olympics" (don't ask me why), and there were a lot of competitive games pitting each class against each other, which reminded me a lot of the Homecoming games that we had back when I was in high school. They had contests for pushing a van, throwing a log, and pie-eating. The best part of the evening was when the entire junior and senior classes were engaged in a tug of war and actually broke the rope and fell to the ground in an incredulous heap.

After we returned to HBR from the party, we gobbled up some fresh chocolate chip cookies, and thirteen of us prepared to leave again. Andrew and I had the privilege of taking our senior class out on a camping trip overnight Friday. Remember that castle I hiked to back in September? Well, we returned there and slept overnight atop the castle's tower.

This is most of us hanging out around the fire before heading up to bed.


Here we are falling asleep laying awake all night as bitterly cold winds threaten to sweep us right off the top of the tower.


This was my view when I awoke and got up in the morning. Note the familiar pillowcase.

Saturday the students spent all day packing up their stuff and cleaning up their rooms. They should pretty much be living out of a suitcase at this point. Here's a shot of the wreckage on my floor.

And here's Marc getting a box out of the attic. All of the students were responsible for arranging all of their possessions in storage upstairs, and for the seniors, there is a lot of work to do, especially for some of them who have lived here for years and years and have seen the amount of belongings they own grow larger and larger.

Sunday we spent most of the day on a giant end-of-the-year dorm outing. First, we went to church and the seniors were honored and given Bibles. It was almost like an early graduation ceremony. After church we came home for a quick lunch and then headed out to a water park called Laguna. It was a really fun place, and I am continually amazed by things I find here that you would never, ever see in the States. Example: this water park had a big blue slide that was probably five feet wide across and twisted and turned all the way down to a small pool below. However, there was no limit at all about how many people could get on the slide and when. So tons of people are jumping onto it nonstop and slamming into other people all the way down. There were a couple times where we probably had close to 15 of our guys fighting each other and yelling "HBR!" all the way down. I kept getting off the slide feeling like my legs had been the victims of a 18th century torture device as people were rolling all over me and riding me like a raft all the way down the slide. Oh yeah, and another thing. This water park did not allow shorts to be worn. Only speedos! They were the square-cut style with legs so it's not as bad as what you're thinking, but it was not something I was used to. And umm... I don't have any pictures to post.

We left after a few hours and spent some time playing basketball and volleyball at the school's gym before going home and inhaling some enormous t-bone steaks. Yummy! We finished off the day by driving out to Basel, Switzerland to watch "Star Trek." It was one of the smaller theaters and our dorm took up the entire two back rows. Anytime someone did the "live long and prosper" hand gesture onscreen, about 20 guys in the back of the theater threw up the sign along with them. Then we came home and went to bed after a long day!

Answers to prayer! I found out a few months ago that new dorm parents were found for our dorm. I didn't want to write anything until it was confirmed that they were going to be coming. Well, it has been confirmed for a few weeks now. It was an especially sensitive matter because the new dorm parents are coming from that fantastic missionary talent pool known as the "pumpkin capital of the world." Yes, next year I'll be working alongside a couple from my hometown of Morton, Illinois! And if you're from Illinois, you probably either know this news already or there is at least a good chance you know who they are. The new dorm parents at HBR next year are Greg and Danielle Storrs. Greg was formerly the middle school youth pastor at Grace Church in Morton. Check out http://storrsside.blogspot.com/ to stay updated with their transition to BFA! I thought it was really bizarre that the new dorm parents randomly come from my own small hometown, but I am continually amazed at the funny ways in which God chooses to work. I am extremely excited about next year and really look forward to working with the two of them.

I also just found out that there has finally been a male RA accepted for this fall. And guess where he's from? Central Illinois! Chris Jones has accepted a position as resident assistant at BFA for next year. Chris went to Moody where he just graduated from, and we were also both directors for Camp of Champions USA a couple summers ago. I'm really excited for Chris and will be happy to be working with him again, at least in the Residence Life program and possibly even in the same dorm.

If you know any of these folks or even if you don't, feel free to write them a note and encourage them as they progress through the sometimes daunting task of raising support (they're all on facebook). I love seeing the way that God has answered the prayers for next year. There is also a married couple who have been accepted as RA's. There are no married RA's this year, but it is not uncommon. So it would be best if there was at least one more male RA for next year, and time is running short. Please continue praying. And pray for the countdown that is going on right now! Four days til graduation, five days til everyone leaves! Later!

Brandon