Keane Fine :: Sarah and Keane | Serving Students at Black Forest Academy

An April Adventure

For the past three years, while living in Wheaton, me and a group of friends would celebrate April Adventure League, a month filled with adventures, outings, and general tomfoolery. While the tradition has continued (and grown) back in the States, I thought it would be a good time to bring a little bit of that fun to Germany. So in light of that idea, I created an April Adventure League for my small group of Freshman guys: a month-long treasure hunt filled with clues, riddles, code breaking, and geo-caching. (In full disclosure, this was all heavily inspired by Josh Okerman.)

All of the clues together.

After the students returned from spring break, each of them was greeted with an envelope in their mailbox containing a name tag with gibberish written on it, and a welcome letter written in code. They worked together to discover that each of their name tags contained a piece of the code and, by putting together what they could figure out from their name tag, they were able to decode the entire note.

The first clue: name tag and coded message.

After they decoded the first message they learned that every Tuesday and Thursday a new clue would be released to a certain number of them. All the clues required everyone to work together.

It was fun to see different students get excited about solving the clues they were given. We did get in some trouble when some students working together solved a riddle in the middle of Math class and shouted out the answer.

Some clues were pretty straight forward, but others got increasingly complicated.

These were found hidden around the school, when combined they formed one clue.

As the month came to an end, they had to find the hidden treasure, which contained an immediate reward — and the promise of a future pizza party.

One problem we ran into was the fact that so many of the guys in our small group are constantly in sports. This meant that hunting for the treasure fell heavily onto one dedicated student (pictured here). He loves riddles and puzzles, so he was the perfect point man for this entire April Adventure League. The treasure was found just in time for the pizza party (and also before anyone in Kandern saw it and called the bomb squad because it sure looks like a suspicious package). Congratulations to my guys for completing their first ever April Adventure League!

Looking for a few good men or women…23 to be exact!

Here’s another support-raising update!

We have hit 62% of the monthly pledges needed. In addition, we have raised the entire $12,000 needed for start-up costs in moving to Germany. Praise God!

We continue to need monthly pledges of $1,694 in order to be totally 100% funded for Germany. New staff orientation at BFA begins in just over 3 weeks. We are praying to God to supply these needs!

For the visually inclined out there, here is one possible scenario in which we could reach our goal of being 100% funded.

If we received the following monthly pledges for support, we would be fully funded!

4 people support us at $25 a month (down from 15 people!)
9 people support us at $50 a month (down from 25 people!)
8 people support us at $100 a month (down from 15 people!)
1 person to support us at $150 a month (down from 2!)
1 person to support us at $200 a month

Some people have expressed a desire to financially support us but have been hesitant to offer what feels to them like a “small” amount. Friends, you have no idea the impact that a $10, $20, or $30 monthly pledge can make. We believe that God calls people from every economic background to give, and we believe that he sees that generosity and blesses it. We are so blessed by those who generously give, even if the actual amount seems small. You are our ministry partners no matter what, and we love and appreciate each one of you.

If you would like to become monthly partners, please click this link. If you have more questions or would like to meet and discuss this, please email us at keaneandsarah@gmail.com and we would LOVE to meet with you.

Kickstart Some Progress

Hi Friends,

We have had some people ask how we are progressing in support raising. So here is a little update. At his point we have about $1,510 raised out of the total $4,700 we need to raise in the end. We are blown away by all of the people (and this includes many of you) that have chosen to partner with us.

Here is a little breakdown of one of the ways we see to get to the total we need to be able to serve at Black Forest Academy:
If we can have…

…15 people support us at $25
…and 25 people support us at $50
…and 11 people support us at $100
…and 2 very generous people support us at $150
…and 1 ridiculously generous person to support us at $200

(or just 1 person to do the whole thing)

We are praying for more people to join our support team. If you haven’t already joined us yet, let us know if you would be interested in partnering with us.

Here is a link for giving.

On Passover (and Passing On) Traditions

On Thursday we hosted a Passover Seder for some friends at our church. It was a great time of sharing the Passover tradition and remembering all of the prophecies that Christ fulfilled. This was the third Passover I have ever led, and it is always amazing to me to be reminded of how exciting the Passover is to those that have never experienced one — sharing in the same meal that the Jewish leaders and prophets of the Old Testament participated in, the same celebration that Jesus and the disciples remembered together the night before Jesus was crucified.

It is wonderful to be able to share in the Passover and remember that, even as Jesus led the Seder, he was also fulfilling so much of the Seder’s symbolism. And, as was so often the case, Jesus not only affirmed the tradition but also took it further. During the part of the meal when you traditionally wash your hands, Jesus got up, wrapped a towel around himself, and washed the disciples’ feet. He was a true servant leader, but his actions also symbolized our need to be washed clean from our sins. Similarly, we take time during the meal to remember the lamb that was killed in order for the Jewish people to be protected from the Angel of Death that passed over the land of Egypt. Jesus’s shed blood protected us from death, as well, except that, unlike a lamb which needs to be sacrificed again and again, Jesus’s shed blood was enough for all time.

Sharing in the Passover meal on Thursday was a wonderful time of reflecting on the depths of meaning within traditions that have been handed down for generations.

Side note: Planning this Seder helped me realize how much work my mom and dad put in every year — not just in leading the service, but also in preparing for it. I am realizing more and more how much of their work I have taken for granted. Sarah and I also could not have pulled off the Seder without the generosity of all who attended from our young adults group and our small group. We feasted on a lot of tasty food, and everyone who attended came with open hearts, eager and willing to learn about the traditions and symbolism of a Messianic Seder. We will treasure the memories of that night for a long time.