BHC Booth at Kids' Rodeo

Johnson County has Fair and Rodeo Week the first weeks of August, so we figured what better time to introduce the teacher than at the kids' rodeo on Friday morning! We put together a booth with information, application packets, a video about Adventist education playing, and passed out lemon water and balloons with this picture below and our information attached to it.




We're getting used to finding things to make sure we attend to get our name and face out in the community. Please pray for the community of Buffalo to be drawn to a school where their children can learn about Jesus.

Many miracles!

One cool miracle happened the week as the teacher was putting together the school room. She has been collecting needed textbooks and couldn't find one math textbook. When putting away supplies, she opened up a cabinet and there was only one textbook in the entire building.......and it was exactly the math textbook she was missing! Praise God!

We have had many donations over this past month. The local radio stations, the Christian station as well as the country station, has donated well over $1,000 for radio ads announcing the starting of school, registration and our booth at the fair and rodeo. How cool is it to have such a supportive community?

Another miracle has been that Mullinax out of Sheridan has donated a half court basketball size pad of cement. What a blessing! Now the kids will have a place to kick around and the teacher can teach different sports activities. We are so blessed! Businesses in town have also donated rental equipment as well, and church members Jim Peterson and Bill Corden got the cement ready and directed the volunteers on pour day. The cement was set just right for the kids to put their handprints in, right after school let out. Thank you, Mullinax!!

One cool thing that happened during the pouring of the cement. One of the three cement truck drivers saw we were struggling with our "lay" volunteers. He jumped out and gave instruction and helped us. While the men were working together, he started asking many questions about Adventists and what we believe. What a mission this school is -- in ways we hadn't expected at all!

Another cool miracle was one day about three weeks ago we opened a donation envelope with a check for $10,000!!!! We were so shocked that all we could do was hyperventilate and cry. Every time we get tired or overwhelmed, the Lord shows us His plans! We're just trying to hang on and give Him all the glory!!

A very HUGE blessing came in the form of Clearmont School district, a small town outside of Buffalo about 40 minutes. We contacted them about old desks, equipment, etc., and they gave us all the bookcases and desks we needed! They even gave us TV carts and a TV. They have us down for receiving all of their computers next year when it's time for them to purchase brand new ones. They were so nice and so happy to see all the good school supplies being put to good use. Thank you!!!


Well, that is the update from the last few months. I'm sure I've missed many, many answers to prayer but that's all I can remember right now. Thank you each and every one of you who have given your time, money, and prayer time for us. What a blessing you are to us.

First Day of School a Success!

What an exciting week for everyone. The kids arrived to begin their first day of class on August 19th. It was a special day as that was also the day that cement was arriving for our new basketball half court pad, which was donated by Mullinax out of Sheridan. We still cannot believe how God is working everything out for the school. We are just basking in His Greatness!!

The day went very well. Smiles were everywhere. It seems everything and everyone is ready and excited about the upcoming year.


The middle of September will be a school picnic in the park, provided we're not knee-deep with snow then. After this summer, who knows how the weather will be! The end of September the school is going on their first field trip. It will be an exciting one. They will go to Thermopolis and stay for three days, where they'll go swimming and tour the dinosaur museum and participate on a dinosaur dig!

I'm sorry we haven't updated our blog in quite a while. We have just been so busy getting the school room ready, making sure things are done, etc., that there was just never any extra minutes to update it! Now that we're in full swing, we'll try to be better about it.

High Tea Gala A Success!

Thank you so much to all our sponsors, friends and church members who helped make the Gala a huge success! Last Sunday was an afternoon of good tea, delicious food, lyrical piano music, children singing and of course lot's of socialization. Some very classy hats were worn and prizes were handed out accordingly:) Rave reviews were heard regarding the high quality delicious scones,salad, tea sandwiches and three different desserts. Each of the three courses came out of the kitchen looking like they were prepared at a 5 star restuarant. The children sang songs and recited poems, it was quite a time! Each table was set with its own unique china, table clothes and tea pots, it was delightful! Desava Gardens generously donated the fresh spring flowers and they were artfully arranged at each table in old fashioned vases. Soft piano music set the ambience, played on the gleaming baby grande piano by Ken, Thank you, it was perfect! Besides the tables we didn't have to add any decorations, for the backdrop was set by the beautiful woodwork, trim, shining wood floors and antiques arranged artfully throughout the Mansion House Inn. The McFadden family allowed all the guests to tour their historic immaculantly kept bed & breakfast inn. There was a silent auction upstairs and guests were very generous in their bids on all the items donated by our wonderful sponsors. All in all, it was a good time for everyone and we look forward to making it a yearly event!

Teacher Applications!

Just wanted to let everyone know we have started reviewing teacher applications! We sat down last week with the School Board and future student parents and wrote a wish list of qualities we wanted in a teacher and than composed an ad to be posted on the NAD website this week. Diane Harris from NAD came by on Monday and brought 4 applications. We are so impressed by the quality of teachers within the Adventist education system! We are looking forward to seeing many more applications in the next couple of weeks.

The process in which we will choose a teacher is this: We post our ad on the North American Division of Education (NAD) website and than teachers apply. The RMC Conference screens the applications and emails the most promising ones to us. The School Board views these applications and than does telephone interviews with them. The ones we like the best are than flown out here for interviews. This process is so great because of the potential large pool af applicants out there, we are not limited to local teachers and can choose out of many the one that God brings to us to make our school a success. we hope to have a teacher chosen and hired within the next three weeks!

Here is the Teacher ad we posted on the website:

Big Horn Christian Elementary is a new school opening this year. It is a one-room school with potential to grow into a three classroom school. We are expecting 10-12 students the first year, grades 1-5. We can expand to grades 1-8 in the following years. The facilities house three large classrooms, an Adventist health food store, storage rooms, large full kitchen, and a huge gymnasium attached which currently houses a very successful gymnastics club. The building is situated on ten acres on the edge of town and has potential for future growth. As the only Christian elementary school, there is much community interest and support.
The school is located in Buffalo, WY, population 5000, at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains. The town is small but bustling with young families, active churches, and businesses. There are many wildlife activities including sightings of elk and moose only about 10 minutes from the steps of the school. There is a ski resort 40 minutes from Buffalo, and many recreation trails, fishing and hiking in our beautiful mountains.
You will find the church warm and welcoming and the school board supportive and encouraging. We are a small but growing and energetic congregation of approximately 40. Half of our forty members are children either elementary aged or younger. Our children are the priority and we include them in services, events, and community outreach.
Experience
A teacher with multi-grade and/or small school and administration experience is preferred. However, level of experience is not a deal breaker if the individual excels in other qualities. NAD Elementary Teaching Credential is required. The teacher must have a passion for single classroom, multi-grade teaching and a love for teaching grades 1-5. An interest and enthusiasm for Phys-Ed is desired and will be supported. Our church does a lot of community service and desires a teacher who strongly believes in service and will actively incorporate it into their curriculum. Flexibility in teaching styles is a must, as each student has varying needs, this is a major concern for our parents and the applicant must address this. As a brand new school, we need a teacher with enthusiasm and energy for the project. The person must be community minded, they will be the spokesperson for our school and we need someone who is comfortable and capable in this aspect. He/she must have excellent communication skills and a proven record working with other professionals, families, and students.

Please pray with us that God sends the right candidate to us! It's so exciting to be at this point of finally hiring a teacher after all the hard work:) Thank you Lord!

Cara

Doors are opening!

Good News! We called The Virginian Restaurant and spoke to Dawn about borrowing some white table clothes. Dawn was so nice and generous, offering the use of anything that they normally use when they cater events including the tablecloths, napkins, etc. Anita and I will be going there in the morning to meet her and pick out the table clothes. Thank you for your generosity!

We also called Reena at Desava Gardens, I asked for some flower donations, hoping to perhaps get some from her shop and maybe supplement from Walmart bouquets. To my gratified surprise she promptly offered to provide all of our flowers including those in the table vases and some room arrangements! Than you Desava!

We than called Jennifer at the Bozeman Steak House and received the use of 180 donated water glasses. We are so thankful. It is amazing how God provides. We have been so worried about the cost and how to save money and yet still maintain the high quality of the Gala, when in fact we should trust in the Lord!

Phil and Kelly at DJ's have offered to give us a deep discount on our grocery list and any fabric we need to dress the tables. We should have the grocery list itemized soon and delivered. Thank you!

The food committee has been meeting. We have solidified the final menu and distributed recipes to be made. Gina Pehringer, my very dear friend, offered to do scones and the cream puffs and the very next day completed all her tasks:) Mentally, it feels wonderful that those items are taken care of...Thank you! We have been having committee meeting every night this week, staying till 10-11 pm assembling table china, washing china, matching sets, etc...I must admit we are having lots of fun but get a bit batty as the night progresses:) Lots of laughter! Thanks for all the hard work guys!

Alisa, Cindy, and I went to KBBS for our recorded interview of Community speaks. It will play tomorrow at 9 am, so everyone listen in! We discussed the school and the Gala. Aaron is such a great interviewer, it feels as if we are just having a discussion and not recording for a radio program. Thanks for putting us at ease Aaron, and thank you Smokey for donating the interview and our radio ads:)

I spoke to Susan Harriet the other day. Susan was Jim and I's real estate agent when we moved to town. For those of you who don't know, she has her new office on the downtown strip, Johnson County Realty. Susan is a very resourceful agent who has her fingers on the pulse of the Buffalo realty market. Always going the extra mile, you will see her at every parade and town event giving out favors to children and chatting with parents. Anyways, I wanted to say hi, tell her about the Gala, and hang a poster in her new office. As I was leaving, she offered 4 Denver Bronco tickets to the school to use as a future raffle ticket fundraiser. Many heart felt thanks go out to Susan for her generosity!

Peggy from the Buffalo Bulletin Will come to the school to interview us. The special interest story will be in next weeks paper. Wish us luck!

Well, it is very late and I must retire....remember to lean on Jesus and allow him to work His influence. If you struggle to do it on your own, you are sure to take the harder road. God opens doors for those who listen and have faith. This is very comforting. God Bless!

Cara

Update!

Hi! It's Cara again. It's been awhile since I updated everyone! Things are moving so fast, I have much to tell you:) First of all, I want to announce that the Conference has decided to give us a certified Adventist teacher, this is so important as it assures us a large salary subsidy, but more importantly, it assures us the highest quality in teachers. The miracle is that the Conference now only supports 56 teachers and we, a new school, were chosen for one of those teachers. Thank you Jesus, we praise Your Name!

Our ad for the High Tea Gala came out this past week and has created great interest in the community. Alisa Palser and Pam Mcfadden are already getting calls! If you want to attend, reserve your spot today:) Our Gala posters will be out soon, Clear Creek printers are printing them and they look awesome!

On Wednesday we will be interviewed by Peggy O'Neil from the Buffalo Bulletin. She is going to do a special interest story on our school and the High Tea Gala. The article will be in the paper two weeks from now, right before the High Tea. Thank you for your interest in our school, Peggy!

We have an appointment with KBBS to be on Community Speaks this Friday, Alisa and I will be interviewed. Smokey was so generous and donated the hour to us entirely. Thank you! He also offered to put us on the community schedule.

The Christian radio station in town, KSLW, will also be advertising for our Gala. Joley Johnson was very helpful...thank you!

We are printing bulletin inserts for any Buffalo church interested in having them. Already, many of the churches I have talked to either want posters or bulletin inserts. We praise God for the support! Thank you for your help in this Kristi:)

We finished the Pamida application for monetary sponsorship. Alisa found that they have a foundation which supports local community events and groups. Pray that we will receive an award.

Sagewood has generously donated a prize for our Gala. Thank you!

Well, that's all I can think of right now, though I know i am missing something....in all this rush it's so easy to get frustrated and overwhelmed. Yet, to take a step back and give it to God is so essential. It's amazing how He takes the worries away and replaces your hard work with success and direction. We love you Lord!

Goodnight friends.

A Fabulous Poster!

This is Cara again:) I just wanted everyone to know that I have been working with Rayme Inae of GoJane.com to create posters announcing our school to the community. Rayme works at GoJane.com, a company which has already pledged $1000 to our school. He is an expert at design and is donating his time and expertise to help us with our advertising. The base poster is from the marketing department at the NAD website with some adjustments for customizing to our school and community. Rayme sent the poster to me via email to see if I liked it. It is so perfect! Soon, Buffalo residents will be seeing our school posters all around town. What a blessing! Thank you Rayme!

A High Tea Gala!

Hello friends! Its Cara, things have been so busy I haven't been back for awhile, sorry about that. I just wanted you to know we are going to have a very exciting event coming this May 17th, 2009...The High Tea Gala! While at work, I had a friend suggest that this event would be a great fundraiser and things have just taken off since than. The entire church is excited for this event! Alisa and I went to The Mansion House Inn to see if it would be a good site. Would it ever! If you haven't been to the MHI you should check it out, it was origionally built in 1901 by the first doctor in Buffalo, Dr. Lott, for his bride. The wood floor pattern is just beautiful as well as the woodwork throughout. The house is beautifully restored and the guest rooms are to die for. I had no idea that Buffalo had such unique accomidations available. Pam McFadden, the owner was so gracious and practically donated the site for our event. Thank you!

The High Tea Gala will be exactly as it sounds, lots of good tea, delicious tea sandwiches and decadent desserts. Ladies, bring your daughters, granddaughters, and friends! Wear your best hat as there will be prizes for them, both child and adult-of course, this is optional, some folks just aren't hat people! There will be some entertainment, and maybe even a silent auction for those of you who enjoy that type of thing! We are planning some fun times for all:)

Anita McCart offered to be in charge of food, she is our resident expert in cooking, especially dessert, so get ready everyone to treat your tastebuds! I talked with Anita last night about the menu and was blown away by the treats she has planned. She has already put in alot of time and research into the food. I can't wait to taste it...

There will be posters throughout town announcing the event and we will put in some newspaper ads starting this week. Thank you Cindy and Rayme Inae for your hard work in this area, the results are fabulous!

If anyone wants to donate prizes to the event, or items to be donated, please contact me at (307) 620-2686 or email me at peterson2434@msn.com.

Everyone keep your prayers going! God is blessing us so greatly, we are over the $24,000 mark in donations and pledges! Thank you Lord for your blessings, we praise your Name!

Another donation!

Our treasurer informed us that we had an anonymous donation this past Sabbath of $1000! What a blessing.

Onward and Upward!

This is Alisa, Cara and Cindy's sidekick! I wanted to quickly update everyone on the progress this week. We have received another $1300 from our letter drive! Thank you, all of you precious souls, who have joined in the ultimate goal of providing excellent Christian education to these many children in our church and the community of Buffalo. What a blessing it is to see the outpouring.

Cara and I have had to go back to our day jobs this past week, so we are trying to squeeze in every minute we have to updates and working on getting lists together of Adventist churches in a 500-mile radius which we are hoping and praying will be open to holding an offering call in the next month for our school. Please pray that these churches will be open to this, and if your own home church you think might be willing to take part in our offering Sabbaths, please contact us! The more the merrier!

We are also looking more into some local grants we have been made aware of. These grants are just so scary, but we know that God has it in control so we are trying to make ourselves open to His leading. Although, we will admit, has gotten to be sometimes a minute-by-minute endeavor as we are feeling the effects of fatigue. Please pray for our strength to continue and excitement to continue to be contagious!

We so appreciate everyone's involvement and prayers. Thank you so much!

Onward and Forward!

Good evening! It's Cara again. It is almost 10pm tonight and I am bushed. Alisa and I worked together on the school at her house today. We continue to call the Adventist Hospitals. It's amazing to me. I learned that the Adventist Health System is the largest Protestant-based healthcare system in the Nation. Add to that, the Adventist education system is the largest Protestant-based education system in the WORLD. Wow! The statistics on Adventist education speak for themselves. You can see some of those statistics in the About Us section on our website. Pretty impressive what God has accomplished through willing hands!

We are continuing to send out our Sponsor Packets and now the video too. The initial response has been positive. Many hospitals will say no, but there are some whose Mission and Vision mirror our own. Those are the ones we are looking for! :)

We posted the offering call video on Facebook and emailed it to all our contacts. Soon it will be on our website too. The response has been ovewhelmingly positive! Starting tomorrow we will begin compiling all the churches in Wyoming to coordinate a statewide offering call. We are thinking it will occur in about 3-4 weeks. On our website you will find all of our offering bulletin inserts under Donation Documents if you are curious to see them. I will keep you all posted on the progress of this.

Many thanks to Cindy Eaton who has done and continues to do so much work on our website. I went by her home today and she was out in the sun with her computer diligently working on various tasks we have asked her to troubleshoot, a very smart little cookie! She also has been getting the Facebook cause Two Dollars for Christian Education going. Thank you Cin, God has blessed us with you!

Well, I am off to bed! My pillow looks sooo soft:) Good night, rest well and be assured of God's faithful love.

Check out the video!

Well, it's 11pm and I am back here writing again. It's because something exciting has happened and I need to share it!

We have been working today on getting the things ready for the California churches offering call. We made the bulletin inserts, the donor info sheet, and I had called and gotten a hold of one of the pastors, Pastor Whitcomb of the Galt, Ca. church. He was receptive and was going to run it by his church board this week, but was pretty positive that they would approve an offering call. Even better, he said the Lodi Singers were performing the same Sabbath Heidi and Shane would be there so the crowd would be big, maybe even 200 people!

Alisa had mentioned that she was trying to get some pictures together for an impromptu video for the congregation to watch during the offering call. I must say I had my secret doubts on whether she could pull it all together at such a last minute...I knew I couldn't! Well, tonight she called and asked me to look at the video and all I could say was "Wow!" It is so moving I was in tears throughout it. You guys MUST see it! Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Nge4KjrJc

I know there is a better way of linking it to this blog but I'll have Cindy check that out later. I just had to get this out to you guys right away though:) Enjoy and be inspired. Thank you Alisa! Once again God delivers us the talents we need, He is a master at logistics!

God bless my friends.

God is working!

Hello! Its Cara. Things have been so busy this past week, such exciting things happening, I have not been able to get back to write it all down! God is surely working double time, it is exciting to awaken each morning to discover each new development. Two Sabbaths ago I visited the Sheridan SDA Church to tell them the good news: We are opening a school! Though half of the congregation was in Cody, WY for their new church dedication (congratulations!), the members who were present were very receptive and excited about our school. There were lots of questions and they invited me to come back another Sabbath to redo the presentation for those who were gone. Except they asked if I could do the presentation during the sermon time instead ( I do get a bit excited and can wax abit long...who me ?!) I was so pleased at the offerings of support, thank you everyone. Together, with God leading, this endeavor is so possible...

While at the Sheridan church, I was inspired by something in the sermon. The speaker mentioned ( I am paraphrasing here, guys) how God expects us to do our part to the best of our given talents and than we can relax because the Holy Spirit than takes over and does His part. This really inspired me. For those of you who have ever fundraised or even been in sales, it is nervewracking to ask for money. Before calling I can always feel my insides tightening up. But this sermon has made me feel so much better about it. It's so simple: if I diligently do my part and give others the opportunities to help our school, than God will do his part to impress on those people to help us, and if they are receptive to Him they will respond! It's a partnership, and what a partner!

Well, along those lines...I have begun calling the Adventist Hospitals throughout the United States for support. On March 27th, I talked to the Marketing Director at The Central Texas Medical Center. Their Sponsorship Committee is meeting on April 8th and he was very encouraging. I quickly realized though that the corporate forms we had prepared were sadly lacking. Larger corporations expect so much more, they really want to see a plan for success before they contribute. We knew we needed alot more and we needed it fast! I knew exactly who to call for help...my mom Mickie Carstens of course! She has an extensive background in grant writing and fundraising(it's amazing how God is providing the resources we need). Alisa, mom and I spent about 40 intense hours preparing a ten page Letter of Intent including all kinds of enclosures with big names like Sustainability Plans...It was with a big sigh of relief that I sent the whole thing off to TX. Thank you mom and Alisa! The wonderful thing about creating this document is that it can be tweaked and sent to other corporations too. Now all we have to do is keep sending it out and trust in God's pwerful influence. See, we do the work and than God does the rest!

We recieved the first letter donations from our 300 Club letter drive this past friday. Alisa & I burst into tears when we opened them...$8000! One gentleman in particular sent a $4000 check and is also sponsoring $300/month for the next year. The generosity is overwhelming and moves us to work harder than ever. The Holy Spirit is truly on our side! We now have over $20,000 sponsored and donated to our goal. Thank you so much and God bless.

Heidi and Shane Greet are taking their little family to California for a much needed vacation this week. They will be gone for two Sabbath's and offered to do an offering call at two differet churches. Today we are madly preparing the bulletin inserts and contacting the pastors. Each drop in the bucket counts so much. We are blessed.

Until next time my friends...keep your eyes on Jesus and your ears open to His voice, for He is calling and His voice is beautiful.

Welcome

Welcome to Big Horn Christian's Blog Site.

We have decided to start a blog to keep all our sponsors, family, friends, and educators involved in what is going on daily.  There has been such a tremendous support in the Buffalo, Wy community in starting up an elementary school.

So far, we have raised $15,000 of the $70,000 needed to start our school.  This past week God has shown us how He will always provide in times of need. 

Highlights from the Week:

• We have been working really hard to get our website up and running.
• Fundraising is in full swing.  Our development director has started calling large businesses in hopes of getting donations.
• Many times God has led us to the possibility of funding our school through grants.  The idea of tackling this is daunting and we keep wanting to turn away.  God keeps directing us back to it, therefore our goal is to start writing grants once we get our phase 1 fundraising plans up and running.  Please continue to pray for us. 
• Today we had a conference call with Lonnie Hetterle who heads the NAD Education department.  We apprised him of all we have been doing in the area of fundraising and school plans.  He was very encouraging and so impressed with our endeavor and gave us the needed courage to continue on this path.

Please continue to pray for the start-up of our school!