It’s 5:30 a.m. when Melody Rivas walks to the shower as she gets ready for work in the cafeteria. She passes girls sitting in the hall studying their Bibles, using the morning light to get an early start with God. (Lights in the dormitory rooms don’t come on until 6 a.m.)
From Sierra View Jr. Academy in Exeter, Calif., and one of 45 new juniors in a class of 87 at Monterey Bay Academy (MBA), Rivas says the spiritual environment has made a big impact on her. “I find that MBA makes it so much easier to stay closer to God,” she says. "In the classrooms, during the outreach programs, at the dorm, I’m finding it so much easier to step out of my comfort zone and pray."
Students like Melody are finding more and more opportunities to grow spiritually. There are six Sabbath school options each week, including new classes like “Journaling for Jesus” by the English department and “Crossway,” team-led by Julie George, the academic vice principal, and several student leaders. Sabbath afternoon service opportunities like collecting canned goods for the needy and going door-to-door to pray with each staff family are available.
“Unless our kids are growing spiritually here, they are not getting a good education. This is our most important growth area,” says Campus Pastor Bryan del Valle. “We are part of the Seventh-day Adventist movement to prepare the world for His coming. We know from the Bible that when we make God’s will and mission first and meditate on His word, all other things take their proper place.”
The Olive Grove, a prayer ministry started by students two years ago, provides another way for students to support each other spiritually. Meeting weekly on Wednesday evenings during recreation time, it continues to grow in attendance and popularity. Attendance hovers near 50 most of the time. Students lead this special worship time of prayer, testimonies and Bible study.
“These kids are the future of our church,” del Valle says. "We’re training them not only to be thinkers and good students, but also to be seekers of God and the kind of people that understand where true strength comes from."
Currently, there are 11 students studying for baptism. “We have had so many students make lifelong commitments here at MBA over the years,” Principal Tim Kubrock says. “We have students who are learning to lead out in worship, learning the benefits of daily devotions and about the power of prayer. This is the most important thing we can do, and it’s exciting to see so many students who are eager to grow closer to God.”
“I didn’t think much about spiritual things when I first came to MBA,” says Andrew Robinson, a junior from Palmdale, Calif. Raised attending Adventist schools and with biblical teachings at home, Andrew admits that when he arrived his freshman year, he had not made a daily personal relationship with Jesus a priority. “The atmosphere here is so amazing. The people here are so enthusiastic about God that you can’t help but feel the same way.”
Now in his third year at MBA, he understands the opportunities this Christian campus offers. “God has really blessed this campus with people who will pray for you and keep you going,” he says. “I want to be someone people can go to for encouragement and prayer. If I can help people in my life, then I feel like I’ll be doing what God wants me to do.”
