Use your god-given Talents and Professional skills to make an impact for the gospel

“Faith Academy is home to me because I have spent the majority of my life here. I went to Faith Academy K-12, and now I have the amazing opportunity to serve here as a teacher. Initially my wife and I were open to serving anywhere in the world, but God opened and closed doors to have us end up here in the Philippines. At first I loved that I had the opportunity to teach at the school that helped me grow so much. However, since teaching here, I have grown to love even more how my ministry is helping missionary families by teaching their children so they can do their ministry with ease.”

Caleb spent his childhood years in the Philippines.

“From the time I was born until I was 12, I lived overseas as a missionary kid, first in Kenya and then in the Philippines. In fact, I went to 5 different elementary schools on three continents, including four years at Faith Academy.

Transitions and new experiences were all I knew, it was what I felt formed my identity. However, when I was 12, my parents sensed God calling them to stay in the United States. My life as I had known it changed completely – I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my friends and life here at Faith Academy because the decision was made while we were on furlough. Needless to say, as a young teen uprooted from all I had known (even as that had changed so often), I became angry at my parents and at God. I felt that if there even was a God, surely He must not love me, since I had such a hard middle school experience. I did not understand my classmates in the US, most of whom had rarely been outside the state of Colorado, and they did not understand me, this strange girl who had lived all over the world. God used that hard transition in my life to make my heart tender towards the transitions missionary students go through. God also gave me a heart for middle schoolers, even though I first vowed I would never teach that age group, because of my own negative Middle School experience. But God knew those experiences would lead me to seek out the hurting and left-out students while working with their classmates to include them.

That is why I came to Faith Academy in 2013; I hope I can be a consistent person in students’ lives and identify with them through their struggles. When I share my story with my students, especially new middle schoolers, they seem to breathe a sigh of relief that someone understands what they are going through. I love being an encouragement to them and seeing them become more comfortable with the community here at Faith.

The students are what I love the most about Faith. I love how they bring such a richness and diversity of thought to their studies. I love how they are so grateful and that I can build relationships with them on multiple levels, both inside and outside of the school day. I pray that God can use me to show students that their identities don’t come from being a missionary kid, or a business kid, or even a Faith Academy student, but that their identities are rooted in the fact that they are beloved children of the King of Kings.”

“My most memorable experience while working in Middle School was my first time attending Outdoor Ed at Taal, Volcano for a hike. I had the chance to be on the island, not only that but they let me be involved in the ministry aside from working in the office. I loved being around the kids in the school ministry, singing praise songs, and sharing the word of God through storytelling.”

“I love being able to help people physically and spiritually. Here at Faith Academy, I have my dream job: being able to do what I love and use my skills in a Christian environment with High Schoolers. I desire to portray to the students that whatever we do we can use our skills, talents, and gifts for Christ.

Because of the nature of what I do, working with the students when they are injured and in pain, I am able to form relationships with them by encouraging them when they really need it. This helps to form trust with the students, allowing a deeper relationship develop. We go from fun conversations filled with jokes, to conversations about relationships with the Lord. My goal is to be a Christ-like influence for the students here at Faith Academy.

During an overseas soccer tournament a few years ago, one of our players fractured both bones in his ankle. He flew back from Thailand to the Philippines and then flew home to Korea. His injuries required surgery and he needed to stay in Korea for a few weeks before returning to school. We ended up spending a lot of time together that semester, as he needed physical therapy with me four days a week. It was a very challenging time for him, both physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

I remember that he thought his injury would mean an inability to play soccer his senior year or in later in university. He learned a lot about working hard, trusting God, and what really matters in life. In the end, he was able to play his senior year and he currently plays at Cornerstone University in the USA. The most rewarding moment was during the last game of his senior year. After scoring the first goal of the game he sprinted to me on the sideline, jumped in my arms and gave me a huge hug, saying, ‘that was for you Mr. Keating’. That was a moment that makes all of the hard work with it – I will never forget it.”