Reaching high places

This post is contributed by Lynn Purdum, Advancement Advisory Board member. Just as the kids at Brookstone are accomplishing goals, so are our leadership! 

This summer my family and I took a trip to Africa. Part of the trip included climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in the world and Africa’s tallest mountain. Kili, as it is affectionately called by the people who climb it, is 19,341 feet tall.

We began the climb on Saturday July 5, 2014, however, the moment we committed to climbing Kilimanjaro is when the climb began for us. This was my husband’s ultimate bucket list item and for some reason my son, daughter and I agreed to join him on this adventure. Though climbing Kilimanjaro is considered a “walk” with no mountain climbing gear such as crampons, picks or ropes required, we needed a lot of gear. There was much planning involved. We began purchasing equipment 7 months in advance. The hiking company had detailed recommendations of what we would need. Though I complained about the quantities and sometimes absurdities of the items we purchased, we needed and used everything that was recommended. The weather on top of the mountain ranges from -5 degrees to -45 degrees Fahrenheit. You must plan on all types of weather as you are in the elements for 8 days and you walk through 5 climates zones.

But more than all the many details required was the physical and mental preparation needed. We hiked, walked, and I lifted weights and took spin classes to prepare. My husband and daughter walked on a treadmill that could be elevated up to a 40 degree incline. Several days prior to the hike I started drinking 60 ounces of water daily to stay hydrated, as was recommended. Mentally you have to know you can accomplish this goal. 

Preparation and the knowledge that you can accomplish a goal are necessary for success. This is not something I did on my own.  I prayed for safety and preparedness not necessarily for success. Without my family and the guides who strongly encouraged us, we couldn’t have made it. Three quarters of the way up the summit, I wanted to quit, but the guides kept me going. They were with us all the way. They believed in us. They carried our day bag when it became too burdensome, and they stopped and rested with us but also cajoled us to keep going. They told us we could do it. At one point when I was so exhausted it took all I had to put one foot in front of the other, my guide Musa, broke off pieces of my energy bar and fed me like a baby, one piece at a time.

We set a goal, researched, learned about the difficulties and what we would need, read books other climbers had written, hired a great company to lead us, prayed and prepared physically and mentally. It was no different than achieving any goal in life. It requires hard work and determination and this was by far the hardest thing I had ever done. This was a trip of a lifetime and one I will always remember with a great deal of satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Now I’m curious as to what the other items are on my husband’s bucket list. No telling where he may lead us next.

Happy Trails, Lynn Purdum

Music, milestones and memories

Meet Aria:

Aria was on the cover of last year's annual report.

Her name means "song" and her baby sister's name is Symphony.

Mom and Dad both have musical backgrounds. Mom's instrument is her voice while Dad's is the trumpet. Following in their footsteps, Aria is also musically inclined. She receives violin instruction at Brookstone and says that one of her favorite things in the world is music (oh, and reading - Aria reads 168 words per minute, and she's only in 3rd grade).

The lyrics of their family's story are filled with beautiful tones.

Mom (Italia) and Dad (Jameth) were married in 2003. Only one year later, while still newlyweds, Italia started experiencing blurred vision and an inability to walk. She remembers her legs feeling like "stiff bricks." After much testing and many doctor visits that year, she was diagnosed with MS.

Aria was born in 2006, two years after the diagnosis, and they soon moved back to Charlotte to be near family. In particular, they wanted to be near Aria's grandmother, Mrs. Karla Morgan who prayed everyday that Aria would love Jesus and have the best education.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Morgan was also in prayer for her sister, Donna Cloud, to find meaningful work and to be at peace about her previous school employer closing down. During that time, their mother encouraged her to apply at Brookstone and was hired in 2008. Donna currently teaches Bible class for K-5th grade and also operates the National Institute for Learning Development (NILD) tutoring program. Interestingly, Mrs. Cloud was also a music minor in college!

Donna Cloud with her niece, Aria

Aria began Kindergarten at Brookstone two years after her grandmother (and Donna's sister), Mrs. Morgan, passed away. Donna says that her sister's prayers for Aria to have the best education were answered and that she, too, is grateful for the experiences they both have here at Brookstone.

Mrs. Cloud wanted to share this story in memory of her sister in thankfulness for how she ministered to every life she came into contact with and how, even now four years after her passing, she and Aria are enjoying the blessing of her prayers.

What one word describes your family? "Supportive," Mrs.Cloud answered quickly. She said that they've overcome difficult obstacles, the loss of Aria's beloved grandmother & Donna's sister and a challenging diagnosis for Italia. Yet, with a smile and sense of sweet determination, she adds, "Jesus is the source of our strength." And as we finished the conversation, she echoed Italia's words, "...although my body has been attacked, I wait in hope on the manifestation of God's healing."

This family holds on to their faith amid every milestone. They sing with gladness.

Brookstone's impact reaches even further

This fall, Brookstone added a touch of diversity to its face with the addition of 15 Montagnard students from the nearby Westerly Hills neighborhood.

The Montagnards are a tribal people, the native inhabitants of the Central Highlands of Vietnam.   They were the allies of the United States during the Vietnam War, fighting alongside US Special Forces and often serving as interpreters and guides. Their people suffered tremendously during the war: 85% of their villages were destroyed and 50% of their fighting age men were killed. After the war, they continued to pay a heavy price. Their ancestral lands were seized for state-run enterprises and they were moved to the least desirable lands in their mountain home. Many of their leaders were arrested, tortured, and executed or sent to “reeducation camps.”

The Montagnards in America are overwhelmingly a Christian people. Large numbers responded positively to the Gospel when Christian missionaries shared Christ with them in the early 20^th century, and the good news has spread rapidly through all the tribes since then. In recent years, whole villages have come to Christ as Montagnard faith has flourished under Communist persecution.

Many Montagnards have been legally relocated to Charlotte through the international refugee program, and they are now working hard to build lives in their new homeland. Two of Brookstone’s teachers, Steve and Susanne Parker, have been serving in ministry to the Montagnard community for the past few years and last year started an afterschool program in Westerly Hills for some of their children. These are the students that are now attending Brookstone, and the school is already making a difference in their lives.

The Parkers report that some of the students felt out of place in the public schools and were often bullied. This created a heaviness that many students carried with them, and it sometimes created challenges working with the students at afterschool. That has changed this year. The students come to afterschool directly from Brookstone, and there is no longer a heaviness. Students are smiling, happy, and ready to engage. “For some,” Susanne Parker said, “it is like the difference between night and day.”

When you consider that students have only been at Brookstone for a couple weeks now, to hear these kinds of positive reports is truly encouraging. One only wonders at what the ongoing difference will be for these young lives, and what kind of seeds are being sown that will make a difference for generations to come.

Contributed by: Steve Parker, middle school math and social studies teacher

A caring conduit

Ms. Graham, owner of Graham's Daycare, greets us wearing a beautiful blue dress and a great big smile. She's so excited to talk about Brookstone and the impact its made on several generations in her family.

She's owned her daycare since 1972, and first learned about Brookstone Schools from a sign near Wilkinson Boulevard. Since then, she's encouraged 13 family members including 9 of her own grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enroll at Brookstone. Olivia, now in 11^th grade, was the first, followed by John Martin, David, Tanasia, Takori, Tamijai, Tajaree, Dominic, Za’caria as well as 2 great nieces, 1 great nephew and 16 other children who graduated from her daycare. Ms. Graham keeps Brookstone applications handy in case mothers are interested, and she tells them when they first enroll that she hopes they graduate her daycare and go straight to Brookstone!

Ms. Graham loves that we are a school “shielded by God” and she often prays that God will continue to bless the school, keep it safe and give the teachers love and understanding to do their work.

With the Charlotte skyline visible in the distance, Ms. Graham sits in the rocking chair with a happy girl on her lap telling us what Brookstone has meant to her family. The generational impact is significant. She especially points out how the kids from Brookstone are given a strong foundation, taught proper respectful behaviors and they are safe and happy while they're at school.   

She sweetly tells us before leaving that our ears must always be burning because she's always talking about Brookstone. 

Her contentment is contagious. Her joy, hopeful. We're grateful for Ms. Graham and for the many children and families she's directed toward Brookstone.