The Gospel of John, Chapter 15, records a conversation between Jesus and His disciples. In verse 19 He says, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” As Christians, we believe that Jesus is telling us that we are called to be “in the world” but not “of the world,” but what does this mean? When someone is “of the world” it means they accept the world’s values, beliefs, and conduct as their own. But John records Jesus’ reminder to his followers that we are called to something else–that through our words and actions we are to represent Him to a sick and hurting world.
Monterey Bay Academy takes this commission seriously and we want to instill it into the hearts and lives of our students. Our desire is to educate MBA students in more areas than just the 3-Rs. We want to introduce them to possible career paths that are “of the world,” but train our students to infiltrate the workforce as ambassadors for Christ, and give them skills they can use to call others out of the world as Jesus has taught us to do. Two exciting classes that MBA offers do just that.
The Exploring Aviation & Ground School program challenges and inspires our students to work towards earning a pilot’s license. Classroom work is based on the Gleim University coursework, including the Private Pilot Handbook, Private Pilot Test Prep system, and Remote Pilot Test Prep. At course completion, students should be able to pass the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) written exam for both Private Pilot and Remote Pilot Ground School certificates and the Remote Pilot license.
Book and computer learning, classroom discussion, and on-site airplane demonstrations are
strengthened by three state-of-the-art interactive Gleim University flight simulators. These simulators allow students to pre-fly and post-fly their “in-the-plane” flight lessons. This not only can significantly reduce the cost of earning a pilot license, but also offers the ability for students to become proficient with the special hands-on skills needed for competent and safe flight. Each year, through a special relationship we have with a local non-profit based at the Watsonville airport, several of our students actually begin to accrue the in-plane flight hours needed to earn their private pilot’s license.
Project Shop is another exciting class students can take at MBA. By fusing industrial design, aerospace physics, engineering, and advanced manufacturing techniques, this program allows students to begin experimenting with their hands on complex tasks. Their work this year focuses on cutting-edge vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The Monterey Peninsula is the west coast center for innovation in the field of aviation and aeronautics, and mentoring our students in this program are some of the leading minds in the region. Students will acquire a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to
design, engineer and manufacture a prototype for the new and expanding field of manned vertical takeoff aircraft.
An exciting aspect of this program is the students enrolled in these classes, as well as the students in Art, team up together to define the requirements and lay out the configuration for the aircraft. Once the concept and configuration are defined, students in Exploring Aviation and Project Shop participate together in the construction of the design prototype. By collaborating on this cutting-edge design and prototype program, students develop creative skills and gain tangible firsthand experience in industrial design, aerodynamics, engineering, and fabrication. Our goal is to introduce the project aircraft at the world’s largest airshow held in Oshkosh, WI, in July of 2025.
Years ago, Elder Leal V. Grunke, Monterey Bay Academy founder, stated it well, “I believe God selected this site by the sea for a boarding academy. . . Take a boy or girl from ordinary pursuits, teach them faith and confidence in God, and they will go from MBA and do extraordinary things in God’s name.” As our students graduate and go out into the world, they go having been taught of God and equipped with experience and knowledge to enter the workforce to represent Christ to others.
The charge can be found in 2 Corinthians 5:20, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." We are emissaries for Christ while we remain on this earth with the responsibility to share Christ with integrity and faithfulness, carrying His message to the world. Just as the ambassadors of our nation are commissioned to live on foreign soil and represent our country, so we as Christians are called to live in a world that is not our eternal home and represent Christ to a sick and hurting world. This is our goal for every student who attends Monterey Bay Academy.
-By Jay Ketelsen and Kinzie Speyer
