Written by: Liza Straznicky
Photo Courtesy of the Beavers
One of the newest additions to the BAIS faculty is the Beavers family from Circleville, Ohio. They are a family of 6, consisting of Chip, their dog, Mr. and Mrs. Beavers, their three kids, and Mrs. Linda, Mrs. Beavers’ mother.
Mr. Beavers teaches Bible and history for 8th, 9th, and 10th grade, while Mrs. Beavers teaches 6th, 7th, and 11th-grade students’ Bible classes. Mr. and Mrs. Beavers seem to be adjusting well to their new home, as they have said they quickly felt welcomed into the community. The rest of their family, including their three kids - Josiah (Grade 4), Abby Jo (Grade 2), and Avalon (4 years old) - are already making friends and settling into their new home here.
When asked by The BAIS Times what their first impression of Indonesia was, Mrs. Beavers shared, “I like the climate much better, the balmy weather agrees with me.” On the other hand, Mr. Beavers’ first impression of Indonesia was of the BAIS community. He said, “The people were very welcoming to us, introducing us to new people and showing us what we need to know about life here.”
Their Faith Journey
Since Mr. and Mrs. Beavers were little, they both felt close to God. Mrs. Beavers said that while her family skipped around multiple churches, she felt that God was a real person to her. One of her earliest memories was praying to God about her sadness at the death of a neighbor’s dog. She shared, “Once, in 7th grade, I was on a bus ride with my friend to a basketball tournament. I gave my friend a Bible, and she looked at me and said, “This is what you’re really about, isn’t it?” And from then on I decided that yes, it was.”
For Mr. Beavers, he was ‘saved’ when he was six years old. An evangelist came to his church and did an altar call. He said, “I was scared of hell then, but I also knew that I wanted to accept Jesus into my heart. I think that's when I ‘got saved’. I put that in quotation marks because I don’t like the way it's phrased, like buying something. I didn’t buy my salvation. I was given it.” This is an important statement, that salvation isn’t what humanity deserves or has earned. Mr. Beavers cautions against being too hard on oneself because sometimes it seems like there is pressure to be perfect to earn salvation.
Photo Courtesy of the Beavers
The whole point of Jesus dying on the cross is so that we don’t earn salvation because there’s no way that humans can do it on their own. Mr. Beavers shared, “I came from a denomination that used hell as a tool, maybe not to frighten people, but to show the truth that hell was a real place for those that don’t love Jesus. I had to work through some of that because I was worried that if I made one mistake I would lose my salvation (which isn’t true). There’s a balance between following Jesus’ example and trying not to make mistakes.”
Before BAIS
Mr. Beavers taught at two schools before coming to BAIS: Logan Elm High School (14 years) and Circleville High School (6 years). One of the differences between those schools and BAIS is the way the students respond to teachers. He said, “There’s more respect given to teachers automatically rather than feeling like you have to earn respect from the students.” Mrs. Beavers also taught at Ohio Christian University, Circleville. She shared, “One difference between OCU and BAIS is how I’ve enjoyed learning how to lay foundations at a young age that I’ve often had to teach to adults.” Those are two of many ways that the Beavers’ have felt differences between their schools in the USA and BAIS.
One interesting thing was the story of how they heard about Indonesia. Mr. Beavers had applied for a job at a university because it would allow him to travel and coordinate with other history teachers around the United States. He said, “I was prepared for the interview and thought that I would get it, but then I didn’t. During that time it felt like I was searching for something, and I felt called to something, I just didn’t know what it was.”
While working with a missions organization, Mrs. Beavers ran across the NICS network, and Mr. and Mrs. Beavers sent their applications in. They were given the option between the NICS school in West Nairobi or BAIS, and they had an inclination towards BAIS. Mr. Beavers said, “We fasted and prayed about it, which was hard for me because I love food. And we felt called to come to Indonesia. I don’t know how to describe why we decided to come here, but I believe we were called here, and I guess we’ll find out why.”
Photo Courtesy of Jefferson Sastra
Another factor they appreciate about BAIS is the various cultures that make BAIS exciting. Mrs. Beavers told The BAIS Times, “The students are diverse. There are new horizons to explore and perspectives to learn from. It’s refreshing to get to see so many different cultures.”
However, there are aspects that the Beavers miss about their home country, as they’ve been in Indonesia for about four months. Abby Jo, their 8-year-old daughter, said that what she misses most about the United States is snow, especially as winter grows closer. For Mr. Beavers, their family and the Circleville Pumpkin Show are the things he misses about the States.
When asked what things they’ve tried outside of school here, Mr. Beavers explained that they hadn’t had the time to try many different things. “I think day-to-day living in another country with another language is exciting. We haven’t had much time to go to a lot of places because when we got here we didn’t have much left in the gas tank and we had to hit the ground running with not a lot of fuel,” he explained.
Hobbies
As most of his students will know, Mr. Beavers loves basketball, which was one of his favorite memories as a teenager. “I really, really enjoyed playing basketball, especially when we beat our basketball arch-rival Circleville, which ironically is where I ended up teaching for six years,” Mr. Beavers told The BAIS Times when asked about what he enjoyed doing.
Photo Courtesy of the Beavers
The Beavers family has been a welcome addition to the staff at BAIS, in both the subjects they teach and as a part of the community. We’re excited to get to know them better as the school year progresses.