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” (NIV). 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 (MBA) 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 three Rs. We want to introduce them to possible career paths that are “of the world” while training them to infiltrate the workforce as ambassadors for Christ and giving 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 toward 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 can not only significantly reduce the cost of earning a pilot’s license, it also offers a way 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 that the students enrolled in these classes, as well as the students in Art class, 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" (NIV). 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.
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By Jay Ketelsen and Kinzie Speyer
En el mundo pero no del mundo
El capítulo 15 del Evangelio de Juan registra una conversación entre Jesús y sus discípulos. En el versículo 19, Él dice: «Si fuerain del mundo, los amaría como si fueran suyos. Así las cosas, ustedes no son del mundo, sino que yo los he elegido del mundo». Como cristianos, entendemos que estamos llamados a estar «en el mundo» pero no ser «del mundo». Eso significa no adoptar los valores y la conducta del mundo, sino representar a Cristo con nuestras palabras y acciones en medio de una sociedad sufriente.
En Monterey Bay Academy (MBA), tomamos muy en serio ese llamado. Queremos que nuestros estudiantes no solo reciban una educación académica sólida, sino que también estén preparados para ingresar a la fuerza laboral como embajadores de Cristo, listos para ser una influencia positiva a partir de su fe. Dos clases que encarnan esa misión son Exploring Aviation & Ground School y Project Shop.
Exploring Aviation & Ground School inspira a los estudiantes a obtener una licencia de piloto. Utilizando los recursos educativos de Gleim University —incluyendo manuales y programas de preparación para exámenes— los alumnos se preparan para aprobar el examen por escrito de la Administración Federal de Aviación (FAA) para obtener los certificados de Piloto Privado y certificado de Remote Pilot Ground School y licencia de Remote Pilot.
El curso incluye aprendizaje teórico, discusión en clase y simulaciones de vuelo. Contamos con tres simuladores de vuelo interactivos de última generación que permiten a los estudiantes practicar antes y después de volar en un avión real. Eso reduce costos y ayuda a dominar habilidades esenciales para pilotear con seguridad. Gracias a una colaboración con una organización sin fines de lucro ubicada en el aeropuerto de Watsonville, algunos estudiantes incluso comienzan a acumular las horas de vuelo necesarias para su licencia de piloto privado.
Por otra parte, Project Shop es una clase donde se combinan diseño industrial, física aeroespacial e ingeniería y fabricación avanzada. Este año, los estudiantes están enfocados en el desarrollo de aeronaves de despegue y aterrizaje vertical (VTOL). La región de la Península de Monterey, un centro de innovación aeronáutica, permite que nuestros estudiantes trabajen junto a expertos destacados en ese campo.
Lo innovador de ese programa es la colaboración entre estudiantes de Project Shop, Exploring Aviation y la clase de Arte. Juntos, definen los requisitos y el diseño del prototipo de aeronave. Una vez establecido el concepto, construyen el prototipo. Esa experiencia práctica les proporciona habilidades en diseño, aerodinámica, ingeniería y fabricación. Esperamos presentar el prototipo terminado en la feria aeronáutica más grande del mundo, que se celebrará en Oshkosh, Wisconsin, en julio de 2025.
El pastor Leal V. Grunke, fundador de la Academia, expresó esa visión de manera memorable: «Creo que Dios seleccionó este sitio junto al mar para una academia de internado... Saca a un niño o una niña de las actividades ordinarias, enséñales fe y confianza en Dios, y saldrán de MBA y harán cosas extraordinarias en el nombre de Dios».
Nuestros estudiantes se gradúan habiendo sido enseñados por Dios, equipados no solo con conocimientos académicos, sino también con una misión clara: representar a Cristo en cualquier camino profesional que elijan.
Como dice 2 Corintios 5:20: «Somos, pues, embajadores de Cristo, como si Dios rogara por medio de nosotros». Vivimos como representantes de Cristo en un mundo que no es nuestro hogar final. Así como un embajador vive en tierra extranjera para representar a su país, nosotros vivimos aquí para representar a Cristo con integridad y fidelidad. Ese es el objetivo que guía todo lo que hacemos en Monterey Bay Academy.
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Jay Ketelsen y Kinzie Speyer
