We hope you all had the best Thanksgiving! 2022 is winding down and it’s already Giving Tuesday. We thought we’d make a little “TDA Newsletter”, filled with fun little updates, along with this year’s fundraising initiatives.
Top Ten TDA Highlights for 1st Semester of the 2022-2023 School Year
- JH/HS Retreat – a powerful time of worship and a bold message from Dawson Perkins
- Highest Enrollment Ever!
- 1st Quarterly Prayer Event – Kansas City Spiritual Roots
- 2nd Quarterly Prayer Event – History of Revivals – Do It Again!
- 2 New School Buses
- Student Led Fast and Prayer Meeting
- First Love – Love For Consecration
- Misty Edwards Leading Worship
- Presence-filled Saturday Prayer Meetings
- Project Paintball – Mask On, Safety Off, GO!
Update from the Principal – Emily Lee
We have already seen God do amazing things in our first semester and bring incredible growth throughout the school. We have the highest enrollment we have ever had. We have outgrown many parts of our building and rooms and needed to transform unused places into new classrooms and offices, such as a broom closet into one of our Dean’s offices, and our old library turned into another Dean’s office.
We have seen tremendous growth in our academics with even better curriculum for different subjects throughout the school. In addition, we’ve added more AP courses, giving our students more opportunities to compete with top students across the nation. We’ve seen God stretch the minds of our students and meet them in academics.
The greatest area of growth and stretching is the increased passion for Jesus we see among our students. We watched the Lord stir their hunger for Him at the end of last year. He continued to fan the flames of first love for Him throughout the summer, and we are seeing it in this school year. Fear of man is being taken down as students are rising boldly to worship and pray freely. They have even initiated additional Bible studies, prayer meetings, and fasts. Our hearts are grateful for the Lord’s kindness and His Presence. Students are encountering His Presence strongly in our daily assemblies, retreats, and prayer meetings. Many say that our sanctuary is a thin place between heaven and earth. We are undone by the Lord’s goodness. In the beginning of the year, He told us that He will take us from glory to glory. We are already experiencing this and cannot wait to see what He has prepared for Semester 2. Come, Jesus, have your way!
What’s going on in Elementary? – Dean Cindy Hilker
TDA Elementary is full this year! Our classrooms are full and we are enjoying being creative to use every available space! This year we’ve added hands-on learning in science and history and have continued to increase the amount of multi-sensory learning opportunities. But most importantly, we’ve noticed an increase in the level of praise and worship during morning Assembly and afternoon Bible times. Time and time again, the Lord will show up in a powerful way during class worship times. He has spoken by showing our students pictures or whispering encouraging words or by letting His presence be felt. The Lord has healed many – including parent helpers and teachers! We joined in with junior and high school in 25 days of Thanksgiving and are looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior together this month. Through it all, the Lord has continued to be good and faithful and true!
It’s Game Time! – Athletic Director Kari Keithley
TDA Athletics has experienced so much growth on multiple levels. We have seen our team rosters double in size this past year and have added new sports. We now have boys/girls soccer, basketball, and volleyball. God has provided experienced coaches to step in and pour into our athletes to bring us to new levels of competition. God has been so faithful to provide new uniforms, equipment, and gym rentals. Because of late practices and games, scheduling has been difficult on our students and families. Our biggest prayer is that the Lord would provide the funds to build TDA a gymnasium. If you have a heart for athletics, we would love your support as we continue to move in the direction God has placed in front of us!
Daniel Daycare – Director Amy Erickson
The Daniel Daycare is full of the sweetest little ones who are being loved well and growing their roots in the Lord. Our Daniel Daycare mission statement is, “Growing little plants with deep roots in the Lord”. The heart behind this mission is to create an environment in which the children are nurtured in their developmental milestones, unique gifts, and relationship with the Lord, so when they leave The Daniel Daycare their roots are anchored in the Lord and who He created them to be. We want them to thrive wherever the Lord plants them in the future. The children in our daycare spend time each week participating in Bible time, prayer, worship, art, movement, fine/gross motor skill development, literacy development, number sense skills, social skills, and outdoor/indoor free play. We have a unique opportunity to serve not only believing families, but families of all backgrounds. This makes this ministry extra special as the Lord opens doors for us to pour out His love to children and families that might not ever step foot in a church, but have chosen us to care for their sweet little ones. Our heart and prayer is that the families who walk through our doors experience the presence of Jesus in a tangible way that transforms their hearts and families for generations to come.
Hello from the High School StuCo President – Rebekah Lee
The hunger the student body has for Jesus is unlike anything I’ve seen before at TDA. Every day, the JH/HS students come into assembly ready to worship and ready for God to move. In just a few short months, Jesus has come and encountered us in so many powerful ways. Apart from our worship and prayer times, students have started their own bible studies, prayer meetings, and called school-wide fasts. The love and affection we have for Jesus also shows in the way we treat each other. People feel loved and seen in these hallways and our marvelous camaraderie is very evident. I am in awe of what God is doing here at TDA this year. He’s stirring up revival and we are so excited for everything He has for us.
Mask on! Safety off! Go – Go – Go! – Project Paintball – Jonathan Lee
Project Paintball is up and running! Our name is getting out there and customers are coming and leaving very happy! We’ve handled a number of private parties – birthday, bachelor, and corporate team building – since opening we’ve processed more than 150 customers! Our field is about 1 acre and it is full of obstacles; each round is action packed and super fun. If you haven’t given it a try, come on out – it’s SUPER fun.
Giving Tuesday – Chaplain Jonathan Lee
We started fundraising and partnership development at the end of 2019 – (full transparency) as a desperate attempt to NOT go belly up! We had low enrollment and a series of expensive building repairs that got us in a bad financial situation. But God is so FAITHFUL! In just a few short years he’s given us some committed partners and increased enrollment – our tent pegs are extending! We are so grateful to all of our generous donors that have supported us on this journey.
Now, at the end of 2022, we don’t feel the impending doom of bankruptcy (Praise God!) – instead we feel the rush and excitement of growth! It’s time to dream! It’s time to build! It’s time to GIVE! We are in the process of engaging an architect to help us plan out our long term growth – please pray that we find the right one, with the right heart – to share in our dreams!
As for near term growth – these are the things we are actively praying into and getting quotes for:
- Soccer Field – the northeast corner of our property is a perfect location for a soccer field
- Elementary Field – that area along our northern border could sure use some leveling; and wouldn’t it be nice to have our zip line brought up to code?
- Parking Lot – this is one of those boring but fantastic problems to have – we need more parking spaces; we are looking at a new parking lot in our southwest corner
- Gymnasium – right now we rent Center Middle School’s facilities – which means our practices are often very late at night – it would be SO NICE to have our own gym!
- TDA Legacy Fund – this is an ongoing fund to help increase teacher salaries – we’d love to get our teachers closer to market rate
We are asking you to give! God is on the move. We are a 501c3 tax exempt organization – all donations are eligible for a tax receipt. We invite you to give to any of these initiatives and/or to become a regular committed partner. You can give through paypal, credit card, debit card, or by check. For larger donations we ask that you contact us directly and give a check to avoid hefty processing fees.
Special Thanks – Stephen Kaikai Bandimere, who for his senior internship – helped put the TDA Alumni Network, TDA Partnership Mailing List, and this newsletter together.