Hi! My name is Angella. I’ve been here at GVCS Pennsylvania Campus for two months now. I’m from Salatiga, Indonesia. I consider it a great opportunity to be here for the next two years and I believe it to be the proof of God’s love and grace. God has answered my prayer. To God be the glory!

In Indonesia, I lived in a Christian dormitory (“Asrama Daniel Ester Salatiga”/Daniel Esther Dormitory of Salatiga) where students study in a public school. The biggest religion in Indonesia is Islam so we have many Muslim friends; because of such environment, we learn to spread the Gospel slowly to our friends. We also serve in “New Life” Indonesian Baptist Church with talents that God has given us. We are encouraged to attend morning prayers, read the Bible, exercise, and study everyday. We are also taught to communicate well with others, care about the environment, and be responsible for anything we have and use.

When I heard about GVCS Pennsylvania Campus last year, I was interested in the school’s vision to build a generation of students that are not only highly academic but also Christian at heart and show God’s character through their lives. I started to pray to God for this. I really wanted to be equipped with the high-quality and Christian-based formal education that is being provided here.

I still remember when I first came here. Everything was different and I experienced a culture shock for a long time. However, it is also interesting because I live in USA with Koreans. At first, it was very difficult but as time went by, everything got better. During the first three weeks, I was very tired because my body had to adapt to the 11 hours time difference from Indonesia and the extremely cold weather of Pennsylvania – it’s cold almost everyday. Everything here was so unfamiliar and I had to get along with different cultures and behaviors as best as I could. Even now I’m still learning how Koreans and Americans usually act and speak. I have been making progress at Korean language though. Also, because the school systems and subjects here are different from the ones in Indonesia, I’m still learning how to manage my time accordingly. For example, in Indonesia, every student from every school wears the national uniform on Mondays. Here, I never wear uniform. There are many more differences too numerous to mention.

Nevertheless, my life here with God so far is amazing. I really want to use the next two years of my life that I’ll never get to repeat again to develop myself for the future. After I graduate, I want to go back to Indonesia and attend college there, because I want to serve people there and my church, New Life Indonesian Baptist Church. I have a vision to be a responsible Indonesian leader for the glory of God. Being a leader here doesn’t necessarily mean being a president or a high-ranking government official but to be profesional in every way that can set an excellent example – someone who can preach the Gospel to young people and prepare them to become the next leaders of Indonesia.

That is all I can share for now. I believe that God will bless GVCS and use all of us to do His will if we surrender our whole lives to Him. Thank you and God bless you!

Angella Gratia is an 11th grade student at Global Vision Christian School.