Black Forest Academy's students and families, in their own words.
Made by BFA Communications, the BFA Life Podcast hands the microphone to the community of Black Forest Academy, a Christian school in Germany. Students talk about refugee ministry and graduation week, families in ministry talk about church planting and volunteering, and an alumna looks back on her time on the worship team.
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The BFA Life Podcast is produced by BFA Communications at Black Forest Academy, a Christian school in Germany, and it turns the microphone toward the school's own community. Josh Crooks and Elisa Johnson are the co-hosts. Josh introduces himself as a BFA alumnus from 2009 who came back to serve in 2016. Elisa arrived in 2018 as an RA for one of the dorms. The talk is warm and conversational, and faith is part of the conversation itself, never a separate segment. Episode titles carry simple labels, Alumni Feature, Family Story and Student Features, and together they sketch the show's range. In 'Maddie (Alumni Feature)', Maddie describes a family that has felt called to share the gospel for three generations, and her own hope of going into missions one day. She played volleyball and soccer and sang on the worship team. She also admits that public speaking frightens her while singing in front of people does not. Students take over in 'Refugee Ministry'. They talk about spending Friday afternoons with refugee kids, working around language barriers with gestures, and finding that the outing became the highlight of the week. Asked what they would tell newcomers, they are candid: the energy is not always there after a long school week, but they have never come back feeling the time was wasted. 'Farewell to the Seniors - Class of 2024 (Student Features)' is set in graduation week, with alumni-versus-senior games, an alumni brunch, a senior dinner and awards night on the calendar. Departing seniors urge younger students not to neglect the underclassmen, and one remembers being welcomed by seniors as a new student. The Family Story episodes reach past campus. In 'Church Planting in Germany - Family Story', a family describes a small international church meeting in a rented building in northeast Germany, where Germans and Ukrainian families gather on Sundays and trust with the town has grown over time. They credit BFA with educating and supporting their children while they pursue that ministry. 'More than Volunteering - Family Story' introduces the McKells, who work for another organization in the area but volunteer at BFA, and who recall what they call 'the miracle trip'. School leadership is heard from too. Head of school Phil Dow sits down with both hosts in 'Past, Present, and Future with our Head of School, Dr. Dow.', the conversation where Josh introduces Elisa as his new co-host. In the Maddie episode, Elisa tells listeners it is her final episode and that she and Josh are leaving BFA, with others stepping in. Episodes close with a music credit to Emma Worthy, Class of 2020. The result is an affectionate, first-hand portrait of a mission-focused school, told by the people inside it.
Made for: Suits a listener with ties to Black Forest Academy, or one considering it, who wants to hear directly from its students, alumni and families in ministry. It also fits someone curious about how faith, service and ordinary school life mix at a Christian school in Germany.
What sets it apart: A general faith-and-education show talks about schools. This one is a single school's communications office handing the microphone to its own community, so the stories are specific: a Friday refugee program, the traditions of graduation week, a church plant in northeast Germany. Faith frames all of it, stated plainly.
In this podcast, Josh and Elisa seek to unpack the realities of BFA culture, life, and influence as they dialogue with students, staff, parents, and alumni. Join the conversation by writing to us: [email protected]
A tired Friday volunteer makes you reconsider what counts as a good end to the school week.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A warm alumni conversation about missions, worship, dorm life, and relationships that continue after BFA.
Maddie (Alumni Feature) is a warm alumni conversation about BFA life after graduation, shaped by Alisa's easy rapport with a former student from her time as an RA at Maugenhard.
Mia and Leah show how a tiring Friday commitment became a weekly highlight through patience, play, and steady relationships.
Refugee Ministry lands best in the small, specific details of student service. Mia and Leah describe arriving tired after a full school week, still showing up on Friday afternoons, and finding that time with the children became something they looked forward to.
Two graduating students reflect on farewell, welcome, and the community they helped carry forward at BFA.
Graduation week gives this BFA Life episode a natural frame, moving through alumni-versus-senior games, an alumni brunch, senior dinner, awards night, and graduation as Noble and Hannah look back on the community they are leaving.
A grounded family story about building trust in northeast Germany while BFA supports the children behind the ministry.
Church planting in northeast Germany comes through as a family logistics story, with Ben and Sarah reflecting on nearly two decades of work, a small international church finding a rented Sunday meeting place, and the slow trust that helps them move beyond being seen as "the…
A school family's volunteer life opens into Uganda, paused relationships, and the steady practice of joining work already underway.
Ed and Kim McKell's family story sits just outside the usual school-community frame. Though their work is with another organization in Condor, they have become part of BFA life through volunteering and several community roles.
Héctor and Beto dissect Mexican grammar, slang, and news in native-speed Spanish conversations.
Small habit changes meet hands-on AI experiments.
Maddie, a 2023 BFA alumna who grew up in the Middle East, says boarding school was a long-held goal shaped by her parents' West Africa experience.
BFA's refugee ministry sends students to two camps in southern Germany, one on Tuesday and one on Friday, for about an hour and a half of play, stickers, UNO, soccer, and volleyball.
BFA Life Podcast marks graduation week with Noble and Hannah, two seniors from the Class of 2024 who reflect on Kandern, Blauenhoff, and their plans after BFA.
Ben says BFA released their family to do ministry because their children were supported in school, dorms, and spiritual life.
The McKells describe the Uganda trip as a "miracle trip" after Ethiopia collapsed a week before departure.
Maddie Willeford, a junior at Black Forest Academy in Germany, traces her family's BFA ties to her great-grandfather Hildar Jance, whose group began teaching cousins in a Basel kitchen after World War II.
Jade, Joy and Ashley, three BFA seniors, explain how a trio that "never works out" in popular belief held together through weekly dinners, a Wednesday prayer time and open critique.
Yoka Yakubu, a Wycliffe Bible Translators worker from the Netherlands, and her husband Abukari, a Ghanaian pastor, describe literacy work among a people group with an illiteracy rate over 80%.
Josh and Elisa reintroduce themselves and the BFA Life Podcast, discussing their roles at Black Forest Academy and the school's Christian mission.
Missionary kids share their experiences of moving frequently and discuss where they feel most at home.
Josh and Elisa interview former missionaries Art and Becky Mellie about their experiences at BFA and God's work in missionary life.
Hosts and alumni discuss the meaning and traditions of graduation at BFA, an international school.