An e-mail from somone who has been through the HA

Hi Amanda,
Alicia Moore sent me your email address sharing that you were considering the Honor Academy sometime in the near future. I went in 2000 and my brother went in 2001. We both really grew in our walk with the Lord while there. I really fought going and was not excited about it (although I am usually like that about things I know are God speaking but I don’t want to do J). I finally conceded to the Lord and went in August. I knew that a lot of interns were placed in the call center to talk to people about going to Acquire the Fire or Missions trips and the thought of calling people scared me! But when I got there, God was gracious and placed me in a job I really enjoyed helping teenagers get their visas/passports together for the trips.
So, the year will be filled with all kinds of challenges. You will share a room with probably 5 other girls and be a part of a CORE (about 12-18 girls with a mentor) and will share a lot and have TONS of fun together… but will share conflicts too! Since you have limited living space, its easy to get on each other’s nerves. However, you will also really bond together (pray for that) and my CORE and I still keep in touch with each other’s lives to this day.
They will find a job placement for you (they look at your likes/dislikes/skills, ect) and you will work within the ministry… which I really enjoyed a lot.
You will also have required classes to attend on leadership, values, character, and all kinds of things. The y have guests come in from all over the world.
You will be challenged physically… everyone is required to physically exercise throughout the week… and they will set some boundaries/rules that are a bit difficult to follow at times (in rooms at certain hours, no dating relationships, no tv, ect).
If you are looking for the experience to “change” you into a magically godly Christian… it won’t. You will only see as much change as you allow the Lord to work in your life both before you go, while there, and after you get out. But, God REALLY used the program to build character in me and taught me a lot. He also really made it more clear His purpose and destiny for my life.
If you have any specific questions, I would love to share more. Your parents can also write me and I will answer to the best of my ability.

I pray you will know what God has for you and can rest that if it’s Him, He will work EVERY detail out for you!
Blessings!

then what I said -


Aw, thanks soo much! :) I have decided on going to the Honor Academy in August. I'ts really crazy to think that I will be sooo far away from home in such a short amount of time...but I'm excited! I think I just got an e-mail from your brother today (funny, because this is the first day in forever that i've checked my e-mail!) Another girl from my church is going and so is my cousin! It's soo weird because i was at a connect group with this girl from my church and i was sharing with everyone another door that was opening in my life and I shared about the Honor Academy . She flipped out because just that weekend she had gone to an Aquire the Fire and was really interested in it. It was just so cool to see God work in even that. Then my cousin was interested after i talked about it...and she was in a place where she just wasn't sure about her future..and so she decided to do it!

How much running is there? lol...I'm starting to run now so I'm not in horrible horrible shape when i get there. But I am excited. I know it's going to be extremely out of my comfort zone but my parents always knew i loved to travel...and I'm just so excited about how strategic everything is showing itself to be.

I'm currently trying to raise more money...I'm not really sure why, but Walmart won't let me do any kind of fundraiser because me going to the Honor Academy isn't "helping the community". ah, but that's okay. God is really teaching me through this proccess that He always provides...it's really growing my faith.

But yeah, I'd love to hear more about the Honor Academy ! And I think it's really cool how you ended that with "working EVERY detail out" :)

then what she wrote back

Glad to hear back from you and glad that the Lord has given you desire and excitement in going…
About running… you start by running a mile each morning.. at like 5:30 ( I think… can’t remember exact time J) with everyone. They eventually add more to make it 2 miles. I’m not sure if they still go to Pike’s Peak in September, but if so, they like to help get your body more ready to climb. After the Peak climb, then we still had to exercise 4x a week for at least 20 minutes and it could be either running, fast walking, or something similar. Since I hate running, I chose the walking J but I learned that running wasn’t as hard as I had thought.
I remember the money thing was difficult.. but God was so faithful. They allowed us to pay a good portion upfront and then pay as we went along. The sad thing however, was that some people really had to struggle during their year to get up the money (like on their breaks) and some couldn’t complete their year because of finances. So, I pray that you won’t have to do that. When I went to Africa 2 years ago, I asked the Lord to please provide every dime before I went and that I wouldn’t have to empty my savings to go and he did (I had to quit my job) but he provided more than I needed and when I came back I had almost the same money in the bank as when I left and the Lord gave me back my job when I returned. So, don’t be afraid to ask the Lord to provide in certain ways… He will do it in His timing and in a way that will most likely stretch your faith, but he is also attentive to our petitions.
So, let’s see what else I can think of… depending on what department they place you in…there will be certain times that will be HIGH stress times… especially in the summer if you work in Missions or at the time near the ATF you are calling others about. One thing I really encourage you is DON”T stop getting alone with Jesus in those times… the ministry has a lot of really cool land in the back that you can go to be alone and pray. It is easy to get really busy “serving Jesus” there, but don’t let that distract you from completely focusing on Him.
One of the hardest things can be the ban on guy/girl dating relationships… it is easy at first, but especially as you begin to work close with guys, it is easy to develop feelings. So, I just encourage you to really guard your heart… have tons of fun, but don’t place yourself in situations where it would be easy to develop more feelings. I knew too many people who were sent home on account of this and it was always very sad.
Another thing is it is easy to try and build friendships with those outside your CORE (small group you live with), but I would encourage you to spend as much time getting to know them and building Godly friendships with them…. They will be there for you in the tough times and will most likely be the ones you keep up with later.
Well, I hope that helps a bit more. Have a wonderful day!