By Zoe Dorse Mission trips are

very important to the Johnson Ferry family. Mission trips have affected many of those who went in big ways. I interviewed Molly Bailey asked and how the mission trips affected her. Here is the interview:

What mission trips have you been on with the school?

I have been to the DR (Dominican Republic) and Nicaragua with JFCA- both really, really great trips. Our students are so lucky to have those oppor-tunities. How do mission trips affect you?

I have been going on mission trips since I was 12, each trip is so differ-ent but God always uses them to open my eyes to new lessons or struggles.

How does it affect the people you are helping?

I think often people look at Americans and think we have it all figured out, I think when you go on a mission trip and are genu-inely interested in learning

about their life is a sur-prise. I think it is impor-tant to not go in with the mindset that you are going to show them how to live life better, but to go to find a common ground with someone so you are able to relate Christ best to others.

What is your favorite mission trip that you have been on and why?

Oh gosh, that’s so hard!! Each mission trip will always hold a special place in my heart for dif-ferent reasons but I hon-estly believe I have left a part of my heart in Africa specifically Zimbabwe. The people are so warm and loving, and they have such a strong need for Jesus. I love getting away from all the distractions of home and worshipping by a campfire. The couple that we partner with there are the 2 greatest people I have ever met, their passion to make Jesus known in their community is so inspiring.

Does going on mission trips help you grow in your faith or only help others?

I will never know if I have made a difference in the lives of people I have met on mission trips, and to me it doesn’t matter. I felt God call me out, and I went. I know how the trips have changed me, I can only let go and trust that I was part of a bigger plan and will hopefully be reunited with people I have met in heaven one day. That’s one of the best things about follow God, you know that when you are in His will you are doing things bigger than you could have ever done alone.

Why are mission trips important to you?

As believers we are called to spread His word, to help those who need help, and most important-ly to love others. I never thought I was adventur-ous, or bold, I love looking back on the trips I have been on and I am surprised at all I have been able to do; through those trips God has shown me how much better he knows me than I know myself. And also how much I can sur-

vive with Him in charge. As you can see, mis-

sion trips are a big part of our school and many people are called by God to join these. Other than helping and changing the lives of the people you visit, you get changed too.

In This Issue:

Snowpocalypse: Page 2

Saints ObserverThe March Issue • Vol. 1 Issue 51

JFCA Mission Trips

Current Events:Pages 2 & 3

Clubs: Page 3

By: Maria Richardson As we all

know, Georgia has had some pretty rough weather this past winter. The first storm was January 28-30. There was snow in the fore-cast, but schools did not pay much attention to it because most people did not think it was actually going to snow. School proceeded as usual, but at around 11:30 it start-ed to snow. Cobb County Schools and almost every other school in Georgia let out early, which was the biggest mistake. The snow was coming down really fast and already sticking to the ground, and- even worse- there was ice on the roads. With everyone try-ing to get home at the same time, obviously there were some disasters. There have been stories of people get-ting four miles in six hours! Meanwhile at Johnson Ferry

Christian Academy, some students had managed to get on their way home, but most were waiting on their parents, who also got out of work early. However if they got out of work early they had to try to leave right away, so they could get to the school as quickly as pos-sible. Most parents did not get to school until as late as 7pm! There were a few students who had to stay overnight at the school! The traffic was atrocious espe-cially in the city of Atlanta. The cars were backed up for miles. Most people gave up after 6-7 hours of driv-ing and only moving a few miles; and they left their cars and started walking home, or walking to a hotel. Abigail Clarke, Anna Hardin, and Rebekah Hardin (students at Johnson Ferry Christian Academy) had quite the adventure. They were in the

car for five and a half hours, then stopped at fire station for a few hours, and ended up sleeping in the gym floor of a church! This storm last-ed until Thursday the 30th when the ice finally started to melt.

Only two weeks later, the next “Snowpocalypse” came. This time Georgia was more prepared, school was completely cancelled on Tuesday the 11th of February. The snow did not start until about Tuesday night or Wednesday morn-ing, but school cancelled was for the best. On Monday, the grocery stores were packed with people buying milk, bread, and anything else they needed. Luckily in this storm, there were no crazy traffic jams or stories of chil-dren sleeping at their school. Let’s hope next time we are just as prepared!

The Snowpocalypse 2014

Spring Activities

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By Anabelle Willoughby Looking for activities

to do in spring? Well, don’t just sit there and let the frogs sing! Maybe you could take a relaxing walk along with your camera in the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and take pics of the wonderful flow-ers they have in bloom, or maybe look at the amazing art sculptures coming in May! Stop by The Fox and watch a live show if you’re feeling,Wicked or maybe are feeling Blue...Men. Take a walk on the wild side at the Atlanta Zoo and come see America’s only twin pan-das! Anyone of these is a great way to spend your day! Spring activities, here we come!

To start spring come cel-ebrate new life with the many new flower blooms at Atlanta Botanical Garden! They have

many attractions such as a beautiful garden tour with the birds singing and the flowers blooming, such as foxgloves and irises. If you get there at 11a.m. go and watch the frog feeding for a fun and froggy afternoon. Come see sculptures made by 16 dif-ferent artists!Each piece moved by different natural things-- air currents, water, solar power, sound waves, magnetics, human energy-- and are still standing and are amazing people still. Then there’s Atlanta bloom that continues through April. Sit in the indoor or outdoor cafe and grab a bite to eat.Stop by the gift shop and get a souve-nir. Worried you can’t make time? I think you can since it’s open Tuesday-Sunday in March it opens at 9a.m. and closes at 5p.m. in April it is open from 9a.m. to 7p.m. So

come by Atlanta botanical gardens and stop and smell the roses!

On of the weekends you could bring a friend to The Fox and see the amazing performance Wicked. Back by popular demand and it still breaks box office records and sells out in record time. Winner of over 50 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony Awards, Wicked is “Broadway’s big-gest blockbuster” (The New York Times). Maybe go see the Blue Men perform their music with paint for the messy or the artistic.In your “circle of life” you could go see “The Lion King” the booming broadway play that will take your breath away. See the Tony Award-winning Broadway sensation that Newsweek calls “a landmark event in entertainment.”

The New York Times says, “There is simply nothing else like it.” The Fox Theatre is located on Peachtree Street in the middle of the city. Come on down and see the show!

Spring is here, new arriv-als are too! The Atlanta Zoo has many new arrivals, including the rare twin Giant Pandas! The only twin pan-das in America! They also have several baby monkeys, a new pride of lions, and a leaping amount of lizards,

frogs and snakes! So many new cuties to welcome and come see! But wait, don’t go just yet there is still more! Grab a seed-stick and go play with the dozens of para-keets at Boundless Budgies: A Parakeet Adventure. Go watch the graceful otters float on the water or tigers walk-ing behind glass.Be hidden from a clouded leopard or the other way around. Go on a safari adventure and explore the wild!

New Braves Baseball StadiumBy: Cooper Foster It’s time for

my favorite time of the year, Atlanta Braves Opening Day! As of right now, they are in spring training. Their current record is (update day of publish) and they are currently ranked (update day of publish) in the Grapefruit league. The Brave’s star pitch-er, Kris Medlen, was recently injured. Medlen supposedly has an injury to his elbow ligament in his pitching arm. Unfortunately, Kris was supposed to start for the

Braves on Opening Day, but will no longer be able to. Speaking of Opening Day, it is scheduled for Monday, March 31, and Julio Tehran is most likely to start for the Braves. Also on the DL (dis-abled list) will be Mike Minor and Brandon Beachy.

As you may know, the Braves recently closed on a prop-erty to build a new stadium. The new stadium will have condos, restaurants, shopping complexes, and an outdoor amphitheater. It is designed to be a year-round out-

door entertainment venue, espe-cially since baseball, unfortunate-ly, is only half a year. For more information and updates, check out www.homeofthebraves.com. The complex is expected to be open for the first pitch of the 2017 season. Another thing about the new stadium is it is going to be a lot closer to the location of the school. For me personally, that will mean a harder commute for my dad on summer nights. However, my family is still excit-ed as ever!

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By Josie Burnette

Are you going to wear green? St. Patrick’s day is coming and you don’t want to get pinched. Have you ever won-dered who St. Patrick was? Have you thought about why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? St. Patrick’s Days was first publicly celebrated in the United States in Boston, Ma. in the year 1737 (pretty early).

St. Patrick- or I should say Maewyn Succat- was born in 387 A.D. just south of the Hadrian Wall in Great Britain, a thriving part of the Roman Empire. This means that St. Patrick was not Irish. I thought that was very interesting. When he was sixteen, St. Patrick was kid-napped by Irish raiders. He was enslaved for six years until he finally escaped. When he made way back to his family he vowed to himself to one day go back to Ireland to preach Christianity. I would hate to go back to the country where I was held hostage, but if it was to spread the gospel I would be all in.

St. Patrick studied to become a priest and he soon became one. He then graduated to a bishop, next a Pope and finally an Apostle. He went from town to town preaching God. One time he preached in front of the King Laoghaire and his family. King Laoghaire did not believe, but many members of his family did. In many cit-ies he tore down idols and temples and replaced them with Catholic churches and Cathedrals. By AD 444 the first Cathedral was built in Armagh. Later in his life he wrote “Confessions” about his preaching years and Biblical stud-ies. The people he preached to loved him and so did his family. On March 17, 461 AD he died of natural causes. March 17th is now celebrated as St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick used a clover to explain the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. His pupils began wearing sham-rocks in support of his teaching, which is now a practice done throughout Ireland. All over the world, people wear green on St. Patrick’s day in memory of his preaching. The shamrock was a symbol of Ireland. The word “shamrock” means “little clover”, and they are worn by the Irish on this very special holiday.

Also, have you wondered why we wear the color green on this special day? An Irish superstition says that wearing green will make you invisible to Leprechauns so they cannot pinch you. We know that Leprechauns aren’t real, but it’s still fun.

St. Patrick was an obedient, cheerful man that should be looked up to for years to come. Everyone who knew him loved him. Today, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrat-ed all around the world in honor of St. Patrick. Don’t for-get to wear green- or else you’ll get pinched!

It’s All About the Green

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JFCA Current EventsGet Involved: Clubs at JFCAGet Involved: Clubs at JFCA

BIBLE STUDYBible Study meets every other Friday at 2:30-3:30 after school, there are Bible Studies for all ages of students. For National Honor Society it is a required activity.Bible Study Leaders:11th and 12th Boys: Thomas Nelson11th and 12th Girls: Heather Nelson9th and 10th Boys: Jeffrey Valerioti9th and 10th Girls: Brenda Kelling7th and 8th Boys: Michael Maiocco7th and 8th Girls: Kappy Memory5th and 6th Boys: John Noe5th and 6th Girls: Suzanne Campagna

LATIN CLUBLatin Club is available to all students who have taken or are taking Lat-in. Mrs. Sexton runs Latin Club and Owen Hagood is the president with Carmelo D’Urso as vice president.

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETYNational Honor Society is a program for students looking to achieve ser-vice hours for/from the school. Lisa Ryan is the adult leading the meetings, Connor Lewis is the president, and Grace Chapin is the vice president. Throughout the year, there are various events and activities for members to earn service hours and serve the community.

MUSICAL THEATERThis December, the theatre group headed by Mrs. Ceccarelli will be per-forming “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Next semester, they will begin working on Willy Wonka. The class is available to all grade levels and counts as an arts credit for high school students. Practices are on every Thursday at 9:30 AM.

PRAISE & WORSHIPPraise and Worship, or band, meets on Mondays from 11:00 to 12:30. The band plays in each of the chapel services. This class counts as a fine arts credit, and currently has 8 members. Bobby Smith, the Contempo-rary Worship Pastor at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, leads the class and hopes that each member will use the opportunity to become better musicians for the worship of God.

By Faith McCollHave you ever wanted

real, home-grown veg-etables without the cost of getting them from a farmers’ market? It is spring, after all, and I’m sure we’re all ready to be done with this long winter.

WARNING- While it is tempting to rush out to the garden store at the first sign of warm weather, please note that since we live in Georgia, there is always some kind of refreeze after the first signs of spring. To be safe, avoid planting your seeds until after Easter.

Here are some tips for starting your own gar-den:

1. Prepare a soil bed. You should start about three weeks in advance to get rid of any weeds before you plant your seeds. If you have a soil bed from a previous year, add some fresh soil and use a small shovel to mix it in with the old soil.

2. Optional- Dig a fur-row or grid to organize your plants. You don’t have to organize your

seeds, but you can if you have different kinds of seeds and you want to keep track of which type is where.

3. Water lightly before planting your seeds.

4. Plant the seeds- be sure to read the instruc-tions on the seed packet so you know how far apart to put the seeds.

5. Cover with soil. Again, the instructions on the seed packet are helpful. Some plants don’t need much dirt to cover them, but gener-ally you cover seeds with about as much dirt as their diameter.

Check out the website in the link below for more details. Happy gar-dening!

Source: http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/beginners-guide-organic-gardening

A Beginner’s Guide to Gardening