Prayer is woven into the fabric of life at Portland Adventist Academy.
Every class period begins with prayer. Students lead out in prayer regularly. They even created a prayer locker where anyone can drop a request, knowing their peers will gather those names and needs and bring them before God each week. At PAA, prayer is not a formality. It's a foundation.
This spring, that foundation showed up in one of the most beautiful ways. In May, PAA's boys volleyball team made history, winning the first-ever OSAA-sanctioned Boys Volleyball State Championship. No one can ever take that away from them, and the victory was thrilling — the kind of moment you replay in your mind for years.
However, the moment that will stay with everyone the longest came right after the final point and the end of the game.
The players walked across that gym floor, put their arms around their opponents and prayed with them — state champions still catching their breath, choosing humility and grace before they chose celebration.
One PAA parent called it a powerful display of sportsmanship, humility and Christ-centered leadership. Winning is remarkable, but honoring others in the moment of victory reflects something deeper. That is the spirit PAA is building.
Then came graduation weekend.
Immediately after commencement, PAA seniors led the way to the north lawn to celebrate with family and friends. Before the hugs and the photos, they stopped, pulled into a tight circle and sang "Sanctuary" together one final time. Then they asked Stephen Lundquist, PAA Bible teacher, to pray over them, blessing them as they stepped into whatever God has next.
Nobody told them to do that. They just knew.
That is what prayer looks like when it becomes part of who you are rather than something you were told to do. It shows up on a championship gym floor. It shows up on a graduation lawn. It shows up in the quiet act of a student unfolding a small piece of paper from a locker and bringing someone's need before God.
PAA is building more than students; it's building people who pray.
PAA's boys volleyball team put their arms around their opponents and pray with them.
Each week, students pray over their peers' requests dropped in the prayer locker.
PAA is developing people who pray.
At PAA, prayer is not a formality; it's a foundation.
