It was an act of her birth mother’s love that ultimately led Natanila (Nati) Agentis to Lehigh Christian Academy (LCA), where Christ’s love is the heartbeat of the school.

Natanila was one of four graduates composing the school’s Class of 2021, and the school’s commencement exercises June 4 at Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship Church in Allentown is a world away from her native Ethiopia, where, she says, “God saved my life.”

Natanila was being raised in Ethiopia by her mother, Meseret Teshome, and her grandpa. After he passed away when Natanila was in second grade, her mother faced severe financial hardships, struggling to pay for food and her daughter’s school. She also faced a cancer diagnosis.

Though young, Natanila saw her mother toiling to provide for her daughter.

“It was the worst year for me,” Natanila says.

So the young girl did something she thought would help – for six months she only drank water and ate very little to help save her mother money.

“If I was hungry, I’d take a nap, so it didn’t matter if I was hungry or not,” Natanila says. “I locked myself in a dark room. I had a broken heart.”

It was at this point Natanila credited God with saving her life. Her mother got her to a hospital, where she almost died. The doctor and his wife were very kind to her, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was very supportive and became like a home to her.

Unbeknownst to Natanila, her mother had started the process to give her daughter a better life. She was placed in an orphanage for two and a half years. Across the Atlantic, Nate and Melanie Agentis of Bethlehem started the paperwork to adopt her in 2014, but since it is a long process, she didn’t arrive here until July 4, 2017.

Natanila was welcomed into the Agentis family, which includes the couple’s other children Lola, Logan, Riley, Mayzee and August.

“Bethlehem is nice. I like walking and seeing people,” Natannila says. “We have a nice big yard where I play with my siblings, and I also take them to the park.”

Natanila began her education here in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at Northampton HS, where she was enrolled for her first two years in the United States. In the fall of 2020, she joined all her siblings at LCA, which has held in-person classes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Natanila said she never thought she’d be able to go to a Christian school because of the ESL program, but LCA also offers the program.

“When I first came to LCA, I was so nervous. I didn’t know how I’d connect with people,” Natanila admits. “In the public school, I sat in the back of the library, but here I’m more connected with people.”

Natanila was in the chorus at LCA, as she had been in public school. She wanted to play basketball at LCA, but chose not to so she could concentrate on her studies. Natanila previously participated in gymnastics locally and says, “I dream to go back.”

Natanila has been very happy at LCA. As her education in Ethiopia was limited, she says, “God brought me back to school.”

Melanie Agentis said Natanila faced challenges because her education in Ethiopia was curbed, but she not only met those challenges but triumphed over them with hard work and, as Melanie says, “the awesome team of people that have helped her to achieve those milestones” in her educational journey.

“The thing I like best here is Chapel Wednesdays,” Natanila says, “when students and teachers share and ask people to pray for them. The teachers really connect with the kids. We share what’s going on,”

“We call it fellowship – to be here and care for one another,” says John Moser, director of development, of Chapel Wednesdays.

“We accentuate character at this school,” Moser continues. “It’s not a list of do’s and don’ts, but Biblically looking at what a godly man or woman is like.”

“Natanila’s smile lights up the room, and joy oozes out of her,” Moser says, adding that it’s been beautiful to see her “transformation and reclamation.

“She’s going to be tough to lose,” he says. “She may think others have had a big impact on her, and that may be true, but she has had a massive impact on us here.”

Natanila’s birth mother, Meseret, remains in Ethiopia. Though it still hurts Natanila to lose her, they keep in touch by phone.

The graduate’s future plans?

“I want to go to college and study nursing to help people,” Natanila says.

“Natanila certainly is a very fortunate young lady having been through a difficult childhood,” Moser says, “but we are sure many good things are in store for her.”