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Tripoli is a licensed clinical social worker and licensed professional counselor. As spiritual leader, he oversees that academics and programs are in line with Biblical principle at the school.
On Fridays, he either leads students with contagious enthusiasm during chapel, or organizes mission days, where First Love students go out into the community to serve at nursing homes or take part in mission projects.
Tripoli said he grew up in Washington in a family of six brothers and six sisters. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh and also attended West Virginia University. After graduating, for six years he worked in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Md., as a rehabilitation specialist.
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“Those were dark times,” Tripoli said. “With the mortgage payments and car payments and two kids and a wife, it was scary.” However, he said it was this challenge that pushed him into counseling full time, and ever since, his practice in Washington has continued to grow.
Tripoli heard about First Love and had some acquaintances at the school. At times, he would drop in for a visit.
“Last year,” he said, “I was walking through the halls and I thought, ‘You know, I feel like I should work here!’ So I walked in and I asked Professor (Kathleen) Miller and Mrs. (Zonie) Jackson, ‘God just told me I need to work here.’ And both looked at me and said, ‘We were both just praying for that same exact thing!’”
Miller, a teacher and administrator at First Love Christian Academy, said she already has seen the affects of Tripoli’s influence at the school. “It is so important for our youth to see a strong male spiritual leader,” she said. “In this culture, everything goes. Once again, God has provided the needs for His school. We are blessed.”
One of the more unique things that First Love Academy students and Tripoli participate in include mission days and Mission Fridays.
Last year, First Love had a mission day in which the kids helped with flood repair and served at Resurrection Power, an outreach center, and Adult Training Facility, a rehabilitation center. This year, there was a “Matthew 25:40” mission day in August and another mission day is scheduled for the end of this year, along with Mission Fridays, which take place during the final class period every other Friday at school.
“We’re letting people know that it is extremely important to serve others, and to humble ourselves to the level of a servant as Christ did for us,” Tripoli said.
Tripoli argues that it is as important for us to serve as it is for people to be served, and that we can all do more to serve.
“When you consider all the riches of this country, we have and don’t use to help people, it’s sin,” he said. He also believes that humbleness is crucial.
“We can’t take pride or credit for what we own,” he said. “We invent nothing, everything we have is complete ‘rentership!’ You have to appreciate what’s been given to you. We are doomed to fail if we live to please ourselves.”
As for his vision for the school, Mr. Paul sees First Love as becoming a center of arts, education and culture, and a Christian spiritual center.
First Love Christian Academy wishes to provide this opportunity to students as it continues to grow.
To contact First Love Christian Academy, visit www.FirstLoveChristianAcademy.com or call (724)-228-3547(FLHS).
