Lightning Strikes, Camping in the Wild, and the End of Term

Today marks the end of second term. As I type, students are leaving campus, all homeward bound for a month of reunion with their families. In fact, Jeff is driving one of the buses this afternoon to the airport.
In many ways it has been a good 12 weeks. We managed to avoid the infamous "Second Term Flu Bug" that often strikes. And many things happened - sports games were played, classes were taught, and relationships built. But everyone - staff and students alike -breathes a sigh of relief when vacation hits and we can just press the pause button for a while.
One of the reasons we are SO excited for vacation is that it will mean a break from the computer crisis. Several weeks ago, lightning struck a building on campus and fried much of the computer network. Jeff and his IT team have been working around the clock (on top of the other jobs they do) repairing broken equipment. Now that things look pretty good (holding my breath), we are ready for some family time!
This past weekend, before the kids all departed, we took a group of students camping about an hour away from here. We have a group of kids that comes to our home every month for hanging out time. The group consists of 8 tenth grade boys. On Friday afternoon, we piled into two vehicles, laden with camping gear, and set out for the campsite, near my brother's property in Naivasha.
We had a blast! I wish we could have stayed longer than 1 night. Even though we did a lot of fun things, my highlight of the whole trip was the half hour before sunset. The boys had taken our kids down to the river to play. Jeff and I were setting up camp and as we puttered around, I stopped for a minute and said, "Just look around you for a moment! Drink it in!"

The pinkish blue sky over the ridge. The quietly rustling bushes. The glow of a newly built campfire. The smell of the African Plain before a rain (the rains did come the next day!). The splash of the river nearby. Oh we are so blessed to live in this amazing place!

The camping trip did not end without adventure. That night a buffalo and a hyena visited our camp. (I am glad I slept through the excitement and only heard about it in the morning!)

Here are some shots of our adventures:

Meet a modern day George Mueller

This morning Jeff called me on his way to work. He had walked past a rabbit that was in a cage near the laundry building on campus and he thought Ian would like to see it. So, about an hour later, on our way to preschool, Ian and dropped by to pet the rabbit.

She was cute as ever and Ian fed her the carrots from our garden that we brought and while he played with the rabbit, I met Stephen, owner of the rabbit and employee at the RVA Laundry department. Our conversation started lightly, "My kids love playing with the rabbit too." He admitted. He told me he had 7 children, 3 were biological and 4 were orphans they have taken in.

He and his wife felt the Lord was asking them to take in these 4 orphans from their community, but they didn't know how they would provide for them with their small house and meager income. But they stepped out in faith and story after story of God's faithful provision follows.

The story of missionary friends pitching in funds to build an extra bedroom for the kids.

The story of people rallying together to raise funds for the kids' school fees.

The story of Stephen coming home to bad news. "There is no food left." His wife tells him. But that night they have a feast of maize, after a local shop owner heard about their plight and gave them a large bag of maize.

And the story of the sick cow, who after the vet looked at her and the neighbors stopped by to offer advice, was left to die. Stephen chose to go to Church that morning instead of tending to the sick cow because he knew he should put God first. When he returned home, the cow was well and he was able to testify to his children, "It was God who healed the cow!"

"Sometimes it is very hard," Stephen paused, then smiled, "But God always provides!"

This is a modern day George Mueller and I love his story!

Fantastic Field Hockey

I had the privilege this term of coaching the Under 15 Field Hockey team. My team was comprised of 15 young ladies - in grades 7, 8 and 9. Most of them had never played field hockey before. And most of our competition was against British schools, where they start playing field hockey as early as 6 years old. So, needless to say, it was a bit intimidating. In our first game, the other coach kept apologizing as his girls scored goal....after goal....after goal. It was almost embarrassing. HOWEVER....my girls only improved with each game. Not only their skill and ball control, but their confidence and love for the sport increased as the season went on. We even had one game that was a tie!

The thing that impressed me most about this group of girls was their joy. Whether we lost big or small, whether it was raining or sunny, whether the other team was gracious or mean, they were just a joyful, cheerful group! They had so much fun at every game and I heard many comments like, "I appreciated their spirit out there!" or "They are learning and improving so much."

These girls really desired to be a testimony wherever we went. They were great about interacting with the other teams (many of the schools we play against are non Christian schools) and they were kind and polite to the referees and other coaches.

I couldn't be more proud of these ladies!

Neediness

This is a hard post to write since the tension of money is especially difficult for many missionaries, and it isn’t one we have resolved yet. We struggle with this tension every day.

When we have visitors from the US, some question how we can live with the comforts of “home” while many around us are less fortunate. We may answer that our ministry entails lots of entertaining (it does – we have students in our home all the time). Or we may say that we are in a different situation – living at an American School and ministering to very western kids – which is also true. Our ministry, unlike many other missionaries, is not primarily to nationals. We do not live in a village. We work at an American School and rub shoulders with kids who love to eat hamburgers and play video games.

However we see needs around us every day. We have Kenyan friends who are struggling to pay school fees for their kids or put food on the table. Many of our school employees walk nearly an hour to work each day. They leave a humble home that may not have electricity or running water and come to our school, which probably looks like Disney World to them.

It is a tension that is constantly on my mind. Feeling guilty. Trying to justify. Looking for ways to help, yet not wanting to create dependency. Comparing what I have to others and feeling incredibly rich (funny how I can immediately feel so poor on the other side of the ocean, though!)

We look for ways to help. We have paid school fees, medical bills, bought chickens and cows, paid for electricity to be installed, donated furniture, bought school uniforms and books, donated clothes and toys. Yet all of this is a drop in the bucket compared to all the needs we see every day. It is overwhelming.

We love to help those we know. It is frustrating to have someone show up at your door who you don’t even know and they say, “You are my friend, give me money.” In those moments, no matter how big the need, one can feel taken advantage of and used. It is hard to admit, but at times, the neediness around me is wearisome. I get tired of all the requests and pleas.

And then in the next moment, I am writing my next support letter, thanking people for giving money to our ministry, perhaps admitting that we are under-supported and need more. Ahh…neediness. It comes back to haunt me. We are all so needy.

Just as my friend Nancy said the other day, in relation to a conversation we were having about parenting, “If formulas and books completely worked, we wouldn’t rely on God.” So true. We are ever so needy. If we had all the money in the world, would we need God? If we had all the parenting good sense we needed, would we pray for guidance?

In the midst of my neediness, I am so thankful for a Savior who does not tire of my pleas and requests, but patiently listens and loves.