Purposeful Prayer

     At the beginning of each term the staff gather together, the night before all the students arrive, to have communion and to pray for the new term before us. This term, as we sat in the school chapel, with the communion bread in our hands, William - who was serving our communion- said, "Did everyone receive the bread?"
     At that moment, a voice came from the back of the chapel, "No, William, the Ndam people of Chad have not received the bread."
     Another voice rose, "No, the Gabbra people of Kenya have not heard the good news."
     And then, "No, the Didinga people of South Sudan have not received the bread of life. "
     Voice after voice. Tribe after tribe. Hundreds of thousands of people who do not know Christ. Many who have never even heard of Jesus before.
     Sure, it was cleverly scripted, but it hit home. As I participated in communion that night, I was struck by how blessed I am to know Jesus as my personal Savior, and how so many in this world do not know Him.
      Many of our students come from "CAN" countries - otherwise known as "Creative Access Nations." This means that their parents work in some of these countries where unreached people groups live. They are spreading the gospel to the people who have never heard the good news before.
     As a family, we have been praying for unreached people groups in our family devotions at night. Our mission cleverly printed off a deck of cards, with different names on each card, so we will pick one at a time to pray for.

Would you join us in praying for those who have not heard about Jesus yet?

Northern Kenya 2 Interim

Every March, the juniors and seniors at RVA scatter off in multiple directions for their interim trips. The students get to choose from a variety of trips: scuba diving, piki (motorcycle) safari, biking, reefecology, Zanzibar, Uganda, Aviation, etc.

We were privileged to lead a trip this year. It was called "Northern Kenya 2." There were two trips to the northern part of Kenya, so that is why we were the second group.

We had a great group of 13 students, and one other leader. We had a fabulous week of mountain climbing, viewing animals, seeing the local Samburu culture, playing football (soccer) with kids, white water rafting, rock climbing, kayaking, etc.

This year, I had to conquer some fears. Ever since a tragic (and fatal) accident with an RVA student and a crocodile in 1989, I have been afraid of something like that happening to me. I was in 6th grade when that accident happened, but things like that stay with you forever.

When we had to get in the river to whitewater raft, I was terrified! Even though our river guides assured us there were no crocodiles, it didn't help calm me. Thankfully, I was able to overcome that fear and jump in to the water (and jump back into the raft quickly, I might add!). But it was a good thing to not let fear rule.

I was really proud of our kids too. Some of them had to dig really deep to get to the top of the mountain, or to climb in that raft, or to slide down the hill into the river in a kayak, and they did it too!
It was a great week overall and we are so thankful to have been a part of it.

one of the best highways in Kenya...

Mt. Ololokwe - we climbed up to the top!

We were fortunate to see a lioness one evening, and a cheetah (but it was too fast for us to capture on film!)

conquering fears on the raft!

our amazing group of kids

hanging out with the kids at the village

our whole group

Wrapping up Term Two

We are nearly to the end of our second school term. These are our summer months and we have enjoyed warmer weather, lots of sunshine, meals and tea times on the porch, and hanging our clothes on the line to dry!

This term has been full and busy...yet fun!

A highlight of this term has been coaching field hockey (Joyellen). I got to coach with my good friend, Kylie and we really enjoyed our 17 girls. They were not only sweet, teachable and talented, but their hearts were in the right place. At the end of every game, win or lose, they huddled together, put their sticks in a circle, and sang, "Glory to God." We couldn't have been more proud of them! (And we finished 3rd in a very challenging league as well, so we were pleased!)

In late January, our mission hosted a ladies retreat in Nairobi. A team from Iowa came out to minister to us. I was able to attend and enjoy a wonderful time connecting with other missionary women, being fed spiritually, and being pampered! I only took one picture of the weekend, and it is rather silly, but here are a group of ladies showing off our new socks that came in our goody bags from the Iowa Team! Thanks for blessing us, "Team Zebra!"

One random "we-live-in-Kenya" moment came this term when Jeff and I had to go to Nairobi to renew our "alien registration" cards. These cards basically say that we are foreigners who live in Kenya and they are important documents for us to use in our transactions here. Every 2-3 years we need to renew them. Usually, they keep the same picture and renew your fingerprints, but this time they wanted new pictures. Here was our awesome photobooth. Gotta love this country! 

Another huge event during second term is the Junior/Senior Banquet. The juniors plan, build, and put on a formal banquet for the seniors. It is really more of a dinner theatre, complete with a set, a drama, and a formal dinner. The students look forward to this for years. I got a little choked up, watching my niece walk up to banquet, all dressed up, realizing she has been watching this tradition since she was in preschool and her turn had finally come. Someday, all too soon, my kids will be old enough to attend this too. Here is a picture of my hockey girls, all dressed up! (The ones on the right are sophomores, who served at the banquet.)

Ian just celebrated his 7th birthday with a Lego Ninjago Party. I know, crazy what they come up in Lego World. Basically a Ninja Lego. The best way to pull off a kids' birthday party here? Invite some very cool senior boys to be  Ninja Masters and teach the 1st graders some moves. It was a huge hit! The boys were in awe of these two...

This weekend, Jeff is leading a Transition Seminar for seniors. This seminar walks the kids through what it looks like to leave well, have meaningful good-byes, and then the process of transitioning to a new place. Our seniors have a few short months until they will be scattered all over the world. 

Next week, we head to take a group of 13 juniors and seniors to Northern Kenya for a week. We will learning about the Samburu culture, playing some football (soccer) with the kids up there, and having a few adventures! 

House of Hope Home Outreach Day

This past Saturday, we had the joy of visiting House of Hope Home in Naivasha. It was Outreach Day at RVA, so we were not the only ones traveling. We had over 300 students involved in various service projects - painting, building, collecting firewood, sports outreach, visiting orphanages, and encouraging people in our community.
Our particular group had 20 students, plus our family. We enjoyed a morning at the home, playing with the kids and helping the "mamas" in the kitchen.

The "mamas" at the home work so tirelessly and cheerfully - handwashing clothes and sheets, peeling and chopping fruit and vegetables, and loving the children. We helped to sort and pick the maize (corn) while we were there. 

We brought some foam noodles to play with and the kids loved them. :) They loved chasing after Jeff!

Our students played noodle war, frisbee, and a game with the stretchy lycra tube (purple thing in the background) with the kids.

Megan brought nail polish along and the girls loved having a spa day on the porch

Some of the kids painted our students' nails too - one girl ended up with about 7 layers of nail polish on her fingernails!

The kids were sweet and helpful. After we cleaned up the games, we served juice and mandazi (African donuts) that we had brought from school.

Term Two...some things old, and some things new

We just finished the first week of term two. So far, we are off to a great start! We are in our "summer season" right now, which I know drives all of you in the US crazy. We hear tales of snow days and blizzards and we are wearing tank tops and shorts right now. I know....it doesn't seem fair!

This term we have some of our "old" responsibilities - dean of students (Jeff), elementary student support (me) but we have a few new things too. I handed over the high school art class to another teacher this term. It was bittersweet - but with the addition of coaching Varsity field hockey in the afternoons, it was a good move. We are both going to be teaching  Sunday School this term as well.

Since I am up in "Titchie-Land" (the elementary school) I help out with the weekend activities as well. Tonight, we had a bunch of kids over for crafts and cupcake decorating. It was a fun evening. We sent the kids home all sugared up (I am sure their parents were pleased!)

Tomorrow we head out to House of Hope Orphanage for our outreach day. We'll be sure to take pictures and keep you posted!

The Month of December

When people visit us at RVA, we often hear, "I could never keep up this schedule." or "You guys are sure busy!" And that is true....for three months at a time. But thankfully, we get a month off in between each of our three-month school terms.

I remember our first year on staff at RVA and we didn't know how to pace ourselves. By the time we got to week 9 or 10 in the term, we weren't sure if we would make it to week 12 as we felt weary from the busy schedule of term.

We have now learned to pace ourselves - 12 weeks of wonderful, crazy busy-ness and then a blessed month of rest - continuing that cycle year round.

This December we have had the privilege of hosting Jeff's parents. They have pitched in and jumped on board with  our life here - helping us end the busy school term, and enjoying some much needed family time and rest during our month off.

We have been able to do a lot of fun things this break - including a trip to the coast, hosting our annual Christmas meal for our Kenyan friends, spending time with family out in Malewa, and Christmas activities here on campus. We are also trying to re-charge our batteries for next term.

Here a few snapshots of our month (if you want to see more, find us on facebook!)

visiting the Christmas craft fair with friends

our annual Christmas feast

Building a sandcastle at the coast

Family - such a blessing

All Good Things Must Come to an End....

...and that includes a great first term of school!

We have packed a lot of activity into this first term.

Actually, just this HALF term!

Last month, we celebrated Multi - Cultural Day. A beautiful day of watching cultures blend. As a school, our students hail from over 20 different countries. And that is just what is written on their passport. Many of them claim an African country as home. Our students are truly a diverse group!

Later that month, we attended Carnival - RVA's version of Halloween. The kids dress in costumes and play games and eat candy. A pretty fun night! I love the tradition of the high school kids "adopting" the elementary kids and calling them "little brother and little sister." This event was geared towards the big kids dressing up and hanging out with the little ones.

Here is our Megan with her "big sister" - also named Megan! They dressed up as M$M's and won a prize for the most creative costume!

And Ian and his big brother dressed up as the rat and the chef from Ratatouille. So cute!

Lyndsey and her big sister dressed up as Masai girls. They were adorable. 

A few weeks ago, our On Field Media team at  Africa Inland Mission launched their first feature length film, A Distant Boat. Oh my word. It was amazing! If you have a chance to check it out, please do - it is definitely worth the watch. One perk of being an administrator is that we got to attend the premier showing, in Nairobi, as representatives of RVA (along with our good friends). Such a cool privilege!

Here is the link:

http://distantboat.com/

This last weekend we had two fun events. The first was Pinewood Derby. This was the 40th PWD here. Talk about a cool tradition! I love how many kids participate in this fun day - building and racing cars. Our whole family raced cars and when we weren't racing, we were cheering on our students! 

And last, but not least, as we wrap up this term, a lot of fun parties were taking place. Our cousin Emily brought her dorm girls over Saturday night for a bonfire and s'mores. We had so much fun hanging out the girls. As I sat around the fire with them, listening to them play the guitar and sing worship songs, I was reminded of how lucky we are to serve here at RVA. It is truly an amazing place.