Friday, May 16, 2014

IED’s, Illicit Brews, College choices and much much more!

I just checked our blog to see how long it has been since our last post. The answer? 3 months!

Much has happened in that time so I will attempt to bring you all up to date………..

March:

March was a difficult month for us personally. Steve’s sister Marybeth passed away after a brief and unexpected bout with cancer. We are still in shock that she is gone. Hardly having time to think about it much less grieve her passing. That is our third immediate family member to pass away this year so to just say March has been a difficult month would not suffice, this has been a difficult year with tremendous loss. 

But life must go on and go on it did! March saw us celebrate Julia’s 18th birthday! It is hard for us to grasp but our baby is now an adult! Julia is enjoying her senior year here at RVA and preparing for the next steps as she plans for her return to college in the states.

 


The dorm girls were busy also with schoolwork and SOCCER! These girls play soccer every moment they can and finally being able to play for RVA was exhilarating for them all to say the least. It kept them busy with practice and games and tired all term so they gave us no issues when it was time for lights out!

 

The end of March brought RVA’s annual cultural interim trips. This program is for 11th and 12th grade students and is a week long trip to experience different cultures in the nearby area and East African countries. This marked a new first for our family, for the first time ever the four of us were residing in four separate countries! We truly are becoming a global family. Janine remained in Kenya tending to the girls. Liz was still at Cedarville University in Ohio finishing up her second year. Julia went to Zanzibar located on the coast of Tanzania and I went to Uganda.

 

April:

 

April began with the second term break. This is the shortest term break and RVA was hosting an international Christian education conference right smack in the middle of the break. We allowed Julia to have her friends stay with us for 5 extra days at the end of term. This would be there last chance to do this as next term they will be graduating and scattering around the US quickly to continue on to college. They had much fun and we were glad they were able to enjoy each others company. After they all left for home, The conference began. Teacher from all over East Africa and even some from Germany descended on the campus. This meant opening up the dorm and being host to 12 ladies for the week. We had cool weather that week and evening tea was a chance to share about ministries in other countries such as Ethiopia, Egypt and even some of our neighboring schools here in Kenya.

 


After the conference ended, we had 10 days to catch our breath and prepare for the students return for 3rd term. During this time we worked with Julia praying about her choice for college and reaching out as she shortened her list. I can attest that trying to complete this process from half way across the world and 7 hours ahead in time proved to be a difficult task. Emails seemed to sit unanswered for days and we finally resorted to staying up late so we could call back to the schools during their business hours. FINALLY after many tears and prayers, Julia has made her decision! She will be attending the University of Delaware in the fall and she will be majoring in chemical engineering!

 
                                      
Janine and I have no idea how our ministry will change next year with Julia back in the states. The girls in the dorm look up to her and her example of hard work has been a tremendous asset to helping these young girls settle into a routine that works for them. As this year has progressed, we have seen the girls grades improve steadily as they work to improve there base of knowledge and Julia was a large part of that success.
                                             Simba Dorm 2014!
 

Speaking of not knowing what our ministry will look like…….. We have been asked to move out of Simba dorm next year and move into Suswa dorm. That means we will be leaving the junior high world and now taking over a dorm that will house twenty 11th and 12th grade girls. We will not be able to be as hands on with homework and devotions, but we will be able to help walk them through the process of college selections and career choices as well as banquets, scarfing, dating and all else that goes along with that age!

We are looking forward to the new challenges in our ministry and even the possibility of some of the Simba girls returning to our care in a few years!

 
May:

May has seen RVA swing into full swing with AP tests, rugby and volleyball seasons and all weekends jammed with social events for the students. This past week saw the campus filled with AIM homeschooling families as they brought their kids to RVA for testing and evaluation. This also brings our friends the Hamptons to campus so we get to spend some time with them.  :D

 
 May also brings Lizzy back to Kenya! She completed school on May 3rd and arrivied here on May 10th. We are so excited that she will be able to be here with us until July!

Liz jumped right in teaching environmental science to 8th graders this week. This allowed there regular teacher to assist with home school week which she has been doing for many years. Liz enjoyed it and so did the students. It is wonderful practical experience to help her with her teacher education curriculum.
 
May has also seen an increase in unrest here in Kenya. Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks in Kenya have been increased with 6 IED explosions in the past couple of weeks. The attacks are being blamed on radical Somali insurgents. They are attacking crowed areas around Kenya with two simultaneous blasts seeming to be the favorite method of attack. They attacked the bus terminal in Mombasa 2 weeks ago, two transport buses in Nairobi last week and a crowed market place in Nairobi just yesterday! Many have died and many more are injured taxing the hospitals and blood supply in this country. Pray for a peaceful resolution to this issue as too many have lost too much in these attacks.

 May also has seen the advent of a new issue here in Kenya….. Illicit Brew! It seems home made alcohol has been laced with methanol to increase the “buzz” factor. The problem? People are dying at an alarming rate from methanol poisoning! To date nearly 300 people have died and nearly 1000 have been hospitalized due to this illicit brew. It is not just one area of Kenya but has sprouted up in counties everywhere including our neighboring county of Naivasha. Please pray that these illegal brews can be identified and removed so that this epidemic will cease!

 
Speaking of hospitalization…… and this will be our last news upate! An issue that is very near and personal to us has finally arisen………prostate cancer. My family has a long history with this issue and we have been actively monitoring and testing to ensure that if it should arise, we catch it early and are proactive to eradicate it. My last series of tests did in fact come back positive for cancerous cells in the prostate.  Though cancer is a scary word, we are confident it has been identified in it’s infant stage and can be removed entirely. To that extent, I am scheduled for surgery in the next couple of weeks. All the pre-op test have come back clean so we truly have caught it very early. We are confident in the doctor’s abilities the state of the art capabilities of the hospital and in our Lord, Jesus that He is watching over me! It does mean, however, that I will be recovering from surgery for the better part of all of the balance of this term. Please pray for Janine, Liz and Julia as they process this issue and take on all of the burdens of the dorm. Pray for a good outcome to the impending surgery and a complete recovery.

 Thanks for staying in touch with our ministry. We Love you all!

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Midterm , Winter Storms, Raspberries and Protests


Hello everyone,

We wanted to drop you all a note to let you know that we are praying for you all as you endure this harsh winter and the hardships that it has brought your way. We have been following the storms, your posts and tweets and we are glad to be missing the weather but it also brings back thoughts of how much we miss you all.
                                                                   

We have reached the mid-term break of term two here at RVA. This second term is compacted into 11 weeks of rock-n-roll action. We will bring you a few of the highlights:
                        
                                                    Dorm Birthday
Second Term the girls all returned healthy and with a better understanding of what is expected from junior high students. This has led to a more harmonious dorm-life where they have settled into their dorm responsibilities and school work with more determination. Second term also means SOCCER season for the girls and they were all so excited to play!
Uncle Steve cheers the girls on!
 
Second term also means teaching Sunday school for Janine and I. We currently have 14 boys in our class and we are enjoying getting to know them as we teach the Armor of God.
                                                     Sunday School Class

Second term also means BANQUET for Julia. The junior class is busily preparing to host the seniors for what is the biggest event of the year! All students in the junior and senior classes will attend after they walk-up through the campus to the delight of all the remaining students and the entire staff. We will be sure to post pictures of Julia’s big night shortly after.
                                                    Julia and friends

Second term brings more freedom for Janine as she is more comfortable with driving here now and can go to town with the ladies and enjoy some time with them.

Second Term brings INTERIM TRIPS. The junior and senior classes are led by staff members on trips to explore different areas of Africa as well as different cultures. These trips take place just a month from now. Julia will be heading to Zanzibar to see this coastal part of Tanzania. She will experience the life of those who live by the sea as well as the Muslim culture that is well established there.  Pray for Julia and those on her trip that they will experience this culture and come away with a heart to reach these people for God’s Kingdom.

As a staff leader, I will take 11 students and two other staff members on a cross country drive to Uganda. The trip will take approximately twelve to thirteen hours if we have no problems. We will work with missionaries there as we experience there ministries to the Ugandan people. We will spend two days on an island in the center of Lake Victoria ministering alongside the staff of a Ugandan school located there. Lastly, we will experience the Nile river by rafting the four star rapids. Pray we all remain healthy as malaria is prominent here and that there are no substantial injuries from our rafting excursion. Pray also that we all experience the powerful ministries of our host missionaries and come away with a global perspective of God’s plan for this continent.
Second term also means raspberries and strawberries! The local farmers export their fruits to Europe. There problem is they cannot pick the fruits fast enough to guarantee a shelf life of 7 days so that they can be exported. We are more than happy to assist with that problem as they donate hundreds of pounds of fresh fruit weekly to our school. We are  becoming experts in preserving and altering recipes to utilize this bounty.
Second term has also brought heighted security alerts and protests to Kenya. The heightened security alerts are courtesy of our own American Intel warning the Kenyans that further terrorist attacks are imminent! Security in all public places has been increased especially at the airport where an IED has previously been deployed. The Kenyans are protesting publicly due to a higher cost of living and what they believe to be a lack of representation in government. Sound familiar?

We are now counting down the days until Lizzy returns! She will arrive back in Nairobi on May 10th. We are excited to have her return for an extended stay!

Well that concludes our mid-term update.
 
 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
 the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
 

 Steve, Janine Julia and Lizzy too.