Can you believe we've been back in Kenya more than a year. I can't believe it has been so long to write an update. I will keep this short but share several bits of news.
I just posted a note that I actually wrote in January but realized I never published it. So there is some info in that message.
Let me share a few highlights.
February brought about the great event of Junior/Senior Banquet. The junior class that we sponsored did a great job of producing a play, live music, food for 182 people, and cleaning it all up and getting the hall back to normal all in the Month of February. We were grateful for the way that this event brought about leadership, teamwork, unity, confidence and maturity in our students.
March saw us conclude another term with concerts, ice cream and cake party for my 135 students in 7-12th grade. We had many a junior through our house for the prayer breakfasts. Amanda concluded the term with making sure that all the junior and seniors were healthy after their interim trips around Kenya and that they actually took all the meds and shots they needed. You can always pray for safe travel as students and their families come and go.
April was mostly time to get ahead for planning for the next term and for professional growth. We hosted a 4 day conference here for Christian educators from all around the continent. There were some great workshops and lectures that really helped us to be fired up for school beginning the end of this month. I personally was challenged to think how can I be as intentional as possible about building up my students and moving them towards Christ. I see 90-140 students depending on the day. I am meeting with 4 weekly for discipleship which is a blessing to me.
May has been all about Senior physicals for Amanda and arranging appointment's for students who needed to see a series of visiting doctors. Not to mention meeting with and encouraging girls in our junior class. I have been spending lots of time getting the arrangements for band tour all set up. We will be doing 6 concerts in 3 days during the weekend of May 30-June 1st. We will play for somewhere around 2,500 people and look forward to sharing our message of how God can use broken vessels and that God restores.
Please pray for us as this is a very busy weekend, and week leading up to it. See our prayer requests tab for more info. Check out our photos tab too for updates on our family activities.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Happy New Year!
We hope that this new years day finds you well and blessed. We are grateful for the opportunities that New Year's Eve and Day bring for us to reflect back and to look ahead.
As we reflect back on the past year, we see God's abundant goodness in a variety of venues. In January last year, we began the transitioned through the loss of my Dad. We started to take steps back into "normal life" with the help of so many friends. The following months saw our schedule busy with visiting so many wonderful friends and being blessed with new friendships as well. God's goodness was seen in our safety in travel, reliable cars, wonderful housing, special memories and the blessings of family and friends. After seeing God's people meet our support shortage, we were able to head back to Kenya after what seemed to be a short time back. We said our tearful goodbyes to family but again, we've seen God provide friends to come along side of us and my mom. We weren't to sad to say goodbye to all the attractions of American food and the weight that we were gaining.
Life back at RVA has been pretty much normal daily life of working with Missionary Kids, (MK's) and being involved in our Kenyan community. Balancing these two is sometimes a source of serious tension as we always want to do more but we are grateful for God's provision of resources and strength. As we get older, I think I feel the need for more strength and energy while living and working with so many school age kids. We saw another group of students head out into the "real world" as of Last July and were encouraged by this class was seeking God's glory and to be His ambassadors. God's provision saw one of my music student's unexpected acceptance into a music school in Korea. That story is a long one but it was exciting to see this young lady see God's hand and answered prayers. This May 2014, we saw 3 other students receive good scholarships for music.
New years is also a chance to look forward. We are looking forward to new relationships, new opportunities and new adventures. For the sake of time, I'll write more on these later. May your new year be full of all these but may they be centered in the goodness of God.
We hope that this new years day finds you well and blessed. We are grateful for the opportunities that New Year's Eve and Day bring for us to reflect back and to look ahead.
As we reflect back on the past year, we see God's abundant goodness in a variety of venues. In January last year, we began the transitioned through the loss of my Dad. We started to take steps back into "normal life" with the help of so many friends. The following months saw our schedule busy with visiting so many wonderful friends and being blessed with new friendships as well. God's goodness was seen in our safety in travel, reliable cars, wonderful housing, special memories and the blessings of family and friends. After seeing God's people meet our support shortage, we were able to head back to Kenya after what seemed to be a short time back. We said our tearful goodbyes to family but again, we've seen God provide friends to come along side of us and my mom. We weren't to sad to say goodbye to all the attractions of American food and the weight that we were gaining.
Life back at RVA has been pretty much normal daily life of working with Missionary Kids, (MK's) and being involved in our Kenyan community. Balancing these two is sometimes a source of serious tension as we always want to do more but we are grateful for God's provision of resources and strength. As we get older, I think I feel the need for more strength and energy while living and working with so many school age kids. We saw another group of students head out into the "real world" as of Last July and were encouraged by this class was seeking God's glory and to be His ambassadors. God's provision saw one of my music student's unexpected acceptance into a music school in Korea. That story is a long one but it was exciting to see this young lady see God's hand and answered prayers. This May 2014, we saw 3 other students receive good scholarships for music.
New years is also a chance to look forward. We are looking forward to new relationships, new opportunities and new adventures. For the sake of time, I'll write more on these later. May your new year be full of all these but may they be centered in the goodness of God.
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