A Christmas Wish!

We just want to take a moment to wish each of you a wonder filled celebration of the gift of Jesus Christ.  We know that this time of year can be hectic, fragmented and distracting.  Hopefully you will have some time to sit and reflect on the "reason for the season".  Daily I've been reminded through my reading, interactions with people, family or situations, that I so desperately need a savior.  I need someone who can restore my relationship with my creator.  It is in the African context that I am also reminded that I don't need tacky decorations, excessive amounts of  food, token gifts, to bring peace in my life.    Don't get me wrong, I love a good Christmas meal, the time together decorating and cooking and of course a gift is always fun.  However, what I need is a savior.  After all it's not even "what" but "who" I need.  If I want peace with all of my family, friends, neighbors and community, I'm so aware that I need the gift of Christmas.  Perhaps you're like me and the idea of peace on earth (or at least in Africa) seems a pie in the sky dream.  However, if more would truly receive the gift of Christmas and live as Jesus did,... myself included, there would surely be greater peace on this earth.  I hope each of us will take the opportunity to realize the value of Christmas a little more this year and to make opportunities to give the gift of Christmas away throughout the year.  Peace!!

As I reflect back on another year of working at Rift Valley Academy (RVA), two thoughts have been impressed upon my heart.   The first ties into the photo on the left.  I took this photo while visiting a tea farm up country near Kericho.  This farm is not measured in acres but in kilometers.   It is a huge operation.  Throughout the plantation, there are large sectors for growing trees.  These trees will be harvested and burned in order to run kilns for producing delicious Kenyan tea.    Someone over 80 years ago mapped out this idea of sustainable forests and tea farm management.  Now before you think I'm going tree huger on you, there is a connection between this forest and our work at RVA.    The thought that comes to mind is seeing that we are helping to raise the next generation of workers for God's kingdom.  We must carefully plant, water, occasionally prune and of course feed these future workers.   Then, hopefully each year upon our graduation, we will be "harvesting a crop" of workers for a Kingdom that was masterfully planned before the beginning of time.    Please pray for our work with our students that we will constantly seek to prepare them for work that has eternal benefits.   Unlike the trees, we pray that no matter where our students go, that they will remain well rooted in the promises and truths of God's word.  

The second thought is that this year's graduation in July 2015 will be very different than any we have attended at RVA.  This year our son Nathaniel will be taking that ceremonious walk out of RVA.   We are excited for Nate as we walk down this path to college life for the first time.   Our family will be headed back to the United States for a brief trip to get Nate settled into college and to visit family.  We will return to RVA at the very end of August to get Evan back to his Junior year.   We are not sure at this point where Nate will be attending.  We are still in the college application process.  We also do not know where we will call home base while in the States for those brief 5 weeks. Further more, we don't know what car we will drive. We have a lot to figure out and July will be here before we know it.  We appreciate your prayers for wisdom in planning and for God's provision.  We'd love to hear from you so drop us a note through email at sataylor@rva.org

Well It's been a long time again since a post.  I have to admit that too often I feel like I'm not sure what to write.  It seems like we do the same thing every day.  I teach music, Amanda cares for the health needs of the students, our children get older (we don't of course). and life here seems pretty mundane and crazy busy all at the same time.  So I thought I'd share a little about what I've been learning in the crazy busy part.

  Amanda and I sponsor the senior class and that gives us lots of opportunities to be with these students on the verge of entering the "real world" outside RVA.  Our son Nate is in this class and we have sponsored them for the last 5 years.  We spent last evening and today making doughnuts, like 190 dozen.  pizza, burgers, hot dogs, crapes, taco sald, chicken sandwiches  and more to feed the school community. Meanwhile our sports department hosted a basketball and soccer tournament.    The fun of this is giving our students real life work experience and letting them learn how a business operates.    We get to encourage, council, and sometimes admonish our students for their work efforts.   At the end of the day, our school community gets some great food, we raised money for the Senior class safari, and the students get a chance to learn to work hard.     ( And with all those delicious doughnuts, I suppose I gained a little weight this weekend)

Meanwhile,  I realize that so often as we interact with these students it's the short conversations that make a difference.   Maybe it's me, but I feel like I need lot's of time to make a difference with students. However, this week as I met with one guy that I am discipling, I realized how I need to be really intentional even in my quick comments.   This young man shared that I had really encouraged him 2 years ago when he was in the middle of some school discipline.   I saw him as I happened to be in his dorm.  He shared that he expected that I would be judgmental of him but instead I made a short comment that he said really encouraged him.  I don't even remember seeing him in the dorm, let alone the comments.   To me it has only reminded me that each day Amanda and I need to be intentional, even in the midst of the mundane, to encourage and empower.    Please pray that we do not "grow weary in doing good" while feeling crazy busy.   We have often said that the greatest part of this job is getting to love on these kids while their parents are all over the continent of Africa sharing the love of Christ.   

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. 

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.   

Not taken for granted.

Well, it may be that you think we have been lost or have given up on web based updates but that's not true.  Honestly, I struggle to sit down and write a blog for several reasons.  Number one would be I know that my creativity in writing rivals only writers at say a Jr. High level on a Friday afternoon.  Secondly, the events that occur here seem so "everyday" to us and seem repetitious.   Thirdly, it isn't too often that I get a chunk of time to sit and type a note that is reflective and uninterrupted.    However, since it is a quiet Sunday (or was when I sat and tried to write this 3 weeks ago) evening and the kids have gotten to bed, perhaps I can write a small something worth reading and praying about in the days to come.

 I wrote the title for this blog with  a few events and circumstances in mind.   The most significant event of the term was held just last week.  It was our spiritual emphasis week, also known as SEW.  We had a guest speaker Bay Forest come speak for 5 nights to the students challenging them to think about their relationship with Jesus Christ.  His Theme was "SoUled Out".  The capital U was to emphasis that "U" need to be part of giving everything to Christ.    We saw many students stand up and make commitments to really giving their lives to Christ.   We never want to take for granted the gift that we have been given to work with Missionary kids nor do we want to assume that they are all in a right relationship with Christ.   Please pray that our students will take their relationship seriously and will seek ways to continue to grow now that the guest speaker has gone.  I am meeting with 4 guys each week.    Amanda is also meeting with one girl formally and others on a sporadic basis. We appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we interact with these students in a discipleship relationship.

The second event that makes me think about taking things for granted occurred as I spoke with our friend Steven.  His family has taken in 4 street children and hopes to someday get more.   He and I meet for prayer and encouragement once a week.   Steven thoughtfully shared with me about his youth group ( in Kenya, that's anyone in high school up to 25ish  that's not married.)   His students have  a desire to see more youth in their community learn about Christ.   They decided to use a volley ball net donated by RVA and set up a volley ball court.   What amazed me was to hear that the students would fast lunches at school so that they could same a few shillings, like 50 cents to a dollar in order to by the metal poles and concrete for polls.  They are still hoping to save money for  a  good ball.   Wow, I was challenged in how much I take for granted, but also how seriously these students take their roles in sharing Christ with their community.     In Africa,  it's easy to see things we westerners take for granted, however,  I never want to take the gift of salvation for granted.   Pray for us that we will seek ways to share our faith,  equip others to do the same, and for the parents of our students who share Christ on a daily basis through out this vast continent called Africa.

We are now in day 3 of the terrorist event in Nairobi.  It is staggering to see photos of many places that I have stood in that mall.   The most recent posts express that a few more hostages have been rescued.  It is difficult to know how long this will carry on.   These words of the national anthem here seem to be  a good prayer for today.

"Oh God of All creation, bless this our land and nation.  Justice be our shield and defender.  May we dwell in unity, peace and liberty, plenty be found within our boarders.

Thanks for your prayers.