Serving in September

1 Peter 4:10-11

"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."

John and I believe we are using the gifts God gave us to serve at RVA.  Through our pictures of serving in September, you can see how we are using our gifts to teach and host students. 

Big and Little Night

The "Big" Junior High and High School students are matched with a "little" Titchie student.  Several times a term, the Bigs and Littles meet for games and fellowship.  Below you see Bigs and Littles playing games in the library.  

Gracie loves to spend time together with her Big and watch her play basketball.

Ruthie has had lunch with her Bigs several times this term.  She loves spending time with them!  One of her Bigs was in John's sixth grade class in 2018/19.

Open House

Titchie Swot, the elementary school, hosted an Open House.  Parents were invited to visit school at any time during the day.  In Third grade, John encouraged parents to come during reading and writing time so they could read the students' stories and listen to them read.  

Since Mom and Dad are Ruthie and Gracie's teachers, they invited family to the Open House. 

 Gracie invited Aunt Missy, a Titchie Dorm mom and our friend. 

Ruthie invited Aunt Shelly.  

We our blessed to have John's twin brother and his wife serving with us at RVA!

Titchie Field Day

The Elementary hosts a field day the third weekend of 1st term. This year the them was "Pirates".  Classes rotated around the field to various games.  

Becky ran the buried treasure game and John rang the bell to signal when students switched games.  Below you can see Ruthie and Gracie running to the pile of dirt to dig for buried gold.

Ruthie and Gracie loved the tug of war.  The last event of the morning was teachers vs. the sixth grade students. It was a fun morning with friends!

Titchie Sunday

The Elementary students lead worship on Titiche Sunday.  After they sang several songs, the Littles invited their Bigs up to sing "My Lighthouse" with them.  The Titchie's taught their Bigs the motions to the song.

High School Tournament Night- Bunco

Each weekend, staff host various activities and events for students.  On tournament night, we hosted Bunco.  We had six students sign up and with our two girls, we had two tables for Bunco.  It was a slow start, but once the students understood how to play, we had a lot of fun.  We served the high school students popcorn, brownies, and ice cream.  We had prizes for the most buncos, most wins, and most losses.  

Titchie Activity- Decorating Cookies

Each weekend, staff sign up to host various Titchie events.  On one of the venue nights, Shelly and Becky hosted ten students to decorate fall cookies.  John hosted 14 students and played street hockey.

                            Uncle James helped too!

6th Grade Reunion Pancake Dinner

When we were at RVA in 2018, John taught 6th grade and we invited his students to our home for pancake dinners each term.  His students are now Juniors and there are about 20 of his 34 6th grade students still at RVA.  In September, we hosted a reunion pancake dinner.  We used 16 cups of flour to make pancake batter to feed the hungry students.  

You can see that Ruthie and Gracie love chatting with the students when they visit.

Ruthie loved spending time with her Big!

In our August blog, we mentioned that last week was SEW (Spiritual Emphasis Week).  The speaker was a former RVA student, who currently works for YWAM in the Middle East.  During SEW, a number of high  school students turned to Christ for the first time or rededicated themselves to Him.  John was able to share with the elementary students, and one of them also turned to Christ for the first time. Please pray that the students will continue to grow in their relationship with God and pray that the RVA staff will have wisdom as they help guide the students.

Our Elementary Principal, Katy, and her husband Peter, RVA Superintendent, shared some hard news with us on Friday.  Due to ongoing struggles, it has been recommended that Katy return to their home country for extensive care and rest for the remainder of the school year.  She and her husband will leave this December and plan to return the RVA in August 2024.  Please pray for Katy and Peter's hearts and minds as they complete this school term and prepare to return to Scotland. Their two high school sons will continue here as boarding students.  Please pray for the leadership team as they make decisions and move forward in the absence of the Superintendent and Elementary Principal.

Thank you for praying with us! Please let us know how we can be praying for you!

In the Name of the Savior We Serve,

John, Becky, Ruthie and Gracie

Off and Running!

We have been in Kenya now for 10 weeks.  Last week, we were on mid-term break.  It's hard to believe that we are at the half way mark with our time at RVA.  It has been a busy term!  We'll use pictures to help show you what we have been up to since school started. There are too many for one blog post!  We'll just share our August events/activities, then post September's in the next post.  

August, 2023

First Day of School and Welcome Assembly

We had an all school assembly (grades K-12) in Centennial on the first day of school.  We sang worship songs together and the Superintendent spoke.  Then, students carried in flags to represent the different countries that our students are from and serve at. It was amazing to see all the different flags and hear their national anthems.  

Friday Flag Raising 

On Fridays, the whole school meets at the flag pole for Flag Raising.  We sing the Kenyan National Anthem in English and Swahili.  Then someone speaks during an outdoor chapel time.

3rd Grade

John is enjoying teaching third grade.  He is teaching Bible, math, the Daily 5 (read to self, read to a partner, writing, mini reading lesson, word work), CAFE, spelling, history and science.  In history, they just finished discussing the Black Plague and Joan of Arc. History is John's favorite subject to teach!  The third graders attend music, art, PE, computer class, and visit the library throughout the week.

Reading Class

Becky is teaching small reading groups and is helping the third graders during math class.  She has Ruthie and Gracie each day and they are working on completing the 3rd level of All About Reading.  Becky also pulls two second graders to help them with their reading and writing skills. Below you can see a colobus monkey watching our reading class.  Maybe he wants to learn to read, too!

Church and Praying for Unreached People Groups

On the first Sunday of the month, the school walks out the main gate and across the street to attend the English service at the African Inland Church.  We sing many songs and the Pastor shares a message.

On the other Sundays of the month, we attend church at the Centennial Building across the street from the house we are staying at on the RVA Campus.  During the service, a grade level shares about an unreached people group in Africa.  We pray for the people group and the missionaries working in that area. 

Dorm Cover

Dorm Parents have someone cover their dorm once a week so they can have a night off.  James and Shelly were filling in for the elementary girls' dorm parents the first two weeks of school.  One night, we gave them a break and spent a school night with the girl boarding students.  John led dorm devotions and Becky served a snack.   Becky stayed after snack to help the girls with study hall and the bedtime routine.  It's a fun group of 5th and 6th grade girls!

John is leading the devotion.

Ruthie and Gracie loved spending time with the girls!

Snack time!

Lunch with Students

On Fridays, we pack our lunch and eat at the elementary school.  Many of the third grade students join us. We love sharing stories and time with these amazing kids!

Titchie Hunt

On the weekends, the staff organize activities for the students.  On one of the first weekends of the term, the elementary school has a Hunt.  The teachers hide somewhere in Titchie Bounds (the area around school that the kids can play) and the students try to find them.  The teachers have candy to hand out to the  successful Titchie's.

John is serious about his hiding.  He likes to blend in with the trees.  He hid in a spot that kids could find him if they looked hard enough.  If they were struggling to spot him, then he made a noise to help them.

August kept us busy with a variety of activities!  Soon, we'll share pictures with our adventures in September.

This week, we have had Spiritual Emphasis Week.  A worship team from our friends' church in PA came to lead music.  Our speaker this year is an RVA Alum.  He was also one of John's sixth grade students!  It has been fun to connect with Caleb Bannister and to hear him speak to the student's about his walk with Christ.  We have seen the Holy Spirit move among the students this week, which has been great fun to witness. 

The elementary students are too young to attend Spiritual Emphasis Week with the High Schoolers, so they had their own praise and worship service Saturday night, October 14th. John was able to share his testimony with the kids, and one of the sixth graders gave their life to Christ! 

Prayer Requests: 

1. Pray for the students as Spiritual Emphasis Week wraps up. Pray for the hearts of the kids as they attempt to apply what they have learned to their own lives. Pray our own girls will grow in their faith also.

2. Pray for John to have wisdom in teaching third grade and that he would be able to encourage the kids in their academics and even more in their faith. 

3. Pray for us as a family as we seek to serve well here in Africa. Our time is short and we want to be wise about how we use the time left to invest in the students here at Rift Valley Academy. 

May God bless each of you as you serve in all the places He has planted you!

In the love of the Savior we Serve, 

John, Becky, Ruthie, and Gracie

  

Meet the Teacher

 Greetings from Kijabe!  The boarding students have arrived and school starts on Monday!  Today we could hear students playing on the field across the street and saw many students while we walked around campus.  

John first came to teach at RVA in 1999.  This is his 13th year teaching at RVA but this school year will be a year of firsts for him.  This is the first time he has taught third grade at RVA, the first time he has had children enrolled at RVA, and the first time he has had his own children in his class!  He is excited to get the school year started!

On Saturday, the elementary school hosted a new student orientation and meet the teacher.  John has thirteen students in his class.  Most of the students live on campus while their parents work at RVA.  Some of the students live just below the school and their parents work at the hospital or Bible college in Kijabe.  One of the new students we met on Saturday has parents who have worked with John's brother, Tim, when he worked at the Mission Hospital in Kijabe.  Myrick isn't a common name and the boy's parents quickly made the connection!

Our girls are excited and a little nervous about school starting and with being in their Dad's class.  I'm thrilled that the girls will have my favorite teacher!  If you have ever seen John in action, then you know he is a gifted teacher.  He is passionate about learning and his enthusiasm is contagious!  We can't wait to see how God uses John to help our girls learn these next 13 weeks.

The girls and their third grade teacher, Mr. Myrick.

The school provides the school supplies.  

We brought a box of Crayola Crayons for each student in John's class.

Gracie has already found some cat books in the class library.

Ruthie is looking for some of her favorite books in the classroom library,

This is a cozy reading area.

Mrs. Hazard, the teacher John is filling in for, has left fabulous anchor charts.  She also left all of the bulletin boards up.  It has made the transition much easier for John.

John found this cute welcome sign and added the students' names to the door.  The classrooms are side by side and the doors open up to the sidewalk outside.

As we prepare for school to start tomorrow, we have a few prayer requests:

Please pray for our girls and their adjustment to school.

Please pray for wisdom and patience for the teachers, dorm parents, and staff as we start the new school year. 

Please pray that John will be able to plan and organize his lessons to fit the needs of the third graders.

Please pray for rain.  Since we have been here, it has only rained a few times.  Everything is dry and the local families need rain for their crops to grow.

Thank you for your prayers and support!  Feel free to comment below and let us know if you have any questions or prayer requests.  

We will let you know how our first week goes!

Blessings,

Becky (and John, Ruthie, & Gracie)