Christmas in Kijabe, Kenya

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
John 3:16   
 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  RVA has been on break since the end of November and we have been catching up on our sleep, enjoying family time, and celebrating the birth of our Savior.   
Here are some pictures to show what we have been doing in December:

Decorating the Kijabe Hospital

We hung balloons, streamers, and decorated trees.

Shopping in Kijabe for our last Christmas Gift

John was looking for a pair of shoes. One shoe from each pair was strung on string.  Once you found which one you wanted, the owner would find the match in the bag (shown above).

Hand Cookies with Uncle Dan, the Wagners, and Uncle James' family

Cousin Abby helping Ruthie

Cousin Abby helping Gracie cut out her hand cookie.

James and Shelly with their decorated cookies.

Rachel, Abby, and Becky

Cousin Lizzy with Gracie singing Christmas Carols with RVA

Ruthie with Daddy 

Getting ready to sing Christmas Carols at RVA with Cousin Levi, Ruthie, and Uncle Dan.

We are ready for the Gingerbread House Contest with our RVA Family.

One of our favorite Gingerbread Houses....Noah's Ark

Our girls counting down the days until Christmas!

During the break, the girls loved spending time with their cousins!

The girls cut out Christmas sugar cookies with Daddy's help.

We tried something new this year when decorating the cookies.  We painted on the thin icing.  The girls loved that they could put the icing on themselves and added many sprinkles!

The girls remember sledding last year when it snowed on Christmas Eve.  So we took them "sledding" the Kijabe way!  We cut a box in half and the girls quickly slid down the steep hill.  

On Christmas Eve, we sang Christmas Carols at the hosptial.  Our group of about 15 sang to the patients in Casualty (emergency room).  We had our family picture taken under the decorations we had helped put up several weeks before.

On Christmas Eve we hosted dinner and dessert with our family.  Then John read the Christmas Story from the Bible to the girls, we hung our stockings, and left cookies with milk for Santa.

On Christmas Morning at 6 am, it was still Christmas Eve in Missouri.  We sang Christmas Carols with Becky's Dad, her brother and his family, and cousins.  Then we opened Christmas presents and had brunch with John's twin brother and his family.  In the afternoon we went for a Christmas Day hike around campus and enjoyed the warm Kijabe December weather.

Our family in Missouri.  We hooked up the computer to our TV so we could skype and sing Christmas carols with them.  We were grateful for the strong internet connection at 6 am so we could share this time with our family.

We have enjoyed our break!  On January 2 and 3 we have staff meetings and the students return for term 2 on Saturday, January 5.  Classes resume on January 7.  Please pray for safety as the students travel back to campus.  John will drive a bus on Saturday to pick up some of the students flying in. 
Please pray for the staff and students for the start of another term.  Students will be adjusting again to life at a boarding school and the staff will be preparing their lessons and activities. 
John will continue teaching Grade 6 and Becky will be teaching preschool again.  Ruthie and Gracie have missed seeing their friends several days a week.  We will be ready to get back into a routine again and look forward to Becky's friend visiting in February over mid-term. 

Thank you for your prayers!  We pray that the New Year will bring you joy in the blessings from God.

Happy 2019!

Love,
The Myricks

John, Becky, Ruthie, and Gracie

Multicultural Day 2018

Once a school year we take a day to celebrate the different cultures represented at Rift Valley Academy.  This year we started Multicultural Day with the flag ceremony.  We had 27 countries represented and the oldest student(s) on campus representing that country has the privilege to carry the flag to the stage and greet everyone in that country's language.  We ended the ceremony by singing the Kenyan National Anthem. 

We wore our red, white, and blue!  

27 different flags to represent the 27 different countries our staff and students are from.

Then on to the Amazing Race, our theme for this year.  Students were matched with their little sisters/brothers and worked in groups to follow clues and complete different roadblocks and detours before they made it to the "pit stop".

We were in charge of the International Foods stop.  As groups arrived they had a choice to make, "Bland or Brave".  If they chose bland, then their task was to have a member of the team eat a bowl of rice in 45 seconds.  If they chose brave, then the group would pick two people to spin the wheel.  The wheel determined which international food the lucky two would try and as a group they would decide which country the food was from (we gave them four to pick one from).  We were amazed by how easily some of the foods were recognized.  Just by the taste of the spices of the chutney several groups were able to quickly pick Pakistan as the correct country.  We were impressed by the students' skills and loved working this stop.

Bland- a student tries to eat a bowl of rice in 45 seconds.

Shelly shows a food a student must try.  From a list of four countries, they must pick where it comes from.

Can you guess which one is from England and which one is from Spain?

Do you know the name of these foods?

My favorite food was represented on the far right, Mexican food!

John directing the groups.

For lunch the cafo served fried chicken and yummy picnic foods.  The girls loved seeing all their friends from young to old at the school wide picnic.  Once they were done eating, they quickly collected a few of their preschool friends and started a game of chase with some of their favorite high school dorm kids.

In the afternoon, John ran in the One World 5K race while I supervised his twin four year old cheerleaders.  John was happy that he improved his running time from last year.

The girls are cheering on the runners with two of their preschool friends.

At the finish line with preschool friends.  Daddy shared his watermelon with Gracie.

Cousin Rachel was one of the top three runners for her age group!

In the evening we grilled dinner with our neighbors, then went to the cafo for hot chocolate and caramel apples.  The day ended with a concert by the Kijabe Boys School and fireworks!  Our girls loved the finale and were ready for bed once we crawled home! 

If you would like to see more pictures from this amazing event, then check out the RVA FB page at 

https://www.facebook.com/riftvalleyacademy/

Visitors, School Days, and Prayer Requests

Enjoying lunch in Kijabe

October 7, 2019

Greetings friends and family!

We hope this update finds you doing well!

Our family loved having our dear friend, Carrie, John's Mom, Ina Lou, and Becky's Dad, Jerry, visit over our vacation.  While catching up with our friend and family, we visited a variety of places in this beautiful country we live in.  Vacation went by quickly and the new school year started in August.  John is teaching 6th grade and loves teaching next door to his twin brother, James, who is teaching 5th grade.  There are 12 four year olds on campus, so Becky has helped organize the pre-K classes.  The preschoolers have been divided into three groups.  Becky hosts a preschool class in our home.  They meet on Mondays and Fridays and Becky splits the teaching time with another mom.  Ruthie and Gracie also attend a preschool soccer class on Wednesdays taught by two preschool moms.  They are soccer rockers!

Carrie, Ruthie, and Becky at Thompson Falls.

Becky on safari in the Mara with Mom Ina Lou and Papa Jerry.

Ruthie and Gracie on their first day of Pre-K.

Our school year is off to a great start!  Along with teaching, we are hosting a 7th grade boys caring community, attend a couples' small group on Sunday night, and we each attend a Bible study.  Ruthie and Gracie love having two Junior girls babysit them while we are at small group.  The twins keep their babysitters busy with tea parties, dance parties, and movie nights with popcorn.

After having a busy vacation and the start of the new school year, we are now enjoying a few days of rest over mid-term break.  We spent a night in Nairobi while spending time with our good friend Dan and family, James, Shelly, Rachel, and Levi.  Our next two days will be filled with relaxing family time as we prepare for the second half of term one.

Gracie and Uncle Dan

Gracie and Ruthie at Mayfield Guest House in Nairobi

As we look at the next month, we have several prayer requests.  Please pray:

1.  For Becky's Dad, Papa Jerry.  He is having hip replacement surgery on Monday, Oct. 8.  Please pray for the doctor, nurses, and for a quick recovery.  Also, please pray for our family who will be taking care of  Papa.  He won't be able to drive for six weeks.

2.  For our Gracie Girl.  She has a hernia and will have surgery on Oct. 23.  This surgery has already been rescheduled once due to a cold.  Please pray she will stay healthy for the surgery and she will have little pain as she recovers.

3.  For Spiritual Emphasis Week.  Students return from mid-term break on Tuesday and this short week of school will include special music and a speaker each night.  Please pray for the speaker and those organizing this special week.  Please pray for our students to be focused on who they are in Christ.

Will you please pray with us?
Please tell us how we can pray for you!

In the love of the Savior we serve,
John, Becky, Ruthie, and Gracie


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Gracie with her preschool class enjoying ice cream after a treasure hunt.