Sacrifices

The students have arrived, the staff is prepared, and yesterday we had our first worship service together.  As I stood among the students while we sang, I was overcome with emotion. To hear 400+ young people lift up their voices together worshipping our Lord was so powerful and beautiful, an amazing choir!  Then I thought of their parents and how they were worshipping at that moment.  Some were under a tree with no walls around their songs.  Some were worshipping with new church plants singing praises to God for new believers and praying for other hearts to receive the Good News.  Some were meeting in secret knowing God hears their quiet calls to worship.  I prayed that God would let these parents know that their children were celebrating and basking in the Savior’s love!  I prayed that these parents would know that their children would be taken care of to the best of our ability spiritually, emotionally and physically.

Saying goodbye was hard for the girls and their parents.  My heart broke for them.  Thinking about the beginning of school back in Grand Haven and not having my daycare kiddos back in my home and Jeff not being at Lakeshore Middle School, broke our hearts.  But I know God’s tender love and care will cover sacrifices made when answering his call.

The chapel at RVA

Goodbye LMS, hello RVA
Jeff's first day of teaching 8th grade math in Kenya

Ed

We have been in Africa a bit over a month. Things are going well if you ignore the fact that Jane has packed the wrong shoes. "What was I thinking!" is a direct quote. Jeff has jumped from adventure to adventure, first drinking coffee and now bookmarking his favorite zucchini bread recipe (lemon poppy seed is next). Our home is pretty much settled except for those darn bathroom towels that don't match. The dorm is close to being ready. Jeff has his class lists for his 2 sections of 8th grade math and we finally found a printer that we could get to work. We both feel like it is the calm before the storm.

Our dorm has 15 ninth grade girls from 6 different countries with 6 of the girls being brand new to RVA. The schedule starting next Friday is packed like a a missionary's suitcase heading to Africa for 2 years.  The setting here is amazing and the people are better. Tonight we were heading out to get lost on campus. We do this every night, the getting lost part.  It's dark at 7:00 and the campus is on a mountain side. Finding your way for the newbies can be pretty confusing.  As we were walking, we ran into the art teacher, Ed.  Ed has been here for 18 years. We mentioned we were feeling a bit overwhelmed. He empathized, smiled and nodded. Then he said, "If you can remember to find time for Jesus and each other you will do great."

The exact right thing at the right time. Thanks God! Sure there are times when God is silent and we feel alone. But the majority of the time, when we are open to Him, he shows up with skin on. Sometimes we are the ones reflecting God's love. Tonight it was Ed.  Thanks Ed!

When Do I Get An Aid?

When Jeff was a small boy, each Sunday morning the family would pile into a four door, blue, Impala and head to church. At some point they would count how many people were in the car and often the number was 12 1/2 (2 parents, 8.5 kids and the Jeager twins - Jeff was always counted as the half).  This Sunday we rode to church in a white Toyota suv with the steering wheel on the wrong side and 12 1/2 people in the car (this time the 1/2 being Lincoln, not Jeff).   What are the odds?

This was the second time for this 40 minute trip and things were already looking familiar. As we left the asphalt and continued on the narrow dirt road, we had an excellent view of the rural community. Wash being done in the river, papayas being sold, cattle herded, business being carried out and cell phones.... a very diverse picture. It dawned on us that this was a typical day for them. For us being transported by our ABO leaders, it was a cross between, learning, worship, community, all of it very new.

6 1/2 of us were dropped at the church where we were to worship and teach.  It was a wonderful 2+ hours of sharing and worshipping God. For the second Sunday in a row, way too much wonderful food was made for us. It was humbling, also uncomfortable,  how we were held in such high honor. After lunch we had time to talk with Janet, who is the pastor's wife, and serves in ministry in the church. She is an amazing humble servant of God. She is Mary and Martha all rolled into one. Relational with a servant's heart.

Janet teaches 5 year olds at the school where the church meets. She has 38 students in her class. We were stunned, that's a lot of fidgeting!  This lovely, hospitable, gracious, mother and wife is so excited to serve Jesus and advance the kingdom. It is mind boggling to be in the presence of one that is so high capacity and draws absolutely no attention to herself. We are in awe of the grace God has granted her! The Holy Spirit is active in Nakuru.

Jane and Janet outside the school.