Living in Canada

It is hard to believe that it is already December after coming back to Canada in August. We have had many things going on that makes it seem that we have been in Canada longer than four months. Life does take on a different “shape” while we are back. Even though we were in denial that freezing temperatures were going to happen, we are thankful for the milder introduction to winter this fall. However, we are so excited about what this year has in store for us.

On our way back to Canada we stopped in Toronto and connected with a good friend of ours who is a pretty awesome photographer. He took our pictures again for our newest prayer card and we are so very grateful for that. We have a lot fun doing that and he makes us look good every time. You may see several of his pictures on our website and facebook including this one below. A big thanks to Phil Crozier for taking time in his busy schedule to hang out with us.

You will most likely notice a change in email addresses from us in the near future. We are moving away from a joint RVA email account that Todd and Kylie share to individual email address. So please continue to send emails to tkdubber@rva.org and we will continue to get them and respond. However, the response will be from either tdubber@rva.org or kdubber@rva.org. We continue to use the tkdubber@gmail.com address which we will most likely move toward using this address as our primary one for communication and to simplify our inbox. If there are changes to your contact information please let us know as well so that we can keep up to date with you and where you are at.

We are transitioning back to life in Canada and praising God for a very good place to live in Lethbridge, Alberta, a good supporting church to attend, a reliable vehicle to drive, volunteer opportunities and work that is very flexible with the responsibilities that we have being back this year.

We continue to rely on our supporters giving each month while being back in Canada. However, it is impossible for Todd to sit around and not do something. So, Todd is working part-time for a renovation company to help with the additional start-up costs coming back to Canada and make up the short fall that we have in our monthly income. It also has been very good to do manual work during transition. He recently was accepted on the substitute teacher list in Lethbridge and will be getting in the classrooms starting in January. He is looking forward to being able to participate in professional development to be able to go back to RVA recharged to teach again.

Kylie is enjoying the slower pace of life catching up on reading and doing mom things for the children. She has been getting to know some Kenyan international students here in Lethbridge as well. This gets some interesting reactions from the Kenyan students when they find out that she lives in Kenya. Hopefully it will provide opportunities to care for them while they are so far away from home.

Cassidy, Titus, and Ella are doing well. They are attending a Christian school in the city and are getting involved and making friends. There are challenges that come with just dropping into school and it will take a little longer before they truly feel that they have consistent friends and feel comfortable with what is going on. They are positive in their outlook on life which makes a big difference in how they feel about not being “home”.

Please pray that we will be able to arrange a good travel schedule to meet supporting churches and people during this year. One of the things that needs to happen is having more people give to our monthly support this year as well. We have already spoken at a couple of churches and met with many friends. We are blessed to know so many people. We also want to reconnect with family and find out what we can do to help with medical needs that our parents are having. We are also needing to find activities that we can do as a family that are fun and affordable. Thank you for praying for us and the faithful giving during this time of moving halfway around the world.

Seven Ways to Pray for the Dubbers

In three weeks we will have packed everything away in our house in Kenya, claim 5-7 bags as our worldly possessions, and board an airplane for our trip back to Canada. It is not easy saying ‘good-bye’ to home and arriving back to our passport ‘home’. Home is that relative term of ours that describes our physical place in Kenya and our emotional place in Canada. This really is a crazy way to live.

In other ways it is a very exciting way to live. We have prayed and talked and sought counsel about what this next year will look like for us. We have decided to pursue living in Lethbridge, AB for this next year. This holds a special place for us as this is where we first lived after we were married 19 years ago. We have a large support base there and we have been feeling prompted by God to be there. Basing ourselves in Lethbridge will also allow us to connect with the church and community in different ways that we have not been able to in the past. We still plan on visiting all of the other special places that we are connected with. We will communicate what that schedule will look like in the next months as we settle back into routine in Canada.

We shared some specific needs, house, vehicle, school, and job, the last time we wrote. We have been encouraged in several of those areas and want to let you know about what has been happening. After contacting the church in Lethbridge we had some contacts about housing in that area. So far we do not have a place to live just yet but we are confident that God has the best place for us for what we can afford. Housing connects to schooling as well for our children. We are trusting that where ever we live that the schooling options will be the best of our kids. We also had a couple donate the amount from the sale of their vehicle to help us get one when we are back. That was a huge blessing. We are looking forward to the ability to buy a vehicle when we get back because of them. Job is something that is an unknown at this time. We are praying that Lethbridge is not too saturated with substitute teachers so that Todd can complete the requirements to get his permanent teaching certificate. That certificate has so far been incomplete because teaching at RVA for the past fifteen years is not recognized by Alberta Education.

With those things on our front burner here these are our prayer requests that we are asking that you pray with us about for the next several weeks. Please pray:

that just the right housing situation will be there for us that fits within our budget.
that the housing will be close to great schools for our children to attend.
that we will be able to find a vehicle in the first couple of weeks when we get back.
that substitute teaching work will not be too difficult to get. That Todd will build good relationships with school. teachers and students so that he could get consistent days to work.
that our children will make good friends and have good interactions with people in Canada. We are going to a place that they are not familiar with. Especially Ella is very unsure of what ‘home in Canada’ is like and this will be a time that she will learn many things about what that is.
that Todd and Kylie will find the support and encouragement needed after a long and sometimes difficult four years. Pray that we will be able to enter peoples lives for the year that we are back and build good friendships as well.
for good decisions in areas of professional development for Todd and Kylie and activities of involvement for our children. We come back in need of input in areas of learning, experiencing, and enjoying life in Canada.

We know that everyone leads busy lives but if you spend time praying for even one or more of these requests we would greatly appreciate it. We know that God can, and will, provide abundantly more than we can ever imagine or think to ask for. We are glad to have people supporting us in prayer with that same knowledge of how great our God is.

What is your perspective?

Do you ever find yourself grinding through life with the intensity of a wood chipper? Not really looking up, taking a break or taking that all important breath to regain perspective? We certainly can find ourselves like that for three months at a time. Ninety days can fly by very quickly. This past school term was one of the tougher ones we have experienced in our time here. Students struggling and going home, staff struggling and going home, country struggling with security; it can make for a very stressful and difficult time. As we reflect on the past and the future it has come down to perspective. Here are a few things that we need wisdom in our own perspective that you might be able to relate to as well.Perspective of prayer. When a schedule like ours demands constant attention with constant “expectations” where does prayer fit in? We have been challenged these past several months to make this a much bigger priority – even bigger than what we might consider more important. Ministry can get in the way of time spent with God. Prayer is to be focused attention and time giving God the ability to work in us and through us. We are trying to spend an hour of our day praying. Can it really be done? It is challenging. Especially when there is “wood to chip”. We are not used to sitting for that long talking to God. It means that something else needs to be put aside for this to happen. We are working on this but not great at it yet.

Perspective of security. As many of you know there have been turbulent times in Kenya the past few years. We are safe and have not been in any direct danger. The school has security measures in place and procedures that we practice and follow with the hope that we will never have to use them. It is unsettling when attacks happen, especially against unarmed defenseless civilians, because of misguided beliefs and disturbing ideology. Will we ever be “safe” enough? Would it be better to go back to Canada until things settle down? Will it ever settle down? Fear can easily take over and force us to forget how God constantly protects us. Even driving in a car with other drivers on the road is a dangerous thing and yet many of us do not even think twice about the potential of losing control, security, and maybe even our lives. We need to keep the perspective that God is in control, that the country of Kenya has come a long way in the last few years, and that there is support from other countries against the threats that terrorists pose. We need to look past these horrible events to see the good things that are happening. A former ambassador to Kenya had this to say in a Time magazine article:

Terrorism can happen anywhere — New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Tunis, Mumbai, Nairobi. Terrorist acts and the media attention they receive often obscure the real story and stimulate overreactions. Kenya is more than the news story about terrorism and the images portrayed in overly cautious travel warnings.

Kenya is a country with a bright economic future; it has so much potential. Its citizens are smart, well educated, and hard working. Kenya has a great location with breath-taking landscapes, gorgeous beaches, and perfect weather. This country is blessed with magnificent mountains; beautiful valleys, rivers, and lakes; valuable natural resources; precious national treasures. It’s a paradise for tourists.

If the media coverage on Kenya is all about terrorism, the terrorists win. That is their objective.

–Scott Gration, April 3, 2015

Insecurity is constantly on the doorstep of living here in Kenya. It will be such a shock for us coming back to Canada – it will take a couple of months to be able to lose the internal level of alertness.

Perspective of home assignment. We are fast approaching the date that our house here is to be packed up and we board an airplane to come back to Canada. It has been four years. That is a long time to be away missing weddings, newborns, and deaths in our family and friend’s lives. We are looking forward to being back for the year to be reunited with our family and friends. There are so many things that we are having to think about. Can we be close to my dad and mom to support my dad with MS? Can we find a place to rent that we can afford? Where and what type of work is available? What about transportation for the year? How do we avoid the three year contracts that seem to be the only way to have a mobile phone? What in the world is Netflix? The two biggest needs we have are a place to live and transportation for the year. If you have any leads or contacts that we can pursue that would be appreciated.

Perspective of family. We are experiencing the joys of having our children getting older and going through different stages of life together with them. As many of you have experienced time gets short with children. Cassidy will be in grade ten next year in Canada. There are so many things that she will have to get up to speed with as she reenters Canadian culture. We hope that she will be able to have a good experience. Titus just completed a very difficult task of hiking up Mt. Kenya. The day we summit we climb just over 2,000 feet in 2.5 miles and took about three hours to accomplish this. On top of that the weather was changing rapidly to where we had the challenge of snow at the top as well. Ella is changing much as well. We can start to see how she loves life and interaction. What a great time for us all to be together. We want to be intentional parents using these times as training for our children.

The perspective of hope. We had introduced you to a Kenyan family in a past blog outlining their story of faith, struggles, and God’s provision. Well we had an amazing response to their situation that the school fees for all of the children were covered for the year and a monthly amount is given to them for their food bills. They are in awe of the response of generous giving that was shown. We are so thankful for the response as well.

One of the things that a supporter gave for was for Stephen’s parents house to have gutters installed. This required a little more hands on approach so our family and another family, the Hazards, who are good friends of ours, went down to their house to put up fascia boards and gutters along with a 1000L tank to collect rain water off of the roof. We were so encouraged to be able to provide in this very practical help for this family. They are now collecting water without the need of having to have water trucked in to be able to live where they are. It was also not too early as the rains had come and we got pretty stuck on our way to their house – always an adventure.We are blessed and praying that God will lead and direct our paths in the next several months as we make the transition back to Canada. We are looking forward to seeing many people when we are back and trying to reconnect with many whom we have not seen for several years now. We will be posting an itinerary in August as to where we are planning on being. It would be great to know where you are and if our paths will cross during our year back.

Story of Faith, Struggles, and God’s Provision

Sorry for the huge email earlier. Had a glitch with the size of the picture included. You should be able to read the whole story now. Thanks for praying with us for this family.

As you well know, life is not always clean and easy. Decisions made can be accompanied with a major learning curve and can be really messy. They can turn out to make us realize that we may have either made a terrible mistake or the most brilliant choice. One thing that we always are reminded of are that there are no mistakes with God and he has every step of our lives planned out. The other thing that we are reminded about, pretty consistently, is that all of the brilliant choices we make are God’s as well.

We wrote recently about our Kenyan friends who moved to their new house. We are glad to report that they are so very happy and finding new health with this change of location. We are also glad to see this as such a positive thing in their lives. Our families have such a long history together and we have shared much with them and their family. There is one aspect of the story that you may also want to know about that is about much more than moving to a new house. Let us tell you this story.

Sampson and Mary (the people who moved to this new house) have a son named Stephen. He is their fourth born child. He is grown up and has his own family living in a place called Maai Mahui – which means “hot water” in Kikuyu. Stephen worked at RVA for ten years in various areas but mainly in the laundry where they wash all of the clothes for the boarding students. It is rare not to see Stephen smiling and greeting people with joy. Stephen had taught himself how to drive cars and ride a piki (motorbike), how to use computers, and manage finances. These are generally good skills that we expect and value but not skills that a majority of Kenyans have – believe us, we witness incredible things almost on a daily basis in these areas.Through all of the years of us knowing Stephen we would be hard pressed to find another Kenyan with such a strong testimony of faith and integrity. For as long as we can remember Stephen, along with his family, have sought to help those in need. Sometimes at their own expense and always with the statement “God will provide”. Several times we have thought that if we were to find ourselves in his shoes we may not have as much faith as he does.The unique quality of Stephen and his wife, who is also named Mary, is that they tirelessly help those around them. Several years ago Stephen was in Maai Mahui town and saw several boys running around in ragged clothes. He approached them and asked what they were doing and where they stayed. He found that there were many children left alone since their parents had either left them or had died. His heart believed that there was so much more for these kids so he began to feed them and give them clothes. He realized that no matter what he was doing they were still living on the streets and learning behaviours that were not productive to the community. So instead of just stopping and giving up he went and found a way to have some of them come and live with him and his family. He went through the government process to be licensed as a children’s home and ended up taking in two homeless boys and two homeless girls, in addition to his own three children, to be part of his family. Stephen tells stories of the incredible changes that he sees in the children that he has in his home. The behaviours and attitudes that those children came with would be too unbelievable for many to comprehend. However, he and his wife have relentlessly pursued these children to change them for the better and provide a much better life.

Stephen was not finished though. He has been very involved with the Assembly of God churches in the area of Maai Mahui. His pastor recognized the leadership that Stephen could provide and through a series of events Stephen ended up leading the youth and then leading the Men’s Bible study in twelve churches. Stephen was so very glad to be be used in such a useful way. Things were moving forward and Stephen was making plans to go to Bible school so that he could be used in more ways in the church. Stephen resigned his job at RVA to pursue these new avenues of ministry. This is where decisions made start to look like a terrible mistake. He found himself in the proverbial “hot water”.Stephen would be characterized as a dreamer. He and his wife see the potential that they can change the world – one homeless child, one church youth, and one man through a Bible study at a time. They are not the type of people that rush headlong into things just to regret them later. However, there was a very good point made in a meeting that we had recently that has a very good Kenyan application of donkeys. Stephen and his wife saw that they the donkey and cart that they had was getting too old and too small and they needed a new one. The problem was that they got off of that donkey before they had the new donkey and bigger cart in place. After resigning the good paying job at RVA several income making schemes that they started to create income had failed and actually had become a money pit using up their savings very quickly. Stephen found himself in a situation that many of us would not want to be in – unable to provide for the family and children that he had taken in. Stressed and overworked with no income from the church and the other sources of income had fallen through Stephen needed help.

Recently Stephen met with four missionaries, including Todd, who have been involved in various ways with what Stephen has been doing. He told us that he had no way to support his family, pay school fees, and that potentially he would have to send the children that he had taken in off the streets to distant relatives who will probably send the children away as they would not be able to provide for them either. If Stephen was to continue these ministries he either had to make one ministry the priority and put aside the other one so that he could work to have an income or continue to be unable to provide for his family. He has the wisdom to recognize that he can resign ministry but he could not resign his family. Stephen is in a very difficult place but would you be surprised to hear that again he has hope that “God will provide”.

Stephens story is not done. He is wrestling with decisions that he thought were the right ones but finding that those decisions have resulted in a difficult situation for he and his family. Would you pray with us in these specific areas for Stephen and his family?

Pray that they will be able to continue to help the children that they have taken into his family.
Pray that someone else will take his place in the ministry at the churches with the Men’s Bible studies so that he can find work and that he will not be pressured to continue.
Pray that Stephen will be able to find full time work and maybe even get a job back at RVA.
Pray that Stephen will be able to pay for the school fees for the seven children that he has. Education is precious and not easy to get in a good quality setting.
Pray that Stephen and his wife will be able to gather around them a strong, wise board of advisors that will be able to guide and direct them in their work. They see themselves taking more children in but are unable to in their current situation.
Pray for wisdom and patience. They are in need of finding trustworthy people who can help without being greedy and selfish about what they can gain from Stephen.
Pray that God will provide. As of now they are able to provide food to eat but they have significant bills to pay in order to send the children to school and provide food in the coming months.

If you are interested in helping please contact us to let you know how we can help you help Stephen and his family.

Todd|Kylie|Cassidy|Titus|Ella

Pinewood Derby 2014

For those of you who have followed us for the past fourteen years you will be well familiar with the event of Pinewood Derby here at RVA. For those of you who have not, you should know that this is a big event here at the school. Many students have a blast making cars out of wood and racing them down a really large track that is set up in the gym. There are so many creative students and staff here. It is super exciting to see what people come up with. Then on the day of the races crowds of people come and enjoy food that the senior students prepare and sell and enjoy the joy that the participants have in seeing their cars run down the track.

It is kind of a compulsion in the Dubber family to make a few cars and see how they do. This year, two of our three cars won awards. We were given four weeks to work out a car that would be the most creative, best engineered, or the fastest or all of the above. Many times we just hope that they make it down the track to the finish. It is hard to come up with a design and then carry it out. The cars are restricted in size and weight which adds to the challenge of what can be done to the block of wood that is given out at the beginning. Todd gets to volunteer in the shop as well so by the end of the event many hours are spent cutting and shaping many cars other than his own. It is a good thing to see the excitement on students faces when their car runs down the track knowing that he had a part in making it happen.

It is a great event for the community. It comes at the end of the term so it is a good distraction from the busyness of the term and the last week before exams. A lot has gone on these past three months. If you think of us please pray that we will finish well, that the students will finish well, and that we will have a good family break before we start again in the new year. Thanks for standing with us and praying while we are here. It means a lot.

Moving Day!

No, not our moving day just yet. We have become very good friends with a dear Kenyan family. We have been working for many years to get them moved from a “colder” climate to a “warmer” climate for health issues. The new location is just eleven kilometres down the escarpment. They have been waiting for their new house to be finished and they have had much help to get it to where it is. After two years of building it is finally ready for them and we are not wasting any time in getting them into that new house.

We started at 8:00 am. Todd drove the RVA truck to the house to pick up the old house that their sons, Steven and Simon had lived in as boys. It was now going to be the kitchen (jikoni) at the new house. We hired three guys to build it at the new site while we moved the rest…

We also hired two additional guys to help move things from their house to the loading point up the hill, plus there were lots of family and neighbours helping….

We carried everything from the yard,Up the path, around the corner, up a big step through the fence, and then…

Up the big hill to the road above. It is hard to appreciate just how steep it is in these pictures. However, just walking up it is hard, carrying things up it makes it seem that it is going straight up. Lots of neighborhood kids stood watch over everything at the top.

It is incredible to us what the ladies carry on their backs. Here is Teresa, their daughter, who single-handedly carried the stove the entire way up that hill!!!!!!!!

Todd came back to old house with the truck to pick up everything. It took three trips to get everything down there.

At the new house!

The kitchen went up fast.

The kids cleared a nice path to the outhouse – taking out hills, bumps, and dips. Half is choo (bathroom – long drop to be more accurate) and the other half is the shower room.

The common area. There is a window behind the big bureau which we moved to the wall on the right. The breeze that comes through from back to front is wonderful.

One of the bedrooms. There are two. This one will be Samson and Mary’s room.

Here is Hannah and Teresa. They are Samson and Mary’s daughters. The lady beside them is a neighbour who came over earlier and cleaned the whole house to make sure it was ready for them.

Steven and Simon, Samson and Mary’s sons, were also there. This is a picture of Steven and Samson – father and son talking about the intricacies of the kitchen.

The happy couple enjoying having a lot of people around and a new house to settle into.

We thought that you would enjoy a bunch of pictures to help commemorate the day. Cassidy was the official photographer of the day so many of the pictures in this post is the day through her eyes.

What do you say when…

your seven year old daughter has developed a crazy fear of fruit bats.

Recently Ella heard that fruit bats have been associated with the Ebola virus. Her older brother and sister came home the other night all excited because they had seen a whole bunch of bats. This was not good news for Ella and we have been dealing with nightmares and Ella running around the house closing windows ever since.

First of all we want to assure you that there are no cases of Ebola in Kenya. We are keeping up to date with developments and the school is following a contingency plan. Kenya is a major travel hub and we pray that things will not progress further.

It is interesting what concerns us when we live in Africa and…so much is going on in Africa right now. We have many parents of our students in difficult places. This is real life for us as families are evacuated from the countries they live in or the people dying from the Ebola virus are not just numbers but actual people that they know and care about.

you are asked to help oversee a children’s home.

Several years ago Kylie’s parents along with another missionary couple started a children’s home. It has been overseen by a wonderful Kenyan couple since it was begun. We were recently asked to be the liaisons between those funding the home in Canada and the home itself. We have agreed and are looking forward to getting out there and seeing some of the new projects they have been working on such as a biogas project. We are also looking forward to visiting more often and getting to know the children living there as well as David and Peninah who are running the home.

you are asked to be the counseling liaison to the administration.

Kylie was recently asked to be the counseling liaison to the administration. This means being up to date with what is happening with all of our students who make use of the counseling department and reporting to the superintendent when necessary. It also means making tough decisions and communicating with parents when a student is not doing well. Our students are normal in that they are teenagers going through life dealing with growing up. Our students are also unique in their international upbringing, continual changes & transitions, and often times difficult places that they call home. Add to that a mix of families from 20+ different cultural backgrounds and it makes for a very unique setting. It has been a privilege to work with these families and their children through tough times.

you are asked to teach Canadian Studies at an American school.

In our very multicultural setting we are blessed to have at least a few Canadian students attending RVA. Every other year Todd has the opportunity to step out of P.E. for one class period and use his training as a social studies teacher to teach these amazing Canadian kids. It is always fun for him to have the opportunity to talk about all things Canadian and not get a blank stare back – they actually know what he is talking about. These students love the opportunity to study and learn about Canada when the rest of their curriculum is American. We look forward to celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving and Canada Day through out the year with them.

you find out that your son has allergies.

We have known for a while that Titus may have some issues with allergies. Just recently we were thankful to learn that there is a doctor in Nairobi that does allergy testing. We learned that he is allergic to beef, milk, and nuts. It is already a bit challenging cooking in Kenya but now we really have to adjust things. Thankfully there are more and more specialty items being stocked in stores here all the time and it is always exciting to see what we can find but not always exciting to see how much it costs. The best part in all of this is how much better Titus is feeling now that we have eliminated them from his diet.

your daughter enters high school.

Cassidy is officially in high school! It is a whole new world. We have been working through the joys – new freedoms, a bigger class with lots of new friends; and working through the sorrows – more homework and being cut from the basketball team. We are so proud of this amazing girl and how she reaches out to others and works so hard. Pray that we will be wise parents to help guide her through the next several years. We are looking forward to what God has in store for her.

you know you are leaving everything behind here in Kenya to return to Canada for a year.

We have one more school year at RVA and will be returning to Canada in July 2015 for a one year home assignment. With furlough on the horizon we are thinking about so many things. The practical things are where we will live, what we will drive, what we will do, and how we can transition our children from the American education system to the Canadian education system.

On a less practical but even more real side we are thinking about how much more difficult it is becoming to stay connected with friends and family in Canada the longer we are here. We are thinking about how much we need a rest and some spiritual input and encouragement. We are thinking about how we can encourage you all and how we can connect our children to Canada. We are looking forward to seeing you all soon!

you have an amazing employee who becomes ill.

For the past three years Attah Wambui has been Kylie’s right hand women and has really enabled Kylie to take on the role of dean of women and administrator at RVA. Attah does so much to support us and recently she became ill with an ongoing health issue. Together with her family we were able to put together the money that she needed to have surgery. For the last several months she has been recovering and we are very excited that she will be joining us again soon.

your Kenyan ShoSho (grandma) has begun to build a new home.

Since Kylie’s family arrived in Kenya in 1988 they have had a special friendship with one family in particular. Samson, Mary and their children have been such a blessing to us all and have helped us to understand Kenya and Kenyan culture better as they answer all of our questions. Samson has been ill for a long time. They have been living up in the high hills where it can be very cold, damp, and difficult on his health. They have begun to build a new home on the Great Rift Valley floor where it is much warmer and a better climate. We have been helping their son oversee the project and we have been learning a lot about Kenyan construction and building costs. It is very different than building in Canada and has been a good experience for us.

your moms say that they are coming.

Since the Stenstroms were on staff here we knew that they would be interested in coming back for a visit. However, when we found out that Todd’s mom was wanting to come and that Kylie’s mom would travel with her we were totally surprised and excited. After being here for thirteen years we were not sure if we were going to see her here. But after getting up the nerve and finding someone to travel with she came. There have been many new sights and fun adventures. We have been trying our best to get her to see what makes this place so special for us.

you are asked to participate in a TukTuk rally.

Above our school on the escarpment is one of the last big forests left in Kenya. Conservation of forests in Kenya has become a big issue as trees are cut down every day to make charcoal for cooking. These trees are rarely ever replanted and now the country is experiencing environmental issues. One organization that has recently been formed is called the “Kijabe Forest Trust”. They have been working on educating people and providing trees for replanting. They are also doing fun fundraisers here in Kenya to help raise awareness and to pay for trees and forest guards.

We have recently been asked to participate in one of these creative and fun awareness projects. This one is a TukTuk rally. What is a TukTuk? It is a small motorized vehicle with three wheels and a 395cc engine used to transport people around cities and towns in Kenya. Crazy we know…but right now we are looking to buy a used TukTuk that we can fix up, use in the rally, and then hopefully resell afterward. Any financial contributors out there who want to participate in this fun project? The entry fee is $2,500 which we are looking for sponsors from individuals or even companies. All of the money goes to the Kijabe Forest Trust. We are so thrilled that this community is stepping up to do something about an important issue in their country!

you have to say “good bye”.

In July we saw the Class of 2014 graduate from RVA. This class was particularly special to us as we had many of the girls in our dorm, mentored many of them, had them in our home regularly, and participated with the class in many of their projects and fun times together. We were able to go with them on their final senior trip to the coast of Kenya and attended their graduation to see them all off on the next stage of their lives. They have literally gone all over the world and it has been fun to hear about their adventures and to see them starting university or commenting on the things they have been learning or funny cultural mistakes they have made. We have come to love and care for these students so much! They and their families have become very precious to our us and our family and that is exactly what we love about being here. We feel so blessed to be at RVA and to enable these families to serve in difficult and unreached places. It is a privilege to come to know and love them all.

Thanks for reading to the end of this update. There are just so many things happening in our lives. If you want to read past blogs be sure to visit our website to get caught up. If you have any “What would you say” experiences please let us know.

Blessings from the Dubbers

20 Thoughts: Field hockey, buses, interim, and volleyball among just a few things.

We have just finished the second term here at RVA. A very busy and full term. Those two words, busy and full, seem to get used a lot when we get to the end of terms. It is hard to even qualify them into just how we feel The best way to describe it is that we are literally staggering across the finish line of a marathon. It is not one of those ordinary marathons though it is more like the ultramarathon of hundred of kilometers. We feel like we do one of those every three months. So we thought that in keeping with the theme of a sports writer and, considering that the NHL playoffs are in full swing, here are some thoughts about the past three months and what we have done.

20 THOUGHTS:

1. Field hockey is a game that requires stamina, focus, and the ability to hit a ball with a short stick that has an impossibly small “blade”. Kylie’s team this year was not as talented as past years but made up of girls who worked hard and put their noses to the grind stone. Their gritty play lead them to being third in the league which was a pretty good accomplishment in a place where field hockey here at many of the schools is like ice hockey in Canada.

2. Hard not to boast after watching Cassidy play this year but she is going to be one of the better players in the next couple of years. She has very good ball control, an incredible reverse stick hit, and very good field awareness. We think it is because of genetics but probably due more to the fact that she has grown up with a stick in her hand since she was little.

3. Cassidy made the JV team this year as an eighth grader. Her sights are set on Varsity next year as a ninth grader. Can’t let it get to her head just yet. The unfortunate thing is that we as coaches have seen that making varsity as a ninth grader sets up this “already arrived” mentality and the student athletes do not work at getting better. Have to keep getting her out with a ball and stick.

4. As far as sports go Todd was not able to drive bus this past term. Turned out that the Kenyan government decided to enforce a law that stated that you cannot drive a bus without a second endorsement in the license. The ironic thing though is that in order to get the second endorsement all he had to do was pay a certain amount and he could drive a vehicle with any number of passengers. Wait a minute, something smells fishy…

5. To add more twist to the situation people who had their bus endorsement in the their license could not drive a bus with passengers until they had the endorsement for four years. Try to figure that one out. Todd has had his license for over four years now and with the stamping of the second endorsement (he did end up paying after a short protest) he was able to resume driving the big buses again.

6. One more bus driving thought. Police were enforcing an obscure and totally random law that buses could not be driven after 6:30 pm (after sunset here in our part of the world). This made our extracurricular sports program with other schools go crazy as many times we are not arriving back before then. After much deliberation with the police we found out that the law does not apply to school vehicles. Ha, ha, funny police.

7. The Junior/Senior Banquet theme was Alice in Wonderland. The junior class is filled with very talented students who act, sing, and play instruments very well. It was a great night and we had a lot of fun. The best part of it all however was not being in charge of it and not having to set up in the months and weeks ahead and take down all of the paraphernalia afterward.

8. Second term marked the end of the large responsibilities of the senior class to organize and run a “store” during tournaments and large school events. This is a good opportunity for work experience and we saw some good things happening. However, there are a good number of students who will be graduating from here and be totally shocked once they get a job. Predicting that over half will be fired for some reason or another in the next year.

9. Second term also marks the count down for the seniors to graduation. Graduation is July 17 this year which is still a few months away. Many seniors though suffer with what we affectionately call “senioritis”. This is something that happens with all seniors all around the world but in a boarding school environment this can be an especially difficult thing to struggle through.

10. Students here go through many transitions in their lives. We are very aware of this as a school and invest a lot of time and energy into preparing students to transition well. The senior students who are about to leave home and return to their “home culture” face the especially daunting task of moving to a place that others think should be their home but it really is the furthest thing from it. Kylie and Todd do a lot in this area presenting seminars and in class units to help pave the way. Not all of the students are open to what is presented but the overwhelming response from alumni is that they go through exactly what we are preparing them for. Good to know that we are involved in impacting their lives.

11. Story from a week long school field trip. As a school we send groups of students out all over the place for a one week interim trip where they learn about a host of different things. One group went to a bird sanctuary for the week. A lady was there probably anticipating a very quiet week of bird watching when a van load of teenagers pulls up. Imagine the dread that she had thinking that her tranquil week of bird watching was gone out the window. However, at around the fifth or sixth day she came up to the group and told them that after observing them those days they were a very special group of kids and that she had hope in the next generation. Huge to hear those props. That is really why we are here working with these kids. We have hope in the next generation and want to shape lives to change the world.

12. Todd was able to lead an interim trip riding piki’s (dirtbikes) with four students, another staff member, and a support vehicle. Interim always lands during the time of his birthday so this year was a pretty big milestone (40th) and he was able to go on this trip. The trip went from RVA to stops at several mission stations and then out to Lake Victoria. What a dream trip to do on motorbikes and an amazing memory. Kind of one of those manly things to do and write home about. See the movie here:

Piki Interim from Todd Dubber on Vimeo.

13. Reminded during this trip that you have to get out and see different things. There were people and places that we would have never seen or talked to. A couple of objectives of the trip is to learn about current contemporary African issues and to participate in a service project. There are so many issues facing people who live in this part of the world. Many times it left him wondering what it would take to thrust people out of the seemingly never ending cycle of poverty and corruption. As for our service project the group built a small dam to help provide a drink hole for animals that the Maasai people herd. Will be posting a video of the trip in the next few weeks.

14. Also were reminded that Kenya is a relatively young country at only fifty years since independence from Britain. Kind of got to thinking that this is what it might have been like in Canada for the first while after independence. Things kind of cough and sputter along with no real direction until things are finally at a place where the infrastructure is good and the dream catches. Corruption is still rampant here and until that settles down things will be taking two steps back for every one step forward.

15. Titus has been doing well in school. He looks forward to the breaks though when he can ride around on his 50cc two stroke KTM piki (motorbike). We took our first adventure to a sand pit where there are big piles of sand. Second time around he is a little more confident and goes flying off of the biggest jump. Looked impressive until he landed and ultimately wiped out on the finish. Idea noted and lesson learned… pikis do not have wings and you have to stay on when you get back to earth otherwise it hurts. No broken bones fortunately.

16. Ella would be riding a motorbike if she could. Still working on riding a bicycle though. This is a tough place to do that as there are really no smooth places to do that other than the playing courts. She does love to ride with dad though on the piki and will be a very accomplished rider, once she starts. Health wise she is doing very well and we are glad to have no concerns with her health for quite a long time now.

17. Volleyball is starting up in a couple of weeks. Just got a look at the schedule and it is crazy. The other international schools are still in session and end by the middle of June. We are just starting back up at the beginning of May so that means that we have to fit two games against each school in three weeks. Wow, Todd is hoping that his players are doing some workouts and not just sitting around.

18. The last several years Todd has challenged his volleyball teams to cut drinking soda and eating candy out of their diets during season. This year with our first game three days after we get back he challenged them before the break. That was like asking them to stop breathing for a whole month. He takes the challenge, hopefully with them, and so far he has been doing well. Amazing how many times we unconsciously reach for those types of things. He is hoping that they see the difference when they get back and that they will all be jumping the lights out.

19. If you made it this far you are amazing. This is the time that we need to think ahead to a year from now. That will be when we are returning to Canada. That will also mean that RVA will be needing a P.E. teacher to cover for Todd. So… If you have ever thought about, or even considering now about, teaching at an international school and you are a teacher/P.E. teacher then this is a great opportunity for a year. We might be able to throw in a furnished house as well for you to use (no promises right now as we are not in control of that but the possibility is there). Now is the time to start on the process. Let us know and we can help you with what needs to be done through AIM (Africa Inland Mission).

20. We just finished with the ICEC (International Christian Educators Conference) and had a very good time of professional development. This is held here every three years and we have teachers who come from a long ways away to attend. We get to meet with other teachers in our same fields and we are always amazed at how other schools operate. One in particular is the Mercy ships. They are currently docked in the Congo and they run a school on board for about fifty children. The P.E. program always fascinates Todd as there is not a lot of room on a ship to do things. Yet they play ultimate, flag football, softball, and other amazing things on the deck. As the teacher said, “We have nets up to stop the balls, but every so often they just go up and over and we have to get a new one”. OK, enough said.

Hope that all is going well in your lives. We continue to pray for you as you go about your daily lives. We are saddened to hear about events that happen in Canada and other places. These just continue to show that we are in need of a Saviour. May we all be reminded of what God has done for us during the season of Easter. Redemption, reconciliation, and resurrection are all available to us – we just need to put our trust and faith in Him. Christ has risen indeed!

2013 Review

First of all we need to give thanks to God for another great year. We have been fully supported financially for yet another year which is such a blessing. We have such a great group of supporters both financially and prayerfully that have stood with us for the past thirteen years that we know we are taken care of. After having interesting and challenging health issues with our youngest Ella and a hospital stay over New Year’s last year we have gone through a full year without any issues and we are praising God for that. Our children are doing well in school and have good friendships. We have been able to purchase a vehicle which we have not had for much of our time here. We have had safety in all of our travels and Todd and Cassidy even had the opportunity to make a trip back to Canada for a family wedding. We know that God is in control and has a great plan for us.

Recent events in our region of the world have made us re-evaluate the reason why we are here. Sometimes we get complacent with our lives and that bad things do not happen to us or people that we know. Events like the Westgate Mall attack, random grenade attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa, instability in Somalia and thousands of refugees living in Kenya, and unrest in Sudan sending even more refugees to Kenya brings it all very close to home. Living as a minority in a country where it all of the sudden seems like everyone is out to get you, irrational as it is, becomes a thought that can override every decision. It can be debilitating. The depravity of man is so evident but the thing is that it can happen anywhere. We read of stories of shootings in America and terrible things that others do to each other that it is only by the grace of God that we are not given over to what Satan wants. He is happy when we destroy each other and instill fear so that we are bound by those things. So we realize that we are even more compelled to be here and work with people in the community and help the parents of the students who are here reaching those who need to be reached. We are all part of the tide pushing back the forces of evil who so desperately want us to live in chaos. God is in control and has a great plan for us.

This next year has so much in store. We are past the mid-point of our four year term now with our planned home assignment coming in the summer of 2015 and it can feel very long. Especially when we miss family and friend events. Sometimes we learn of people passing away, other times we do not, and are not being able to grieve. We hear of weddings and babies but cannot be there in person to celebrate. It is the choice that we make but it does not make it easier to be here as time goes on. Kylie continues to fulfill the role of Dean of Women which can be a demanding job. We are so glad that she is doing it and, if you ask many people here, she does a very good job at it. She is so gifted in the area of working with others and being sensitive to maintain relationship that she speaks much further into peoples’ lives. Todd continues to teach P.E. and coach in the extracurricular sports program. It is such a joy for him to be out teaching and playing with the kids. Time goes quickly when we have fun, right? Cassidy continues to be our consistent and happy teenager. It is not without the occasional bump in the road but we could not ask for a better girl for our family. She has been getting into sports more and more with her making the Junior Varsity field hockey team as an eighth grader. Titus is the inventor of the family and probably will go on to make something totally useful that you may use someday. We live with scraps of things floating around but hopefully that is the price for genius. Ella loves the social scene. If we do not have friends around then it is a bad day. She loves to be active and involve us in her creative plays even though we may all be reluctant to be the supporting cast. God is in control and he has a great plan for us.

We want to thank all of those for standing with us in financial and prayer support. It is with grateful hearts that we acknowledge the provision that God has provided through you. May all of you be blessed in the coming year and we look forward to hearing from you about how God is working in your lives. Our prayer is that God gives you boldness to share that same news with others that you meet as well in the places you live and work.

With love, from the Dubbers – Todd|Kylie|Cassidy|Titus|Ella

Are we getting through?

On Cassidy and Todd’s recent trip back to Canada they had several opportunities to visit places that they normally do not get a chance to visit. One place was Prairie Bible College and they were fortunate to bump into a staff member who was the Dean of Men at the college when Todd was there as a student. He was amazed that they were there and they had a great time to “catch” up with what has been happening in our lives.

In an email correspondence he wrote: “The same pride and encouragement you expressed for your students is the exact reality that I feel about you. It is so amazing that you are making such an impact on the world.”

Part of the visit involved discussing an article written that talked about how we set “time-bombs” in the people that we meet or students that we teach. Sometimes we do not understand why we are learning or hearing certain things in our lives. It may not be revealed for a few years and then this “time-bomb” goes of with the realization that we learned something for a reason. Some people may call this the “Aha!” moment. So a week later we got a facebook message from a former student that illustrated this so well and was so encouraging. A lot of times we wonder if we are getting through.

The student wrote: “hi, Mr. Dubber. i was just thinking the other day about the solid foundation i have in the arena of fitness and nutrition. and a HUGE part of that is because of the P.E. program at RVA. i see so many people who just aren’t getting it everyday, and actually feel sorry. i feel often that i have the upper hand. staying fit in the US is no easy thing but high school there sure helped equip me. thank you tell those students to make the most of it.”

There are so many things that we “do” that we often forget to remember to go back and thank those who have influenced our lives. It may take some time but it is worth it in the end.