Running with the Dubbers

The Distant Boat

Just this past week we went to a movie premiere. No, we are not involved with the who’s who in the movie industry and it was not Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood but it was exciting nonetheless and we got to hang out with some friends. Africa Inland Mission’s On Field Media (OFM) branch was commissioned about a year ago to make a full length movie to bring to light the need for indigenous missionaries to go and reach people who are right in their country. Since African culture relies so much on telling stories this movie captured the essence of the way stories are told to convey a deeper meaning. The actors, directors, and producers involved were all at the premiere and it was a fun event. The message of the movie was powerful and followed a young, professional Kenyan struggling with the fact that he was called for something more than just rising in the ranks of the business world. The movie was so well done and had all of the elements that we enjoy but this was not the normal entertainment value that we would expect. If left us feeling that there is a powerful call in all of our lives to reach out and love others.

http://distantboat.com/ – see the movie and information here. It is $5 for a digital copy. Proceeds are used to make this available for National pastors and churches in East Africa.

This movie also came out just a few weeks after the serious incident at the Westgate mall in the city of Nairobi. There it was evident that hatred is a powerful weapon used by the evil one to put fear in our hearts. The producers were concerned that releasing a movie like this would stir unwanted emotions on all sides. However, the message was so important to get out to Christian believers here in Kenya that we need to reach out to Muslims and show our love and that we do not turn and hide from them. There are so many people all around us and the main character in the movie struggled with much of what we all struggle with – indifference, ignorance, pursuit of wealth and position, not wanting to show weakness as in compassion, and many more that others might identify with. Hopefully we have a chance to show you the movie in the future. We are so glad that God has provided people around us with the skills, abilities, and gifts to be able to do something that will help mobilize the Christian community not only here but around the world.

Many small cars and one BIG car

Just wanted to let you know that we are still here, hard at work. Hard to imagine where the last few months have gone. It really becomes a blur. Right now we are in the last few weeks of the school term. We have been involved in several big events as well as the teaching and administration load that we have. One of these big events, coming up at the end of the term, is our annual Pinewood Derby which is a really fun event. It is the 40th year that we have held this event so it is a pretty major deal for the students of the school. About 120 entrants (and of course Todd) are busy making their cars ready for race day. Todd is in charge of it this year and it is definitely a major deal to pull off with lots of little details and the big track to get ready. It is really fun though seeing the creativity of the kids and staff who make cars for the event. We will be following up with more details about this term on our blog. Right now we are just able to maintain getting up in the morning and falling into bed at night. Hard to believe it but life is good.

Speaking of cars we are kind of thinking of getting one of our own. First, we have to say that we know that God has a plan and it has been a long time here without one after having a really bad experience with a mechanic and a vehicle that we had for less than a year – a long story that can be told later – wiping out our ability to even consider getting a vehicle again until now. It has taken a long time for funds to build to the point that we can even consider the possibility. People like yourselves have been contributing amounts as they can to a vehicle fund with AIM and we have been saving a small amount of our monthly support for the past seven years to be able to get to this point. Right now we have the opporunity to buy a reliable 2004 Toyota Hilux Surf for $21,000 that has been well taken care of. Up to this point in time we have saved a combined $13,500 and are praying that God will provide the $7500 remaining. We would like to ask if you would join us in praying for this remaining amount. We know that God has a plan for us in the area of a vehicle. We have been here for such a long time without one that we do begin to wonder just how much more patient we need to be or if we are meant to have one. We continue to pray for wisdom. We know that it would open up a lot more opportunities to visit students and their families which has been a goal of ours that just have not been able to do.

On a continuing note: Thank you for continuing to pray about the situation in Kenya and the incident that happened at the Westgate Mall. We, like you, have not heard anything more other than accusations and video proof of the Kenyan soldiers looting the mall several days after they figured that the perpetrators had escaped. There was a lot of damage done by the army that is figured to cover their activities. So many shop owners are mystified as to why their shops were cleaned out of all stock by the terrorists and yet there is absolutely no one in custody over the crimes. We have to admit that we are too. It does not give us a lot of trust that the law enforcement people are actually here to protect. Please continue to pray for these things to be resolved and that the army and police will do all that they can to create a different perception about themselves.

We would like to thank you for partnering with us in either prayer or finances. We are so thankful to be able to work with these students at RVA. We pray that everything is going well for you. If you are interested in helping us with funds for a vehicle please contact us and we will help you be able to do that through AIM for a charitable receipt.

Events in Nairobi

Thanks so much for praying for us. Even though we are not directly affected with anyone in the school being killed or injured we can say that we definitely have the secondary trauma of not knowing if this is going to happen again and where. Smaller more insignificant events had been happening over the past year with grenades being thrown into night clubs and bars – places that we do not go to and hence we do not feel threatened. However, this attack has caused a lot of people to reconsider business in Nairobi and possibly even our status as a fairly large “soft” target as a school. At first you want to believe that it is a small group of people who are completely depraved and have no sense of humanity. We want to believe that now they are caught and life goes on. However, the reality is that there are many more people of similar beliefs and intentions. It is by the grace of God that not everyone is given into those types of behaviours and thoughts. There are some pretty horrific stories that continue to come out of the event. We hope that a lot of them are speculation and rumour but the organized nature of the attack really does lead us to believe a lot of what we are hearing. Terrorism goes a lot farther than we care to admit. We do believe that God is in control and sovereign but it is not easy to feel vulnerable and out of control. We are trying to continue with life as normal but there is a heightened awareness of surroundings – being in large groups of people, people running for no apparent reason, not being in one place too long, not doing predictable routes/things. We know that Satan wants these types of things to happen so we do not want to live in fear. We want to hold on the promise that is made in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

There are several students who had family members killed or affected by this event in serious ways. The students for the most part put on their “brave face” but a lot of them are processing some pretty serious questions. “What if it was my parents killed or injured?”, “What if was me while I am away from my parents?” For a child (and parent) these are pretty terrible situations to think about and be in. It may be one of the biggest fears that we, as humans, try to keep hidden. An event like this brings it to the surface and it has been a topic of conversation amongst staff and students for the past week or so. We do hope that everything that we do and say brings them closer to their parents and to God.

Please continue to pray that we do not live in fear but that we also do not put ourselves in positions that are unwise. Culturally it is very different than what Canadians/Americans would be accustom to. One of the questions that a CNN reporter asked a Kenyan official was whether or not they had received “chatter” about the attack. The Kenyan official looked a little confused at first but ended up answering that there was no information leading up to this attack. After having lived in this country long enough we had a good chuckle about this type of question since we all know that this is a typical North American question. We would be surprised if potential attacks would be thwarted because of advanced knowledge. Even if there was “chatter”, pretty much everything is in reaction without the resources and ability to be proactive. We do not know if this will happen again but we do know that God knows about these things and do pray that future events will be held back by the sovereign God.

We also know that God will use this event to bring people to Him and glorify Himself. We saw as a result of the attack everyone, it did not matter what nationality, helped each other out of that building as best they could. The pictures displayed around the world are of people who would not normally interact with each other carrying other peoples babies, providing comfort, and offering a hand of help. There are stories of people going back into the building many times to rescue people. This goes completely against what the terrorists wanted to happen. We hear from our coworkers who work with Muslims that Muslims are ashamed of the behavior of the attackers. We are praying that first they will come to know God through this but that they will also understand that the words spoken by their fellow believers make them all look the same. We are praying that God will stir in those people to see the error of the religion and the destruction of remaining silent.

There is probably so much more to say and process in the coming days. Doing our best to remember that God has us in His hands and that we are called to something much bigger than this world can offer.

If you are looking to help us out.

There are so many things that we would like to be self sufficient in but there are some areas that we just cannot do it all and find that we may just need a little bit of help in providing opportunities for our own children and the students that we work with here. Please do not feel that this is a want list so much as a list that maybe you can think about when you are looking to pass these types of things on. If these are just sitting around your house looking for a new home then we would gladly consider taking them to be used here.

gently used laptop for our kids as they start to get more assignments and interest in emailing family back home.
guitar for our children to learn on.
gently used games and/or flashcards. We use these all of the time in our home and dorms.
hockey stick shafts (ie without blade) – good for floor hockey sticks.
racquetballs and badminton racquets and shuttles for physical education.
Wallyball net for PE classes/activity

You can check back to this blog to see updated things as we see the need for in our ministry and family.

Playing Volleyball – At a Maximum Security Prison

First of all we do not want to cause concern so we need to let you know right off that we are not in prison. However, this past Saturday the varsity volleyball team made our annual trip to the maximum security prison in Naivasha, a town close by. This is a very interesting trip as we drive up to the prison with thirty foot high walls and enter inside. We find that there are over three thousand inmates in a prison built for one thousand five hundred. They are “housed” in six block buildings that look like they are built to withstand full on riots. Inmates go to meals in shifts according to block cells and very rarely do they all congregate in the central area. Today was a different day as it was “prizes from the duty officer” day and, of course, we were there to play volleyball.

Claustrophobia sets in as we are led to a smaller area, still with thirty foot high walls, where a volleyball court is set up. The question is, “what if the ball goes over the wall?” That feeling of being trapped is all around as we look up and see a guard tower looming over the playing area. Not knowing what the monotony of prison life is really like we start warming up as a few hundred inmates file in to watch. The feeling of intimidation is hard to describe – maybe it is more fear than anything else. The guard in charge walks over to me and says that he wants me to be the referee. “Wow”, I said, “what if I make a bad call”. He just chuckles and walks away after handing me a whistle. We soon settle into playing and have a pretty good time even though we are beat by guys who have pretty much played volleyball every day for the past five, ten, maybe fifteen years. Sure enough the ball goes over the wall only to magically reappear back over by some anonymous thrower on the other side.

The inmates that we met that day where in prison for some serious crimes. It is scary knowing that some are there for committing murder and assault but we have to ask ourselves who goes to talk to these people and show them God’s love? We make a feeble attempt to reach out and play with them and the inmates that we meet are craving contact with the outside world. For many, just talking to them and showing that we care enough to talk to them will satisfy a need. The Bible says that the whole world is a prisoner of sin and that we are held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed (Galations 3:22-23). We just saw the physical resemblance of it as the walls were so high that we could not see anything but straight up. Maybe it was symbolic as that is where our eyes should be turned when we are prisoners in order to be set free.

Our trip today also reminded me of the passage in the Bible where Jesus talks about the sheep and goats in Matthew 25. He says that whatever we do for the least of these brothers we do for him. One of my players, after playing, gave the pair of shoes that he had been wearing to an inmate. How many of us would do that? This is a challenge that speaks to me, maybe more than it does to others, but could you give someone in need a pair of shoes or some clothing from right off of your body and walk away with less than what you had to begin with? This is more than just dropping it off in an anonymous donation box but doing it face to face. How hard would that be for some of us? One of my students did it and did not think twice about it. I love working at RVA for this very reason – faith and works in action.

Here are some more pictures of our time there. As you look at them maybe it would be a good time to think about what you could do for the least of these around you or around the world.

June update – The Call to be More

The end of the school year is very close at hand. Just a couple of weeks more and we will be saying “goodbye” to one more school year and embarking on a new one with our own children in different grades. On reflection, this past year has been one that has been very full and very rewarding. There is nothing more exciting and encouraging than finishing a school year, and in the case of our senior students their high school career, on a positive note. We have been so impressed with this group of seniors and how they are ending their time here well.

At the beginning of the year we start with a Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW). The speaker we had this year talked about “Living Dead”. How many times do we find ourselves living for ourselves when we really should be giving our all for Christ. One of the journal entries challenged us to “be more”. It said this:

“The call to the nations demands it of us. We cannot escape the conviction that following Christ compels us to uncompromising excellence in our normal Christian lives. But, when you are called to represent the King of Heaven in the nations of the earth – be more! What does that practically mean? Are you passionate for the Word? Be more! Are you seeking His face in daily prayer and worship? Be more! Are you studying the culture of those you are called to serve? Be more! Do you struggle daily to speak the language of another just so you can tell him about Jesus? Be more! It never ends. We never eclipse the need to be more for Him.”

We are now in June and it is easy to forget these words when we are tired and hoping that we will reach the finish line sooner than the schedule says we will. We have to admit that we are weary and “well used”. It is harder to get out of bed. It is harder to be patient. It is harder to show love. Yet we need to “be more!” It is challenging but it is so rewarding when we do. People around us are encouraged when we do. We are so glad that the senior students of this year are rising to the challenge of being more and living dead.

We are looking ahead as well to the next weeks as it will find Cassidy and Todd heading back to Canada to attend Todd’s sister’s wedding in July. We are so glad that we are able to come back for that. We will also spend a few weeks trying to visit family, friends and churches for whom we are so thankful for. We know that they make a huge sacrifice letting us be here in Kenya and work with these students at this school. This is our tentative itinerary while we are back. If we are in your area and you would like to see us please let us know and we can make arrangements to drop by your house or meet at a Tim Hortons :).

July 17-21 – Calgary, wedding, Hawkwood Baptist Church
July 22-27 – Three Hills
July 28 – Aug 1 – Battle Lake Church, Edmonton area
Aug 2 – 4 – Calgary
Aug. 5 – 11 – Cassidy Stettler, Todd Calgary, Stettler Church
Aug 12 – 15 – Three Hills, Rimbey
Aug 16 – 19 – Lethbridge E Free Church
Aug 20 – 25 – Calgary, Crossfield Church
Aug 26 – depart from Calgary

Next school year may hold some interesting challenges as many returning staff are having difficulty raising enough financial support to make it here for the next school year. That will mean that the staff that is here will have to be creative in how we cover some important areas. We know that God is in control and that he will have the people here that He needs to accomplish his purpose but it would be great if we had our full staff ready and in place. Right now it looks as if Todd will be coaching tennis another term which will be more extracurricular activity and mean that he will have been coaching for pretty close to two full years. Kylie’s job as Dean of Women is going well. She is quite good at it and the superintendent is happy with her in that role. It is a demanding job though and she is finding it hard to balance time at home with how much time the job requires. Getting the first year under her belt will make it easier to anticipate some of the things that will happen again next year.

Prayer:

Please pray that returning staff will be able to make it for the start of the next school year.
Pray that we can strive to “be more” in our endeavor to do what Christ has asked us to do.
Pray for the senior students as they graduate, say goodbyes, and transition from here to their home countries and new schools.
Please pray for Kylie, Titus and Ella as they stay here in Kenya while Todd and Cassidy travel back for a wedding.

Praise:

We are so thankful for committed prayer and financial supporters. Not only could we not do what we do with them but so many families that send their children here could not do what they do as well.
That Cassidy and Todd will be able to return to Canada for his sister’s wedding.
The heavy rains have stopped that put a lot of the region in turmoil with mudslides and washouts. We continue to pray for the short rains that will continue to help the crops grow for a good harvest.

Greetings from a very rainy and green Kenya

The rains have come and we are enjoying green grass, beautiful flowers, and huge lightening shows. Along with the rain comes muddy kids, stacks of wet laundry (we have to line dry everything), and lots of interesting bugs. As well, there have been a lot of monkeys and neat birds in our yard eating the fruit off our trees. The birds are beautiful but the monkeys are pests. We have especially been battling a persistent Sykes monkey that can open any window left open just a crack. He knows exactly where we keep the bananas and he seems to get more of them then we do.

MINISTRY

The beginning of the school year in September brought in a large group of new, young, gifted staff to Rift Valley Academy. After being here for 12 years now – we are getting used to not being the young ones on staff anymore. With being “long term” staff members and Kylie being in her new role of dean of women our phone rings constantly with all sorts of questions. It is a blessing to be able to be there for students and staff and to be a part of their lives.

Todd is still teaching PE to grade nine through twelve students as well as heading up the PE department. This school year he has coached Varsity tennis and junior high field hockey. Varsity volleyball season starts up in couple weeks and he is excited to get back into the sport he loves most. Todd has also been sponsoring the junior class. Sponsoring involves working with a class alongside a few other staff – providing activities, work experience, skill training, etc. Our students do not get an opportunity to “work” in the traditional sense of summer or after school jobs. A couple of the projects that they do their junior year is Junior / Senior Banquet and Junior Store. Todd was involved in the construction side of banquet and teaching students how to plan amounts and order materials as well as the actual construction. With Junior Store they will be selling food during sports tournament days. We normally have hundreds of visitors and parents on sports tournament days so it is a big project. Todd will be working with several students to manage the actual store area. Todd is also teaching grade three Sunday School and mentoring a young couple along with Kylie.

Todd has also been involved in planning “Pinewood Derby” which is a lot like what Awana does with building cars out of wood and racing them down a track. It has become a full day event with lots of creativity and fun for the whole community. Todd also worked with a former staff member in the US to participate in the “One World Run” which raises money for AIDs orphanages in Kenya. The idea is that a 5K is run on every continent. We had almost 80% participation from staff and students here. It was a very fun day! Here are pictures of our favorite participants. Titus is running with his two “big brothers”. We have a big sister big / brother program at RVA so that every elementary age boarding or staff child has a big sister or brother looking out for them.

Kylie is working full time and missing the days of connecting with other moms at playgroup, Bible Study, etc. She is enjoying her new role very much though and feel so blessed to be able to do it. She oversees the girl’s dorm parents as well as all of the girls who are attending RVA. Working along with the dean of men we oversee student life at RVA – everything outside of the academic day. She is part of the administrative team and again feels so blessed to have been mentored by a godly women who she is taking over from and by godly men and leaders who she learns from daily. What a growing experiencing this has been. This past term brought with it preparations for the Kenyan elections which ended up going relatively smoothly. As you may remember from last time the elections brought mass unrest, rioting, and many lives lost. It was important for us to be prepared for anything. The most difficult thing for Kylie this term was when a student lost her father. He became ill and passed away within such a short period of time. We were so thankful that she was able to get home in time before he passed away. Kylie has also been mentoring three junior girls as well as a young couple with Todd. She just finished my Varsity Field Hockey season a month ago. God blessed her with a wonderful group of girls that really reached out to the other teams and referees in amazing ways. They won the sportsmanship award for the year.

We continue to enjoy the relationships that are being built with our community. Cassidy has been making regular visits to the IDP camps (Internally Displaced Persons) nearby in the valley as well as to an orphanage in our area. Most of the camps have now replaced Red Cross tents with permanent stone houses. One highlight was carrying on the tradition that my parents left of having the men who work in the school laundry for a big goat roast to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Mary and Attah help me with the cooking and Peter and Simon help with the goat – all dear friends. Usually lots of laughter and singing ensue. It is an annual highlight for all of us.

We continue to love being here. More than that though, we feel so blessed to be a part of this place. The necessity of this school and ministry becomes greater and greater with a changing Africa and mission’s increasing focus on the unreached. More and more we are needing to support families working in increasingly difficult areas. Providing a place for their children to grow and thrive and working with parents in partnership and teamwork is just nothing more than a BLESSING!

Please keep coming back to our blog here at www.aimsites.org for more specifics. We try to keep it updated regularly.

FAMILY UPDATE

Cassidy is 13 and in grade 7. She has been loving all the new activities open to her now that she is out of elementary school. She has been playing basketball, field hockey, and volleyball. As well she had a role in the junior high drama. She continues to love spending time with friends and organizing get togethers. We are so pleased to see her sweet and caring spirit towards all. Her big accomplishment this year was climbing Mt.Kenya with Todd. It is a grueling 4 days up and down. Mt.Kenya is a snow capped mountain on the equator. She was able to take many many photos – another thing that she loves to do.

Titus is 11 and in grade 4. He loves playing soccer all day every day. He also loves art and is becoming very good at drawing, painting, and pottery. He is very inquisitive and has been following the elections closely as well as issues facing Africa. It is amazing to see God working in his heart and giving him a passion for this continent at such a young age. We will see where God leads him in his future. A highlight in Titus’ week are Monday nights when the dorm boys in his class come spend the evening with us. We do homework, have a snack, do devotions, etc. to give their dorm parents one evening a week for a little break. After having spent so much time in a girl’s dorm – Titus loves having the boys around! The picture below is of Titus climbing a nearby dormant volcano – Mt.Longonot. As well as a picture of him with his Pinewood Derby car – covered in duct tape.

Ella and Kylie spent the new year in Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi. Ella had to go in for extensive testing and then surgery after struggling with UTIs for such a long time. Ella is 6 and in Kindergarten. We are so pleased that she has now been off of antibiotics for 3+ months. It seems that God lead us to exactly the doctors that we needed to see. We just have to say too that God can work through people no matter how young you are. Ella with her long blond curly hair stood out in the hospital like a sore thumb. The whole five days we were there God put a song in her heart and she sang worship songs the whole time without any prompting from me. She was a light and Kylie had many conversations about the Lord with other moms and nurses on the ward because of Ella’s singing. That is Ella – bubbly, enthusiastic, friendly, joyful, and yes, very mischievous. Ella’s latest accomplishment is riding a bike without training wheels. On a recent trip to a dairy farm in the valley she encountered some strange obstacles and was unsure what to do.

We were so happy to have Kylie’s brother and sister-in-law on staff with us for seven months. They have just returned to Canada and we are missing them a lot already. We were also thrilled to welcome our new nephews, Miles and August Kynsh into the family in March. Congratulations Nathan and Carrie on the birth of your twin boys.

Mudslide!

We live in a country where less than 5% of forest remains from what originally covered much of the landscape. Subsistence living is what people survive on. Wood for fuel, whatever meager open (or conveniently cleared) piece of land they can put a few seeds in, and wood as a cash crop dominate the entire country. Deforestation has led to huge issues all of the place but we were visited by the suddenness of this devastation just recently. We have been receiving a lot of rain for the past few months. When we say a lot we mean a lot. Several times in these past months we would have 2 inches of rain in a 12 hour period. There is water everywhere. On April 26 we had a tremendous downpour. It was more than we had ever seen in our time here. In a four hour period we had 5.5 inches of rain fall. It was like being underwater looking out the window. The land above us had finally had enough and a major mudslide was sliding down at about 12am. With it came full sized trees and as it swept across the rail line the tracks were taken with it. When it was all said and done we woke up to a huge mess of mud that had slid for several hundred meters down the slope down into the community. The reality of it struck home when we saw that it had come less than fifty meters away from one staff members home here on campus. Fortunately they slept through the whole event as the rain was falling so hard on their tin roof that they could not hear anything else.

This is what the road looked like by our main gate.

A good section of the security fence was swept away as well. For years we have had dedicated staff trying their best to protect the forest that remains above the school here at Kijabe. Truly, if it were not for these people the hillside above us would be completely laid bare by wood poachers and the local community. Little do they realize that trees are a major piece of the puzzle in not only keeping water in the ground but keeping soil from sliding. It is hard because events like this are not thought of having a human influence – they just happen.

Please pray for the people affected. One family in particular lost three children as a mudslide took out their home further up the hill in a community that is well known to us. The roads that we have access to were hit hard as well. The main road has been restricted to small vehicle traffic and we feel it is a matter of time before it becomes completely impassable. Another route had a bridge completely washed away. The one other route that we have is absolutely horrible due to deep ruts and wash out since they are dirt. It is also leads to the only route for the way to overloaded trucks that barely make it up the steep escarpment. So the way is slow going. The government has been promising major work to be done on roads in this area for years due to the difficulty in getting to the hospital but nothing has come of it.

Here are some more pictures of the area. We are very thankful that things were not worse and that the slide went through an area that was mainly undeveloped.

This is the gully that the mud and debris tore through.

The signs of the wave of material left behind.

Elections, ICC trial, and volleyball try-outs

Well, it is the time of year that the elections for the new President of Kenya, the trial against the now newly elected president and deputy president of Kenya for crimes against humanity, and volleyball try-outs take place. Although these are each very different events they will have a very resounding impact our our lives here. This year the presidential elections were scheduled for March 4. This has been a highly anticipated event for just over a year now. Every single day for the past year and half the daily newspaper ran the ongoing soap opera of politicians jockeying for the roughly thirty-four million Kenyans to get caught up in their life saga. It was as if there was no other news in Kenya, or in the entire world for that matter, worthy of getting on the front page. Politicking here is very strange and even though we have lived here for about twelve years now it does not make any more sense than it did the first time we experienced it. During an election in Canada we would expect those running for office to set out a platform or agenda that would try and convince the population to vote for them for what they will do. It is different here and sometimes very confusing for our North American understanding. Corruption and graft are major issues and the way of life for the people who live here.

There was major concern about whether these elections in Kenya would be peaceful. There was little doubt that people here realized the major trouble that they put themselves in with a tourist industry that pretty much collapsed within a couple of weeks in 2008. It was actually reported that the people are the ones that get hurt not the rich politicians. We were not too concerned with the actual election and inevitable days of delays in reporting the results, which by all accounts, are suspicious. The real concern that we now have is the outcome of the ICC trial against the now president and deputy president of Kenya. For the past year we have been flabbergasted that a nation would allow not only one individual but two to run for the top office of the country while awaiting trial. Would it happen in Canada or the US? We believe that they are innocent until proven guilty but this has caused a lot of disbelief. The unfortunate thing is that the people here who are facing indictment believe that they are above the law which is very scary. The US has even said that they will not continue government relations with this government because of this reason. The real concern will come in May when the ICC will either acquit or find President Kenyatta and Deputy President Ruto guilty of crimes against humanity at which time they will most likely have to step down. That would not be a popular decision among the largest tribal group of which they align themselves with and Kenyans who see the ICC trial as “western intervention”. The most likely thing will be that they will not step down which will cause major problems. The potential to get ugly is much greater than a closely lost election as Kenyans feel that the West is telling them what to do. We are not excited about this possibility but we do pray for justice to be done for the sake of the over one thousand people killed and million uprooted because of a few powerful and rich peoples actions.

And then there are volleyball team tryouts that happen at this time preparing for next terms international schools season. Seems kind of trivial but it is both an exciting time and a very stressful time. Not that there will be “post volleyball tryout violence” but it does take a toll on the students and Todd when decisions are made about who will be on the team. This year he had the privilege of having 24 boys come out to see if they had what it takes to play. He was very impressed and was glad that there were so many that had the desire to play. But it had to come down to make a decision about the guys who would make varsity and junior varsity teams. It was very difficult and he had to take another workout session to see who would make the teams. It is never a job that he enjoys but he really wanted to respect those who come out and try their best. So this year he has eight seniors and two juniors selected to play on the varsity. This is not normal as last year only one senior played so this sets up a large turn over for next year but hopefully a strong team this year.

If you get a chance please pray for all three of these events. In some ways they are as different from each other as one could get but in others ways they are very similar. Please pray for peace, unity and teamwork. It is so important and even more so now as we consider the things that could go wrong in each of these areas. Individuals in any of these three events can play for themselves or for the good of the whole. Unfortunately we have seen individuals playing for their own benefit in the run up to this current election. The volleyball team will be also looking at what competition is and working through that as a team. This will be a huge thing. Todd will need the wisdom to speak clearly and the team will need the patience to listen and understand. We are blessed to live here and strive to teach not only knowledge but life skills that go with individuals out into the world. We also continue to pray that the elected officials will do what is right and best for the people of Kenya. Thanks for joining with us in your prayers as well. We value that very much.

Banquet 2013 – Titanic

Well, we have tackled probably the single biggest event in the life of an RVA student. The junior class puts on a banquet for the seniors to show their appreciation and to honour the seniors for making it this far. It is not just any banquet though. There is a building that we use that completely gets a “makeover” with a whole new set. There is a drama and food and entertainment. With a background in construction Todd got to head this committee up. At first it was a novel idea but soon it became apparent that the students had big ideas and yet no experience. Trying to guide and instruct what ideas would be good and what ones would not was a real test. By the time construction was to begin he had to have much of the materials there ready to go. He then became project manager which was a fancy term for gopher. Little did he know that the students had underestimated just how much material was needed and quickly found himself trying to stay within a budget that looked good at the beginning but threatened to go way over. The experience though that these students got in planning and executing their plans was priceless. In a place where many of them will never get a chance to have a job any work experience is valuable. This years theme was “Titanic” so we built the set like the main dining room with a grand staircase and balcony. The drama and food was very good and the seniors were very appreciative of the quality of everything. Then after the 60 hours of building everything we took everything down the next day in six hours to return the building to what it is normally used for. We all had a great time though and really enjoyed the students company. On to senior store which we will introduce you to shortly… Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.