I'm sorry we have been so delinquent in keeping this blog up to date. We finally arrived at RVA on August 16th, approximately ten days later than our original scheduled arrival date. We had to hit the ground with our feet running. Although our apartment was graciously furnished by our sponsor family before arriving here, there were still many things to be done before making it a home. After arriving in Nairobi, and before arriving at RVA, we were taken to the market in Nairobi, to purchase food and supplies that we would need over the next several weeks. You can imagine trying to think of everything we would need for the next several weeks even before arriving and seeing our apartment. Many of the food items come in different packaging and are brand names that we were not familiar with, but we managed to to set up our pantry in a reasonable fashion. We have been to Nairobi twice since arriving, and are now more familiar with what is available when shopping. Nairobi is about an hour drive from RVA. We do not have a car here and must rely on someone else going in and try to hitch a ride with them. Yesterday we hired a taxi along with another missionary to go into Nairobi.
We have been assigned as dorm parents to eighteen senior high school girls. In the short time that we have been here we have already grown to love each one of them. Besides the girls in our dorms we have also adopted many of their friends as our own, since they also spend a lot of time in the dorm visiting. Each is girl is special, coming from backgrounds of many cultures throughout Africa as their parents serve as missionaries in different countries. There are many missionaries from Korea on this continent, and several of our girls are Korean. Because English is a second language for them, the courses can be more difficult. In their culture, getting into a good university is even more of a priority than it is in the States, and a lot of pressure is put on them to do well by their families. Please pray for Ha En, Chester, Hannah, and Julie, as they apply to college this year and complete their studies at RVA.
Each week we have a dorm meeting with each of the girls as a group where we discuss expectations that we have for them, have devotions with them, and then a time of fellowship and treats. We usually build a fire for everyone to sit around during this time, in order to make it feel more like home for them. Please pray that as we share God's word with them that He will use us to make a difference in their lives, and that we may help them prepare for the difference in culture they will face when leaving family and RVA for college at the end of the year.
No one at RVA has only one job assigned to them, since there are more jobs to fill than there are available missionaries. Many are coaches, teachers, sponsors, or organize activities besides their main jobs. Besides being dorm parents we have been given other assignments to fill. Debbie is teaching two classes of Spanish 2, and one class of Spanish 3. She is spending a lot of time grading papers, working with her students and preparing lessons for the next day. Please pray that she will not be overwhelmed with the preparations for these classes. She spends many late nights preparing. I have been assigned to to help run the school store which is called the Arcade. The Arcade is essentially the student school supply store, which also sells some treats to the students such as ice cream and soda.
I have been teaching a tenth grade boys Sunday school class. The young men at RVA have not been allowed to have exclusive relationships with the girls until the tenth grade, but that is now being moved down to include the ninth grade. The material in the class is to show them what qualities that God expects christian men to exemplify in there daily lives.
This coming week many of the students are signing up for "Outreach". This is a time where they will be reaching out in the surrounding communities in some type of service. I will be joining five other men as we each lead a group of nine boys down to an IDP camp. IDP stands for Internal Displaced People. During the last elections there much violence in Kenya. Many of the people from different tribes were killed and many were forced off of lands where they were living if they happened to be from a different tribe other than the one than that the land belonged to. These people lost all their that they owned and were forced to live in these camps. They have very little and many are malnourished. A national man whom I work with at the Arcade has started a church at the camp, and each Sunday takes boiled eggs and porridge to feed several hundred children. Although he relies on some donations from the staff here, many times the cost of this comes out of his own meager resources. I will try to get some pictures during the outreach and post them for you on our next update.
Please pray for Jon as he ministers to these displaced people and that funds will come in to cover the cost of feeding these children. Pray also for the health of the staff and students. There have been many who have been ill over the last several weeks.
