Our Kenya stay is rapidly coming to a close.

Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;  his mercies never come to an end; they are new  every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Debbie and I remarked a few days ago that our term here at RVA is rapidly coming to a close. It is bitter-sweet for us, since we do miss seeing our children and grandchildren and friends back home, but we have really grown to love our dorm-daughters also and would love to be here to see them graduate next year. We have truly been blessed to get to be dorm parents to some wonderful girls these past two years and to get to meet know other wonderful students not in our dorm while here at RVA. I am encouraged in the future of God's church. Perhaps the Lord will call us back here during third term next year.

We are at midterm of the third term and the school year here will be officially over on July 16th.  Graduation will be on July 17th.  After graduation we will be moving furniture, cleaning our apartment for the new missionary who will be coming, and packing to return home. We fly out on the 21st of July and will spend a ten days visiting one of Debbie's RVA classmates in Germany and using a Eurail pass to travel around Germany and Switzerland before heading back to the States on August 1st.

I chose Lamentations 3:22-23 as a verse to start this blog because if I had to sum up our two years here in Kenya, I couldn't say it better than quoting this verse. His mercies have been new every morning and God has been faithful to us. He has blessed us in so many ways and has continually been faithful to meet all our needs by providing those people who have made our experience here possible. Thank you.

This term has been a busy but wonderful for us.  We have been able to connect again with Colleen Davis, and  our daughter, Christine, came out for a short term mission trip with five others from her church.

Colleen arrived a few days before the end of second term, and was able to get to know some of the dorm girls before they left on break. She was a great help to the nurses in Student Health while here and was also able to visit patients with some of the nurses in palliative care down in Kijabe Hospital. John Karanja was able to show her his ministry with the people down in the IDP camps. It was not all work, since she also got to climb Mount Longonot with some of the RVA students. Colleen has been supporting a young lady in Narok, Kenya through Compassion International, and was to travel to Narok to meet her "adopted" girl and family.  We were fortunate enough to spend some rest and relaxation time with her as we took a safari to the Masai Mara to see some of the animals.

On Safari at the Mara

On the border of Tanzania and Serengeti

Dinner at Sekenani Camp

Above Longonot Crater

A hug at the IDP Camp

Kijabe hospital

Visiting with Grace's family in Narok

Jeff our Masai guide

Following Colleen's visit our daughter returned to Kenya with a team of five people from her church in Baltimore. One of the purposes of their trip was to see what type of mission projects the church might be able to help support here in Kenya. One of the mission projects that they raised money for before coming was kenyakidscan.org.

Grace United Methodist Team

This project is administered by Mark Daubenmier, who is one of the math teachers here at RVA, and helps feed a meal each school day to several public schools here in Kenya.  Many of these children are malnourished and since the feeding program began, attendance at school has dramatically increased. Over 18,000 are fed each school day by the program. Because of the weather in Kenya there has been a shortage of grain and lentils and the cost to continue the feeding program went up several thousands of dollars this term. The donation from the church which the team members brought was able to meet the difference in the cost of food.

Presenting a check to Mark Daubenmier

 In addition to feeding the school children the project places computer centers in the schools. While visiting  the Ewaso school out in the middle of Massai land we were able to paint one of the computer centers and meet some of the students and visit the home of one student.

Computer Center painted

Visiting one of the student's home

Georgia with some of the student's family

One of the team members from Baltimore was a young lady named Georgia.  Before coming she presented her trip to her school.  The students at the school collected school supplies for some of the children here in Kenya. Over 250 packets of school supplies were donated and put together, and Georgia was able to give these to the children in the IDP camp.  Many of these children cannot afford to purchase their own uniforms and school supplies to attend public school.

Buying Unga for the IDP Camp

Tim with a friend

Visiting Gladys's home

An Ostirch Egg

Georgia giving out school packets

Two  additional projects that the group from Baltimore took on were to make curtains for the rooms of our dorm girls and to collect about 150 children's books to be given to the libraries of Kijabe children's hospital and Kenya Kids Can. It was interesting to see God's provision in the fact that so many of the color schemes of the curtains coordinated well with the decor of the girls' rooms. The girls were very pleased when they got back from vacation and saw them!

Preparing the curtains for the dorm

Learning how to throw a knife with Ted Rabenold

With Steven Mwaura

At Lake Naivasha

Third term is a busy term for the junior and senior students at RVA. Following banquet last term the junior class took over the senior store. This involves making hundreds of donuts, and making breakfast and lunches for the students and school visitors to purchase and usually is run when many visitors will be on campus for either sporting events or other occasions. The proceeds of the store goes into a fund to support their class Senior Safari next year. Of course many other things such as band and choir tour, SAT and ACT exams all add to the pressure of third term. Continue to pray spiritual growth and that the students here will finish the school year strong.

Debbie and I along with other staff members had the opportunity to lead several of the students in Outreach programs again this term. This gives the school and students an opportunity to get involved with people outside the school and in the local communities. Debbie went with a group of girls to the women's prison in Naivasha. They taught the women how to crochet rag rugs, polished their nails and interacted with the children who live with their mothers there. I went with a group to paint some classrooms at the local Kijabe public primary school.

 Pray also for the support and health of the  staff here at RVA and especially for a dear friend of mine, Steve McLaverty who just had major surgery for a cancerous lesion. Last but not least, please pray that the Lord will show Debbie and me where He would have us serve as we transition back to the States.