Rainy Season.

From Monday, June 18:


It's rainy season here in Kenya, which means each afternoon usually holds a shower or two.  It also means lots of mud.  Red, thick mud.  Everywhere.

  

The mud is often worth the trade though, as the rain brings sweet relief from the hot sun.  I've asked many what this place looks like in dry season, and their response is always that it is just more brown, nowhere near as lush.  So, while my feet seem to be forever mud red, I am thankful for the rain and the fruit it brings.  I'm thankful that it is the Lord that sends rain and causes new life to grow.  He is doing for the children at Mattaw just what He is doing for the 

grass here.  He is giving them new life, making them strong, fruitful. 

Playing, rain or shine!

Joshua

Don't even think about tracking those through the house.

I'm thankful for the very small part the Lord has allowed me in sowing His field here.  God laid the foundation long ago, and has used the Huffmans in a mighty way to continue building upon it.  I'm ever-grateful for how the experience of coming alongside them for a short time has changed me, stirring in me the compelling love of Jesus and a greater desire to see all the nations praise Him.  I am reminded that my life is not my own; it is not about me.  It is the Lord who will have his way.  He calls his believers to be obedient in serving him, but it is He who determines the outcome of all.  May it ever be so.  I pray for the Lord's presence to remain close to me, my family, friends, and those here at Mattaw—that we will remain faithful, walking in His ways so that His glory will reign like the rain, if you will, over all the Earth.

This is my prayer for the children here now and for those to come. Like sweet Peter, a six year old, orphaned street boy rescued today by Kim and Bud.  He has been sleeping on the streets near any available security guard in town.  I pray God's love and mercy will shower the life of this child.     

A friend wrote this scripture to me in a letter recently.  Paul's words seem very fitting.

   “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.  For we are God's fellow workers.  You are God's field, God's building.”

1 Corinthians 3:6-9

Hiding out under the ledge.

Franco catching raindrops.

A Little Behind...

Just a heads up...The posts to come were written while I was in Kenya.  I just didn't have a chance to post them while there, so here they are now.  Thanks for reading!

Please read and pray.

I'm writing today to ask you to please read two posts from Kim's blog: "Hero" and "Let Justice Reign. Let Love Win."  Both will tell you of the story of Esnas, a 19 year old suffering from disease, abuse, and malnourishment in the hospital, as well as another precious one, two year old Sharon.  Both are currently being cared for in the hospital.  The burden is great, but like Kim writes, we entrust them to Jesus.  Please join with many here and pray for their healing in the name of Jesus, and for provision towards their great medical bills.  As you pray, ask God if he would have you give on behalf of Esnas.  Pray like Paul does for the church at Ephesus, that those ministering here would gain deep insight into the Lord's powerful working, the rich gifts of Christ, and the saving knowledge of Him.

"The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,

may give you the Spirit of wisdom an dog revelation in the knowledge of him,

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is

the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious

inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of

his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great

might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and

seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and

authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named not 
only in this age but also in the one to come.  
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to 
the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."

Ephesians 1:17-23

We submit to the Lord and trust His ways, for ourselves and for the many who are suffering on this earth, including Esnas.  We are thankful to Jesus for the grace, love, provision, healing, protection, deliverance, and power he demonstrates to us all the time.  I praise Jesus because his love is so compelling, unlike any other, and his power is so great, conquering all, and given freely to me and all who believe.    

Psalm 100

The preschoolers at Mattaw are memorizing Psalm 100.  They recite it and learn a little more each day, and I love hearing this psalm of praise and thanksgiving come from their lips.  While George Collins and I were having a grass tossing fight this afternoon after school, he agreed to say it again for me.  Little man is quite the charmer.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, 

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100

Let all the nations praise Him!

Schooled.

God is so good to allow me the privilege of being at Mattaw and the school.  He is teaching me more of what it means to die to self and love those in front of me; and that even when that is hard or uncomfortable, His glory is greater and better.  It's funny, I'm here to teach, but feel I am actually learning more each day.

School is going great; being there and working with other teachers toward a goal just energizes me completely.  I loved coming in today and seeing Peris using some of the phonics teaching techniques we discussed the previous day.  The children seem to love it, too.

Peris making it happen.

The longer I'm here, the more I find myself talking in this metered, robotic British-Alabamian over-accented voice.  (Somewhere my dear friend Vivian is laughing.  This has happened before.)  It's weird, but since I don't know Swahili, sometimes it helps in communicating with the teachers and students.  Other times, it doesn't matter at all--like yesterday when I told the teachers that if there was a difficult subject and they would like for me to model a lesson, I'd be glad to do it if they'd tell me the day before so I could prepare.  I used my new Kenyan accent, but the whole "day before" thing didn't go through, apparently.  I spent today teaching four on-the-spot hour-long lessons. The invitation went something like this, "Teacher Courtney, come in."  I go in.  "Here, teach us the letters now."  Ha.  It was a surprise, but it was incredibly fun.  Again, the Lord continually provides.  I think my favorite lesson was on long and short vowel sounds, taught to the mid-level class.  Teacher Helen grabbed my camera off the desk and took the liberty of snapping a few shots.

Hello, Kenya!  These are post-its.

White teacher look crazy, y'all.

Teaching in Kenya is an awesome privilege.  It's challenging, but my favorite part of the day.  School is filled with lots of sweet moments with students and teachers--Like working one-on-one with Eunice.  I've been working with her in math and writing to model differentiation techniques to the teachers.  Eunice is one of His precious ones, and I adore her.  She and I finished the day by snuggling up on the stoop and reading.  I'm thankful for this day and my time here, and looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow.

Rainbow Fish is a hit no matter where you are.

Eunice.

The Lord Provides.

Now that the Student Life teams are around Mattaw, students are only going to school for half days.  The teachers and I then work together in the afternoons.  

I observed again in the school on Monday morning, and was even able to help teach phonics.  To be honest, after I left the school for the first time last Friday, I had no idea what to do with the teachers.  The school was very different from what I expected, and the cultural differences made me much more nervous than I expected.  So, I spent much of the weekend just staring at the professional development book I brought with me and praying that God would give me ears to hear his voice for what to do.
The Huffman's have a sign hanging in their living room that reads, "Where the Lord guides, the Lord provides."  This proved so true this week.  I went into Monday morning without a clue as to what the teachers needed.  Then, as we worked through the morning, the Lord provided greatly. 

The teachers and I talked about their vision for their students and the school.  We also discussed what it takes to be a strong teacher and teach strong lessons.  I shared with them some of my hope for them.  We realized a great need was some professional development in English language instruction.

So today, tuesday, we reviewed basic phonics--vowel and consonant sounds and blends--and then review the four Design Qualities based on the work of Phillip Schlechty to begin adapting and enhancing the ACE lesson plans for the children at Mattaw.  I modeled an adapted lesson plan for them and they were very excited.  My prayer is that God will give them strength and confidence to step out and try new things in their instruction, and that the students would be ever at the forefront of their minds.  I am trusting that the Lord will provide all this in the same way he already has.  

Meeting with the six teachers at Mattaw.

I also had a chance today to do a little redecorating around Mattaw.  Using some of the materials given by coworkers and friends at home, we've started adding things to the walls to make this place look more like a school.  God has great things in the works!

Upper grades classroom.

Preschool classroom.

Amen.

Sunday.

Sunday at Mattaw has been may favorite day here so far.  Hands down.  It was a day of restful and refreshing celebration.

Church was fantastic.  Chairs were pushed aside to make room for dancing and singing.  It was a different experience from the "church" I know at home.  We danced and sang songs of Jesus.  Most of the time I didn't even know what I was saying, but I knew Who the praise was going to.  It is a beautiful thing to participate in praising God in another tongue.  Bud preached a great word from Matthew about our lives reflecting who we say we believe Jesus to be.  

After lunch we ate lunch together and spent the day relaxing and playing outside with the children. Time spent talking with the children is when I learn the most about life here in Kenya.  Juma and I sat for over an hour and sorted beans and talked about his dreams for the future.  He wants "to be a brave missionary and go the the places where it is dangerous to tell about Jesus."  He is only thirteen, and demonstrates a great understanding of the Gospel.  Juma is proof that children can understand the Gospel, and therefore should be loved on and discipled in the Word.  

Juma sorting beans.

Maureen and me.

Playing with balloons.

Franco and Daniel.

Look who's not scared of white people anymore!!  Way to go, Junior!

Towards the end of the afternoon, we celebrated this month's birthdays at Mattaw.  It was a huge celebration!  Keela and Anna baked tie-dyed cakes, bought gifts for the children, and decorated the church.  Bud reminded us all that we celebrate birthdays because we celebrate life.  We sang to Josephine, Mary, Phillip, and Juma and then watched them open their gifts of new clothes and sweets.  We ended the celebration with a tradition that I'm very glad has made its way to Kenya--cake!!!

Happy Birthday to Josephine, Mary, Phillip, and Juma!