By the Mercy of God
This morning as I stepped into the shower I was thanking God for another day when I was suddenly swept up by the magnitude of God’s mercy. Another day of life, the ability to walk, water, hot water, food, the sun shining outside. And as I walked to my Bible Survey class, the absolute privilege I have to dig into God’s Word, our life, with my students was not something I’m taking for granted. It’s not because I’m anything special – I’m not! It’s sheer mercy – and it’s glorious!
“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.”
2 Corinthians 4:1
We are now three weeks into a new term and a new year (where has the time gone?). Here now is a long overdue update on life and ministry! Josh is now in his senior year and Sophie is a junior here at RVA.
Besides our main roles in Student Health for Lilli and academic support and teaching at Moffat Bible College for Jonathan, there are many other privileges that God has given us to support the ministry at RVA.
One other big role we have is to sponsor the senior class. This involves supporting the class officers as they plan activities, participating in Class Nights and Caring Communities to get to know and encourage them, as well as helping the class as a whole put on larger events like Banquet last year, and Senior Store (making and selling food like donuts, burgers, taco salad, Japanese noodles, and ice-cream to the RVA community) this year. Next weekend is our first Store and I’m sure they are going to do a great job!
One of the harder jobs at a boarding school is stepping into the role of a parent to the students in a dorm. Of course they don’t take the place of their own parents, but RVA dorm parents bear a huge responsibility that is pretty much 24/7. One way we support the dorm parents of a Jr. High girls dorm is to cover the dorm for a couple hours each Thursday night so they can have the evening off. We arrive at 7:00pm, help them through study hall, have devotions and spend time getting to know them, feed them a snack, and then make sure they are in bed by around 9:30.
Last Sunday we had our first Sunday School with eight tenth grade girls. Most of them are Kenyan. It was such a blessing to be given some time and space to get to know these girls better. We will be spending this term going through Dane Ortlund’s new book, Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners. We’re already off to a great start!
We can wholeheartedly say that we are where God wants us to be, doing what he has created us to do for his glory – which brings us great joy! We have this ministry by the mercy of God so we do not lose heart – even when it’s hard at times. And you are God’s means of us serving here. We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you!
Thankfully Pray
- Praise God for his life-giving mercy!
- Thankful to begin a new year at Rift Valley Academy
- Currently we have no COVID cases on campus
- Pray for some dear staff families who are going through a hard season
- Pray that our eyes would be fixed on the goodness of Jesus, to know him and what he’s done for us in a deeper way, and that this would lead us to naturally and joyfully surrender more and more of our lives to his leading.
- Continue to pray for Kathie, Lilli’s mom, who is dealing with cancer. So thankful that she is tolerating a new cancer drug! Please pray that it stops the spread of her cancer.
Snapshots
