I’ve officially been here in Kenya for one year. Right now, I’m sitting in JKIA Airport in Nairobi, waiting to board a flight to visit family and be in a friend’s wedding back home.

I’m not quite sure yet how, but I know this year has changed me. I know this, because this past weekend as I checked out at the cash register of a grocery store right after my friend who joined RVA just in April, the guy cashing me out said, “Your friend. She is just visiting. You are more Kenyan.” I was so shocked I didn’t think to ask him what he meant, or how he knew I’d been here about 9 months longer than she had. There have been ups and downs, but since my first day of my very first teaching position I’ve regularly said: I have the best job in the world.

Now that I’ve actually lived on the other side of the world, I still think it’s true. Being here at RVA has certainly been different than in many ways from when I taught at Southfield Christian School in Southfield, Michigan, but in many ways, it has been exactly the same. The thing that didn’t change was the love the Lord cultivates in my heart for each group of students that sit in front of me.

They always ask, “Are we your favorite class period?!” I can truly say, “I don’t have a favorite.” I compare it to ice-cream. The one thing I never pick the same flavor of. There are days I love mocha flavored ice cream. Other days, I want coconut, butter pecan, blue moon, or chocolate fudge brownie! I love them all, each one gives me a different type of joy and happiness, and I pick a different choice depending on the day. My classes are a lot like that. Today, my favorite was 7th period, but yesterday it was 2nd and tomorrow it may be 4th. It’s the students that fill these classes that make my job the best in the world. Let me tell you about a few 🙂

R, JK, S and more-

“Hi, this is Amy!” I answer as my house phone rings. “Hi, this is R.”

“Who?”

“R- I’m the one who asked you if you could go camping with me a couple of weeks ago?”

Oh yes. I remember! She came in during my prep period to see if I would be their adult. You see, students are allowed to camp in the woods just on the other side of the fence, but if it’s a group of all ladies, or a mixed gender group of students, they need adult chaperones. R is a senior, and she had been working hard for weeks to coordinate a camping trip with some of her friends before she graduated, and she just couldn’t find an adult to go with her.

“I am so sorry R, I have upper field duty on Friday.” I’d signed up early in the term for this Friday, to monitor one of our “venues” for a “venue night” where students can choose from a number of locations on campus to hang out in the evening after normal curfew hours. As I lay in bed that night falling asleep, it occurred to me that instead of just saying no, I could ask someone else to cover my upper field duty so I could go camping! This poor girl had been asking for three weeks in lots of different methods, any staff member, and just kept coming up dry. And so, I started sending out texts, it only took three but I got someone! My sweet neighbor and friend Alexis was willing!

The next morning I reached out to R’s dorm mom to pass on the message. Such began the frenzied planning and gathering. We couldn’t share tents since girls from three different dorms were coming and we’re still in strict COVID protocols. Hammocks and open air it was. R found a kettle we could heat water up in for tea, hot chocolate and coffee the next morning, and I pulled together pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, campfire popcorn, and smores for a late night campfire snack.

Friday at 6pm after a cafo dinner, R (a senior) and five freshman girls showed up on my front stoop for the short walk up to our campsite at the chai spot! We carried sleeping bags, blankets, and tons of extra layers to keep us warm as the sun set and the temperature dropped below 55 degrees fahrenheit. As the girls gathered firewood, I set up the hammock rain fly I had borrowed as an attempt to keep possible rain from drenching us as we’re in the height of rainy season and it had rained both of the nights before.

The sun set and the fire smoldered as we continually fed it with small sticks. Sitting around the fire, the question came, “Miss Galloway, will you tell us your story?” Mallows in their bellies and fresh popcorn popping, I shared once again the story of the Lords kindness and grace in bringing me here, but then I reciprocated, “I want some of you to tell me your stories now!”

Most of the girls parents are missionaries in the same part of Mozambique, and they quickly started sharing stories. Some of the stories broke my heart as the people groups their families work with so desperately need Jesus in the middle of some of the difficult-to-swallow cultural traditions that abound. Some of the stories filled me with awe at the maturity of these girls and how they handle the hard pieces of living in the middle of that same culture. Some of their stories blew me away at their incredible reliance on God.

One girl’s family recently went on home assignment, and she was sharing about the transitions from Mozambique to the US, back again, and then into settling into RVA. She discussed how hard it was for each group of relationships to shift right as she was starting to finally feel part of, and how that has taught her to rely heavily on Jesus and trust him more.

Another girl shared how she has been praying for revival on campus and remembers recently praying for a particular senior boy on campus as she walked past him, and how cool it had been when that same student had shared a powerful testimony in chapel just a couple of days ago about how God had been moving and working in his heart. She sat there in awe of the power of prayer, feeling humbled to have been able to see that prayer for revival in this student answered so soon already.

Another one of the students asked so intentionally, “Miss Galloway, how do you pursue single-mindedness?” wondering how to keep her focus on the Lord and not be distracted by the cute boys around her, and how not to be so concerned about the opinions of her peers when she hears them talking and passing judgement.

As we settled into our spots for the night after we ran out of sticks to add to the fire, one of the girls asks if we could pray before we went to sleep. I lay there in my hammock wrapped up like a cocoon listening to their prayers and praising God in my heart for these girls incredible strong faith, feeling like I was the one being blessed for having been invited to go camping with these six lovely ladies who I really didn’t know just 6 hours before.

Would you pray for these ladies as they head back home to Mozambique next week? It’s a difficult culture for them to live in as coming-of-age young women whose experiences are so different from those of American teenagers. Would you pray that I would be able to mentor them next year? One of them asked specifically, and I would love to be able to do life with her, being there for her and supporting her on a regular basis. Would you pray that God would continue to work in their hearts and draw them to himself? These girls truly are iron sharpening iron as they point each other to Jesus, sharing their experiences and what their learning with each

J & JL-

My relationship with these two tall lanky Kenyan guys started on the first day of class. The last four years of teaching in the metro Detroit area has made me very comfortable teaching students who don’t look like me- these two guys from day one were easy for me to talk to because they reminded me of some students I missed from back home. We quickly settled into a pattern of easy banter and friendly teasing. Our relationships continued to grow as they often found themselves in my classroom after school, especially on test days, usually to complain about how hard Chemistry is. One of our post-test rehash sessions changed gears quickly when I found myself staring at JL’s shirt and the question bubbling out, “Is there a llama smoking pot on your shirt?!”

Turns out it was a camel, and he was smoking hookah (tobacco based middle eastern tradition) but it diverted our conversation to a really interesting discussion! We talked about image, and what messages are sent, versus the need for people to get to know us as a person and image not bearing a huge role on who we actually are. We talked about drugs, (obviously), and the idea of overindulgence verses moderation and the applications it has in so many areas (food, TV, alcohol etc.). Our time together ended with the question, “So Miss Galloway- you keep having the girls over for dinner. When are you going to feed us?” We decided on Friday, and Lasagna was requested!

I set up in the usual COVID-friendly spot, outside on my front porch overlooking my open yard where the sun sets just over the hedge. Pasta, veggies and no bake cookies were at the read!. I was fairly sure these two would bring a couple of friends so I prepared a feast, which just the two of them still managed to almost polish clean! We chatted idly until finally one of them asked “So, how’d you end up in Kenya?” I smiled as I inquired, “You want the short version or the long version?” With nowhere to be, they decided they wanted to hear it all. Long version it was.

As I shared one of my favorite stories of the Lord’s clear hand of direction on my life, I watched J’s eyes light up as he ate up every word. This wasn’t the usual vacant stare he gave me from the back row of chem class, eyelids beginning to droop in what I lovingly refer to as the “long blink.”

“Wow.” he finally says. “Sometimes I wonder how God just talks to people like that. I want him to talk to me like that.”

Talking to some of the girls, I hear things about the guys sometimes- not details, just snippets of who they are when the teachers aren’t around. This night, I saw a side of these guys I don’t think the girls know exist- the side I hope the Lord continues to cultivate and shape into godly young men who are strong leaders in their friend groups and home communities.

Would you pray for J and JL? That their hunger for the Lord would grow to be as big as their hunger for my homemade lasagna? Would you pray that as they would be as iron sharpens iron, pushing each other closer to the Lord instead of further away? Would you pray that the arguements they make, and the questions they ask would delve deep into their hearts, not just be the “right words” they know their supposed to say around adults?

D, Z, A, and of course… another J 🙂

NOW HAPPENING: INTRAMURAL VOLLEYBALL SIGN-UPS! MIDDLE SCHOOL AND 9TH THROUGH ADULT

I saw it in the student announcements and knew three things instantly.

1. I wanted to play.
2. If I wanted to play, I needed to be on a team with students
3. I needed to ask the students TODAY before they made teams and nobody had room left for me.

I contemplated and chose wisely. D is in my first period, he was on my interim trip back in March, he is really good at volleyball and is the nicest person you’ll ever meet. He wouldn’t say no. I was right… he didn’t 😉

And so the Baked Potatoes were birthed. Clever as I thought I was, I decided our chant should be “GET MASHED!” Most of us were okay with it, and we tried to get it to catch on. I didn’t understand why it wasn’t quite working until Z came up and said, “Guys, I don’t like that cheer… it feels rude to me. Like we’re not being very good sports.” I was really impressed with his awareness of the people on the other team, and how he wanted to honor them in kindness. POOOOO-TA-TOES it was.

We laughed, we screamed, we won, we lost. It was so neat for me to watch the guys encourage each other, and call each other out when they got too competitive. One particular day, I was missing the ball more than usual, and one of the guys was getting particularly worked up. One of the other two on our team came up to me after, chatting, making sure I wasn’t offended that his friend had gotten so mad at me (in all honesty, I actually hadn’t noticed the full extent of his frustration because I was just having so much fun). He assured me he would talk to his friend and remind him of the need to keep his frustration in check so he wouldn’t be disrespectful towards me in his frustration.

I was so impressed with this students awareness to help his friend work through the frustration, and his desire to honor me as his teacher.

The frustrated student? He came up to me later with the sweetest apology. The insight, kindness, and humility of these students far surpasses what I expect to see in 17 year old guys. There was one day where D and I sat by the courts watching the next game just chatting. He was telling me about the elective classes he picked. Some people pick things like Art and Pottery… fluff classes. Nope. D chose “Leadership Development” and “C.S Lewis Literature,” classes that require work and would intentionally challenge his thinking and character.

Watching this team of Baked Potatoes has shown me how important the friendships of these students here are with each other. They have adults that are here for them, that care, that pour into and invest in their lives, but ultimately, the people who have the most impact on these students is each other. When things are hard, it’s their roommate who gets the breakdown. It’s the kid across the hall who offers advice and counsel. It’s their girlfriend/boyfriend who speaks life into their darkest times.

Would you pray that these students, D, Z, A & J from my team would continue to be able to sharpen each other? That they would be able to mentor underclassmen and point them to Christ? That these students who have such a rich love for Jesus would be able to share that and leverage their leadership qualities to build up the lives of those around them? That I would be able to continue to mentor and love them so that it will trickle down into those in their classes and dorms?

As we wrapped up this term, which ends the academic school year, I watched as 92 faces sat in front of me for the last time. They asked me to sign their yearbook, I asked them to sign mine. I’m going to miss seeing many of these students walk through my door each day, but look forward to continuing to grow these relationships and many others outside the classroom.

With six weeks of rest ahead of me, I’m hoping for time to sit, think, reflect and pray. I hope to use this time to keep decorating my house (let me tell you- it’s a process y’all), spend time with my family, and spend time with the Lord. I’m hoping to get geared up and ready for another school year, for meeting new students, and for meeting and welcoming new neighbors as another wave of new staff settles into life at RVA.

I’m not the new person anymore. In the next couple of weeks, if you hear me say “Sawa” or “Asante” or “Ndeo” just know I’m thinking of my time here and telling you, okay… thank you… yes. I am doing “okay”. I am “thankful” for my time I’ve had, seeing the Lord’s faithfulness lived out in His work here, and “yes,” I am looking forward to another year of doing life with the incredible students the Lord has placed in front of me.

Prayer Points

• Welp. Please pray for ALL of my students, but the few mentioned here I’ve already listed some specific ways they could use prayer 🙂
• Please pray for sweet time with friends and family while I’m stateside for a couple of weeks- there are things I’m looking forward to, but things I am nervous about, especially when it comes to those things that have changed, both in me, and in those I’ll be spending time with.
• Please pray for a time of rest and renewal in the Lord, so I can come back ready to rock and roll year two at RVA!