The 7th Inning Stretch

I cannot believe that I am 2 months out from my final departure date from Kenya and the life I have come to know here. As my time is winding down, it is not quite over yet and so I must, as the title implies, stand, look around, stretch, and take full advantage of my last opportunities to love and serve the students here at Uhuru Academy, as well as at Green Valley International and Kamandura Girls.

Although term 3 this year is much much shorter than term 2 was, it is jam packed full of different series and lesson planning for all of our after school activities! More than ever before, I want to make any last effort through these plans to instill the truth about the gospel into these students, leaving nothing untouched or left out. It is in these activities that I have grown to love, cherish, and adore these beautiful young faces and where I will hold memories for the rest of my life.

To give you an update on all that we are learning about this term, here is a brief overview of our clubs at Uhuru Academy! In GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Club that consists of our Form 2s and 3s (Sophomores  and Juniors) we have been learning about budgeting, finances, debt, and planning for university. We also just started a new series on "How to Know Your Rights and Advocate for Them." In this series, we looked at the Bill of Rights of the Kenyan Constitution and the importance of knowing your rights. We will be focusing specifically on the rights to education, rights of women, and rights as human beings. Especially in third world countries, women tend to be marginalized, and because of that, uneducated. Our hope at Uhuru is that these young ladies will leave Uhuru knowing exactly who they are and who they want to be, being knowledgeable of all obstacles and how to overcome them through this knowledge. 

Knowledge is power and education is freedom!

Teamwork!

In the Form 1 (freshman) GLOW Club, we have been learning about peer pressure and the different forms it can take, how to say "no", self-esteem and how it relates to peer pressure,  gender roles in traditional and modern society, and bride price. 

In Kenya, it is still a very common custom before marriage for the bridegroom to pay a bride price or dowry and often times, this money goes to the men of the family, who sometimes were not involved in rearing the bride at all. In this GLOW lesson, we will learn about the implications of the bride price on the way we view women, how different tribes' dowry customs work, and how to fight for gender equality on all sides of bride price (not just the bride but for her female guardian if she has one) without losing tradition and culture.

In Bible study at Uhuru Academy we started by just getting in the Word together.Teaching them how to read, understand, and apply the bible is a skill we hope they will carry with them for the rest of their lives and teach their children. In addition, we also have a video series we are going through called, "Joshua: Be Strong and Courageous" that basically teaches us as young people how to persevere and accomplish what God has called us to do even in the face of huge obstacles or challenges. 

In Discussion group, we just finished a series called, "Life On Mission" where we learned what our call as Christians looks like. We talked about how we are called to not only share the love of Christ with people verbally, but also through our actions, deeds, suffering, and victories. Also in discussion group, we will be talking about corruption in all parts of society, subjective vs,. objective media and propaganda, gender roles in the home and society, and internet safety and public appearance. We are trying to focus on areas of interest that the girls come in contact with everyday, hopefully equipping them with knowledge on how to think for themselves, form their own conclusions, and make educated decisions in their lives.

Margaret and Felicia

Lastly at Uhuru, during Chapel we are going through the book of Romans, which is my favorite book of the whole Bible! I am super excited about getting to share my love for this letter of Paul with these girls and all that it speaks to us as believers. We are going deep into the gospel and what it means for our lives and how we are called to live no matter who we are. Paul wrote this book to the Jews AND Gentiles in Rome who had different beliefs on all kinds of issues. This book brings together different backgrounds and shows us how the gospel plays into every aspect of our lives no matter where we come from!

Ruth, an Uhuru Girl, showing off her confidence!
And just one of my favorite pics!

At Kamandura Girls, we have had a GLOW Club for a year now and this term we are teaching them our "What is Beauty?" series. So many times Christine and I get asked about our physical appearances and they will tell us sometimes they wish they had our hair or skin color or whatever it is. We hope this series has a transforming effect on their view of beauty that no longer conforms to what the media tells them is beautiful but instead focuses on what God says is beautiful the inner beauty that knows no shade of color.

Some Green Valley girls

At Green Valley, we have a bible study and have been having some difficulty trying to figure out these girls. We are going through the story of Nehemiah as it relates to overcoming challenges and how in trials we can still accomplish all that God has for us. We thought this would be good for them to learn about because it seems like a lot of them have trials they are currently going through and need guidance. Yet, they still remain quiet and sometimes disengaged from the discussion. We are hoping to gain more interest by starting some icebreaker activities to help them get used to us as well as to each other because I think they do not trust each other due to gossip. We are praying for the Lord to forge trust between all of us in this bible study so that we can learn and grow together. We really want to see Jesus proclaimed through these students at this school (it is known for its "wild" students) and see them fight for faithful obedience in the midst of temptation and peer pressure.

With so many different things going on at once, its difficult to really think about leaving! I am glad though that my schedule is busiest this term and that I get to spend so much time with the girls because that will definitely be what I will miss the most. Their friendship is definitely a life raft to me sometimes in my bad days and I cannot imagine what I am going to do when I have to say good bye! 

Nicole and Stefanie

Will you join with me in prayer for their hearts to be established and rooted in the gospel, so that even after I leave, I have comfort knowing that God is giving the growth and leading them? 

Also, we would definitely appreciate prayer for our ministry at Green Valley and the relationship with the students. We want them to trust us and each other so that we can break down walls and let the gospel penetrate all areas of our lives.