May 2018

 I just wanted to write a quick blog to thank our children for being so fantastic this year. They were dragged half way across the world by us this year away from friends and family to be in a new school, in a new city, in a new country, on a new continent. They have had to endure parents who have been very tired and stressed for much of the year. But they have had fantastic times here. All three have always been there to cheer us up and help us to carry on. Girls, thanks so much!

Above, you can see Corinna with Mrs Carlson and her class on the last day of school, and below, you can see Lillia with her class graduating from Pre-Kindergarten, it was a lovely occasion.

April

As I write this, we are embarking on our final four weeks of semester ahead of our return to the UK this summer. During the summer, we will have time to reflect on our year here and will write a blog reviewing events of this year, but for now there is plenty to report on regarding our work here over the past couple of months.

At school we marked Holy Week with a series of Chapel services differing in style. I (Gareth) helped with leading and preaching in our Maundy Thursday service which took place on the basketball courts for a change and focused on the radical saving ministry of Jesus. We prayed that there would be no rain for the occasion in what is a very wet time of the year here, however, we neglected to ask the Lord for less sun, and so we left the court full of God’s grace, but rather scorched. I continue to engage with my students in the classroom and ethics has been a real highlight of my timetable. Here we are hot-seating students on various situation ethics.

 

Rachel continues in her teaching of Grade 2 and is receiving good feedback from her work in particular this time receiving praise for how inclusive her lessons are of the different nationalities represented in her class. With her class she has led primary chapel over the Easter period too. Rachel will be observed later this week by local Rwandan teachers who are seeking to learn from her good practice.

Much of the school’s attention over the last few weeks has been on remembering those who died during the 1994 Genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda. The whole of Rwanda stopped the usual pattern of life during Memorial Week, and the country is now in the midst of 100 days of mourning. Our school council has arranged a special week to commemorate the Genocide this week. As you can imagine there is a somber atmosphere here at this time, and 24 years on the hurt caused is still raw. This was evident this week when a mass grave was discovered just outside of Kigali. We pray that we can all learn lessons by remembering.

Please continue to pray for us, that we all end well this semester and that our journey and transition back to the UK is smooth.