SCHOOOOOOOOL'S OUT. FOR. SUMMER!

That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have successfully completed a whole year of school. The kids are now a grade wiser....I hope. I really had no idea what I was truly getting myself into a year ago, but I'm so glad I did. This has been such an amazing school year! So many of you jumped on board with me even though you had never really seen this done before and it wasn't the normal "missionary" role. Being able to be here to help the Taylors before their furlough year has been awesome. I'm sure I'll write a more reflective post later about all of the things I've experienced this year, but for now, I'll get back to filling you in on what's been going on.


Well, after testing, we had 2 weeks of school left. The kiddos had completed so much of their schoolwork during testing week, they were finished with most of their subjects and could take it a little easier. They each have a summer workbook to complete (including prizes for correct answers), so as they finished up their work, they began their summer workbooks. All during the week after testing, James, Clayton, and John were with the mission team to survey the northern areas of Kenya. You can read the full account of this mission trip HERE in James's blog. (For those of you who know me really well, I confess that I've been sitting here trying to figure out how I wanted to possessively express the name James....James' or James's....the struggle is real...and both are correct by the way...) So while most of the menfolk were gone (poor Lynn was outnumbered here on the compound), Kenya and Lindsey rearranged the furniture and spruced up the place a bit. You know what they say: while the men are away, they wives will play, or something along those lines. On Friday, May 15, the mission team finally arrived in Malindi after a very successful survey trip. We had a great time of fellowship Friday night and even celebrated John's birthday with cake and ice cream! That's why I didn't update my blog on Saturday like I've been doing because we were having a great time of fellowship with Chad Graves, Ryan Copico, Daren Clements, and Aaron Johnson. I love it when people finally get to experience what being here in Kenya is like. Having people that can relate to you makes all the difference in the work that is being accomplished. If you get the chance to go visit a missionary, please do. Even if you feel like you aren't doing enough on a mission trip, you've made a connection with a missionary and that connection will always be there. You have so few people to relate to when you live overseas. We are fortunate to have a great team here on the ground to share experiences with, but we were encouraged just by the mere presence of those four pastors. It was a great weekend.

Happy Birthday, John! 

On Monday morning, Aaron Johnson and Daren Clements came up to the school room and taught Bible class for me. The kids were super excited to have someone other than Ms. Ashley teaching them. Aaron taught a great lesson on being honest.

A little later, the team loaded up and headed to the airport for their flight back. We continued on with school for the rest of the week, finishing up all of their schoolwork! Ellanora even came to school with us one day!

I've tried to tell the kids how things are in America in most public schools. Well, a while ago I told the kids that the last few days of school are pretty lazy days with teachers needing to pack up their rooms and turn in all of their stuff and the kids had special end of the year events. They thought we were going to just watch movies on the last day of school because I might have mentioned that most teachers show movies on the last day of school, but I had other plans! Lindsey, Kenya, and I talked about having a Field Day on the last day of school. Lindsey and I brainstormed some fun games to play with 5 kids of different ages and sizes and Kenya went and had t-shirts made. We were so pumped! On Friday morning, I took the kids up to school just like any other day. We measured them on the wall (they've all grown like 2 whole inches!) and took their pictures.

After that, I sat them down on the carpet for our last morning meeting/Bible time. I told them that I hadn't been completely honest with them about the last day of school. I then told them that it was field day and began passing out their shirts. They looked at me with bewilderment and said, "What's Field Day?" It was so funny! Why would they know anything about field day? So I proceeded to explain it to them and they began to get excited. They quickly changed into their new field day shirts and ran downstairs. Everyone on the compound had their shirts on (including Mama Cedrick and Safari, the house and yard workers), and we had a great time both watching the kids compete and participating in some of the games as well. Getrude, our Swahili teacher, even came. It was super hot and it even sprinkled a little bit, so the kids got to experience a real American May field day. You can check out the entire album HERE on Facebook to see all the fun! We played and played and then had walking tacos for lunch.

After lunch, the compound was silent as everyone went to recover from the morning's activities. Earlier in the week, I invited everyone on the compound to our end of the year Awards Assembly. I really wanted to do something special for the kids for how hard they worked this year! Getrude and I sat down together and even came up with awards to give the kids for Swahili class. So, Friday night everyone came over for our Awards Assembly and looked so nice all dressed up. I tried to make it as authentic as possible and had programs and certificates and even the Pledge of Allegiance. We passed out awards to the kids and Kenya, our Assistant Principal, even passed out awards to all the teachers.

After the awards, the kids presented their Destination ImagiNation performance that they did in the States back in March. We all fellowshipped a little more over homemade pizza. All in all, it was a great last day of school.

On Saturday morning, James and Kenya left out for a short weekend trip to Mombasa for their anniversary. I offered a while back to keep the children so they could go celebrate together, and the time had now come. We survived the whole weekend and no one got injured. I even made edible meals! I exposed the kids the magic of the Phantom of the Opera and Batteries Not Included. I think they enjoyed it. They really are good kids.

Brother Lynn also taught his last class on Hebrews at the Bible Institute, so now we have a new course recorded for future use. We have appreciated the time and work put in by Brother Lynn to make this a really awesome class, and I know that it will be used for many years to come. Pray for Lynn and Brenda as they are winding down their time here. Brother Lynn preached Sunday here in Malindi and will be preaching next Sunday in Nairobi before he and Brenda head out next Thursday for the States.

When I got here, none of us had any ideas of the kids going to public school next year, but it's quite clear now that God led me here to help prepare the kids for the transition to "real" school. It's been such a great school year, and it was amazing to see the kids mature. They've learned so much, and I am privileged to get to be here and work with East Kenya Missions. Pray for all of us as we prepare for the mission team that is coming in July and as we prepare for the transition back to the States. Also, pray for everyone that will be coming in July and that they have an amazing experience. We booked our tickets home, so now it's getting real.

On a more personal note, this past week was really hard for me. I have been involved with Destination ImagiNation for the last 6 years. Every year, I have taken a team to the Global Finals Tournament during the last week of school to compete against students from all over the world. I absolutely love this organization. This was the first year in 6 years that I have not attended Globals, and I really missed it. Many of my friends were there and were posting pictures of the tournament, and it made me want to be there. Don't get me wrong, we had a fantastic week here, but this was just one of those weeks that I wished I had a time turner to be in two places at once. :)

My friend sent this to me to show me they were thinking of me at Globals!

Also, Daisy Cate turned 2 months old this week! She is getting so big!! She had baby dedication last Sunday at Simple Church and this Sunday at my home church, Greenacres. She is loved by so many people!

I also went back and re-read some of my old blogs. I love the way God has molded me this past year. He is teaching me so much about trusting Him. I just love the way He loves me. He is patient and merciful and I will forever serve Him.

0 days left of school
8 weeks left in Kenya

Thank you everyone for reading this and for joining with us in this ministry.

In Christ,
Ashley