School's out for the summer

I made it to the end of term and have been spoiled by colleagues and students with gifts (including two dead rabbits!), cards and best wishes. I feel very loved. I'll miss everyone at school but leaving has been made easier by the knowledge that I'll be back. 

There's now something like 37 days to go until my departure for Kenya. It's going to be a busy few weeks but things are starting to come together, especially finding tenants for the house. They move in on Thursday so I've got to move out a bit earlier than I'd have liked, but I'm very pleased that the house is let.

So I'm going to be a bit nomadic for a few weeks before I head off to south of France catering (kind of a working holiday) on Oak Hall (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2lyopmebgQ) cycling holidays on 9th August. After that I have 48 hours back in UK before flying to Nairobi, Kenya.

Here are a couple of links to videos giving idea of where I'm going and what I'll be doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbZ46OIFZWU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_TpsXPk0bk

49 days to go...

...not that I'm really counting days down just yet. Although I do know that there are just nine school day get-ups until the end of term and once school is out for the summer it really will be just weeks until I fly to Nairobi to begin my Kenyan Adventure.

For a long time I've been interested in Africa. It probably started with watching movies like Born Free and hearing about the work of Mission Aviation Fellowship at Sunday school. Since then I've learnt at school, then taught, more about Kenya, read missionary biographies and watched movies like The Constant Gardener. For some time Kenya has been on my 'bucket list', but to live and work there rather than go as a tourist. However I've always put off doing anything about it because I was scared of the unknown and I didn't know where to start. I also wondered if it was really what God wanted me to do rather than just something I wanted to do.

I've become increasingly aware that God gives us interests and abilities for our own enjoyment but also that he may use us. So it's God who has given me this heart for Kenya and has brought me to where I am now. Over the last 18 months it has been wonderful to see God work in situations; I spent last Easter in Tanzania with my sister (http://missjintanzania.primaryblogger.co.uk/), I met someone who works for Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and circumstances at work made it seem the timing was right to pursue the possibility further.     

I've been accepted to AIM's short term programme 'Synergy' and I leave for Kenya in August. For a year I am going to be living in a small town in the north of the country called Korr. It is in a remote part of Kenya which is mostly desert and home to nomadic tribes like the Rendille who herd camels. I don't know all the details of what I'll be doing but one of my main responsibilities will be teaching local children Biology and 'Bible' in a high school. I'll also be involved in building relationships with the local community, sharing with them the good news of Jesus.

I'm very excited about what the future holds. It's very humbling to think that God will use me in this way. At the moment I'm preoccupied with practical arrangements for departure, particularly finding tenants for my house. Although I am coming back, saying goodbye is going to be hard!  I'm also very aware of the physical, emotional and spiritual challenges that I'll face living in an environment and culture so far removed from what I am used to. I really value prayers for the transition and adjustment!

Yet I also know that God, who has been so faithful in my life so far, has plans for me that are good and for his glory. Once out of my comfort zone I am going to have to trust him even more. And having brought me to this place he's not going to leave me but will continue to provide for me, protect me and guide me.