Jim and Heather 101: How we got here

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of our very first blog post.  One year and over 5,500 hits later,  it's probably past time to recount our mission and vision... the very reason we began this blog.  Our story begins in earnest in November, 2008 when we asked a few close friends to be praying for us as we visited Africa Inland Mission's U.S. headquarters for a time of interviews and seeking God's will about serving the church overseas.  Really, the story begins much before that with my desire to support missions and Heather's heart for Africa.  Before we got married in July, 2004 we planned to be in Woodland Park only a short time while Heather finished her degree at Colorado College and earned a teaching certificate.  After that, we hoped to travel, use our skills to support missions, and return right about now to start a family.  Heather did complete her degree, but for the rest, God had a different plan.  Two kids, and 4 years later, we re-opened that dream and began looking at international schools.  Most were on the 'tamer' side than our original plan.  We looked all over the world: the South Pacific, South America... but eventually began looking at Africa again.

It was on one of these exploratory sessions that Heather and I looked at Haven of Peace Christian Academy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and noticed that they needed a biology teacher.  The school was staffed through Africa Inland Mission, and after some thought, we began the application process.  While applying, we kept finding information about another school (Rift Valley Academy) which really seemed to us to be a better fit and tugged at our hearts.  We really felt, however that God was leading us to go through with the application process.  At the conclusion of the candidate week at U.S. headquarters in New York, we were told that they felt God was calling us to serve with Africa Inland Mission...  At Rift Valley Academy!  I can't really describe the peace that hearing those words brought to our hearts.

More details have followed by fits and spurts, but at this point, we'll be arriving at U.S. headquarters in New York on July 20, 2010 for a short debreifing after which we'll fly to Kenya.  I'll be teaching high school biology and secondary science at Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, Kenya to the children of missionaries from around the continent of Africa.  Faith will be enrolled in kindergarten there, and Heather will be taking care of Joel and helping out around the school.  It has been encouraging and humbling to watch God's hand over the last year of preparation. We're really excited to be a part of what RVA is doing to support God's work in Africa and to be His hands and feet by partnering in the ministry of Rift Valley Academy.

Up next week...

Starting Monday, we are going to have a five-day blog review that will cover the who, what, when, where, and how of our move to and ministry in Kenya.  It has been a while since we've talked about the reason WHY we started this blog!  So if you are a new reader, or an old reader, hopefully some of your questions will be answered.  Let us know what you'd like to hear about.  You can leave a comment on this post, or keep track of the topics next week and ask more questions then.

Here's the schedule:

Jim and Heather 101:
Part One: Ministry at RVA
Part Two: Kijabe, Kenya
Part Three: Why and how we are supported
Part Four: Our timeline
Part Five: Things we need and things we don't

Stay tuned!

My spatulas are trying to tell me something.

It seems many things in our house are in this state.  Ready to be replaced.

So are we, in a sense.  We know, and those around us know, we are on our way out of here.  It's easy for us to withdraw right now.  What's the point of building relationships that will be physically distanced in six months?  What's the point of deepening emotional ties that will be painfully torn apart very soon?

But Timothy reminds us to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to keep the faith. (2 Tim 4:7)

I'm not throwing out those spatulas.  They will serve me well for the next six months.  That middle one's maybe even got a few years left in it.  Neither should I drop out too early from this race that is before us.  God has us in Woodland Park during this time for very good reasons.  We haven't physically dropped out of the ministries and relationships we are involved in here, and we must fight not to drop out of them mentally or emotionally.

So here's to not throwing in our dirty, tattered, and frayed towels... yet.

How we do Christmas

"First Christmas" in Woodland Park, December 19th.

Attempt to get a good "under the tree picture" of the kids.

And... try again...

Nope.  Moving on...

Handmade puppets from Grandmom.  Joel loved his even more, resulting in only blurry pictures...

But here's a good one:

That afternoon, driving to Paonia, Colorado, Jim's (aka: "Jimmy") childhood home.

Where the creation of this wreath is highly debated.

And where there are wonderful treasures to explore on the farm.  Yep, that's the Willys Jeep that was the getaway car in our wedding!

Where Faith enjoys helping feed the dogs and the horses... a lot!

Back inside everyone lined up for their Christmas haircuts:  Faith, Joel, Jim and Andrew. (Heather's brother)

And Andrew is back at it again with Faith on his shoulders... this time, making tortillas!

And FINALLY it is Christmas morning again!  Look at that excited boy!

And what is Christmas without thoughtful, lovely gifts?  Yep... that's a starling trap that we crafted for Jim's parents.  Side note: it created a lot of conversation during the break about the birds, and Joel asked at lunch one day if we could go out and shoot some birds after we ate.  Hmmm...

And sweet cousins...

And the hilarious re-gifted "white elephant" gift.

Maybe all that laughing is what sent poor pregnant Pamela to the hospital!

It was a beautiful time.  We are thankful.