7/3/98: More photography today. Annd Bill and I went back into Nairobi for more errands…
NOTE: The photo above is a student assembly at Rift Valley Academy, in Kijabe, Kenya.
7/3/23: Rift Valley Academy (RVA), a Christian boarding school, is another vital ministry on the AIM ministries campus in Kijabe, Kenya. As RVA states on their website: “We educate and disciple students toward their potential in Christ, thus enabling families to serve across the African continent.” Enrolling one’s children in a boarding school is a difficult choice that works well for some and not so well for others, yet it is a form of education that seeks to make the most out of challenging circumstances for families who work as missionaries, NGO leaders, diplomats and business people far from their home. Over the years, we have known several people who have taught or been students at RVA and other Christian boarding schools around the world and have always been impressed by the quality and character of those who have participated in that experience.
Later that day I remarked to Ruth how impressionable I can be. After getting back from Nairobi on errands with Bill J., who is from Alabama, I realized I was starting to adopt some of his verbal colloquialisms and even bits of his accent. I commented to Ruth that I wished it was as easy to follow Jesus’ examples. The stark simplicity and truth of her reply brought me up short.
She said: “Spend more time with Him…”
I am still learning and re-learning that simple truth. Like any discipline, so too with spiritual disciplines: you reap what you sow!
Practice your scales, the more familiar will the keyboard be to your fingers, and the more fluidly will you play. Practice ballroom dance moves, the more familiar will the steps be to your feet, and the more gracefully will you dance. Practice speaking new languages, the more familiar will the rolled “Rs” be to your tongue, and the more eloquently will you speak. Practice praying and reading the Scriptures, the more familiar will God’s voice be to my heart, and the more like Him will my walking and talking be.
