Allie, Andrew and Harry have been back in the UK for three weeks and things have really ramped up!
Plus there’s been a significant update / amendment to our plans.
My (Jeremy’s) Role
On Thursday (8th March) I accepted the role as Principal of The King’s School, Bujumbura (cue spluttered, surprised comments).
The current Principal is due to leave at the end of this academic year and a number of people, independently, put my name forward as a possible successor.
Over the last three weeks I have been in discussion with a number of people for advice; including ARM, mentors and UK Headmasters.
Through these discussions, and a lot of prayer, Allie and I believe that this is the right choice for our mission in Burundi.
But why me in this role?
As, I’m sure, most Headmasters in the UK would tell you, running a school is not about teaching, but about leadership, management, administration, pastoral care and financial management. The teaching will be left to the teachers!
From September, The Kings School will be split over 4 sites and will grow to approximately 450 pupils and staff.
ARM (who are responsible for the school) and I are confident that with the skills and experience I’ve gained in the corporate sector…and a lot of help from God…I will be able to lead The Kings School as it continues to flourish as one of the best schools in Burundi.
The King’s School was set up and continues to educate the children from a local orphanage and is subsidised by fee paying children. It teaches the English syllabus from pre-school to A-Level which, when combined with some fantastic teachers and solid Christian ethos, is uniquely placed to produce young adults who are able to have a real influence on the future of Burundi.
As principal, my role will be to ensure that we create opportunities for all children, help them achieve their potential with the gifts that God has given them and help them to understand what role they can fulfil in Burundi as adults…and whilst doing this ensure that the school is a stable, loving environment.
And I’d like to have a lot of fun while we’re doing this. I can’t bear the thought of being unhappy at work and it’s really, really important to me that the staff and pupils enjoy being at the school.
I’d love to leave this role, as I’m sure the current Principal is, knowing that the children from this school are going to have a really positive effect on this wonderful African nation.
(Did that sound like a bit of an election speech?)
This opportunity is also ideal for us as it provides a defined, English speaking role which will really help us settle in. The family will be together. Allie will teaching some RE and doing youth work with teenage girls…Andrew will be helping as a gap student…and Harry, Caspar and Felicity will be attending the school (though I’m not sure how they feel about me being their Headmaster!).
Over time, we hope that I will still be able to help ARM with some of its key challenges and projects.
ARM are flying me out in May for a couple of weeks so that I can meet with the staff and pupils; as well as having a handover period with the current Principal.
Thank God for this wonderful opportunity and the wonderful support we have in Burundi.
Financial Support
Also, over the last few weeks, I’ve been successfully putting off doing our budget…I’m getting quite good at it now J….
…but I really need to finish it in the next week.
It’s really important as it enables me to open a Stewardship account; through which we can receive gift aided giving…we still need to be self-supporting despite the new role.
It will also give those of you who want to support us financially an idea of how much we need to raise.
(If you would like to support us financially, do get in touch!)
ARM will provide a vehicle for us to use (which will be a significant cost avoided), but fairly soon we will need to start paying for passports, plane tickets (one way!!!), clothes etc…as well as paying the bills during the 6 weeks between leaving EDF and leaving the UK.
This bit feels difficult and over whelming.
Please pray that our fundraising will be encouraging and that we won’t become obsessed and stressed.
Please pray that we will continue to remember the ways God has provided and that we will trust him.
2 Years?
Originally, when we started on this journey, we said we’d do 2 years and review the situation.
That option will always be there…but our thinking has changed…because of my new role and because of the way God’s changing our hearts, we now think of our mission in Burundi as open-ended…which is scary (see ‘Planning’).
We’ll leave when God calls us to leave.
(This doesn’t mean that if you’re thinking of supporting us that you have to keep coughing up until I decide to retire!)
Please pray for stability as we get our heads around this change.
Planning
On Thursday night Allie and I sat down and, starting from when term starts in September, worked out when we need to leave the UK, when we need to be out of our house and when I need to resign (in about 4 weeks).
This was really, really hard.
I have about 10 weeks before I visit the school and then, maybe, another 10 weeks before we leave for good.
This is feeling very real and very stressful.
We are really, really excited…but the preparing to leave bit is tough.
Challenges like this are good for us though. Through these refining experiences God teaches us to rely on him and helps us to see how trivial many of our other worries are.
Please pray that we won’t ‘lose it’ as we plan.
Preparation and Training
We are flat out at the moment. Allie is doing an All Nations course and I’m starting one in a few weeks.
We’re working on our French, budgeting (or not), researching freight, tax etc…
It reminds me of 2008 when I moved to a new job in a new industry, moved house and number 4 was born. God got us through that and he will get us through this.
Please pray for time, space and peace as we prepare.
Blogging & Support
We hope that you find these blogs interesting and insightful. We have 200+ readers which is really exciting! Do share the link to our blog on Facebook.
We feel that we have so many people supporting and praying for us.
Next month I will be going up to Wick (North Scotland) to meet a church who has asked if we will be mission partners with them. Such a blessing and a surprise!
Praise God for the loving support we have.
Living By Faith
I’m never sure how to round these off…but I just wanted to share my recent experience of living by faith.
People tell us how ‘good’, ‘brave’, ‘faithful’ etc... we are by following God’s call to Burundi. But I think that’s the wrong way round. Missionaries aren’t a super holy bunch that decide to jack it all in, go away and never worry because their faith is so unshakable.
When you do something a little bit ‘out there’ for God it’s so much easier to live by faith because you have to. You can’t do it in your own strength. You are always challenged. You are scared.
We feel that we’ve grown so much in the last year…not because we’re super-holy…but because we had no choice. We made a little step and God’s done the rest.
Living by faith in a normal life is so hard…I’m not sure I could do it. It wouldn’t force me to trust enough.
If you think that living by faith feels too scary, virtuous or unobtainable…try taking just a small step outside your comfort zone for God and see what He does with you.
God Bless,
Jez
