Recruiting For Sept '13

This advert will be running in Christianity and Youthwork magazines and their recruitment websites for the next three months. We are also advertising at the Oscar recruitment stands at The Big Church Day Out and New Wine.

 

(The website won't be finished for a few days)

 

Please share.

 

Jeremy



Cholera and Turtles

I've been sitting here wondering how to start this blog, reflecting on the fact that there have been more blessings than challenges...a good week generally.

I've then been thinking on what a good example this is of how we normalise the extraordinary in this part of the world. This week's involved cholera and cholera clinics...and it's a been a good week!?! It's amazing how God gives us the strength to cope with things that would have seemed terrifying a year ago.

RENSON

I visited Renson in the tented(!) cholera unit on Thursday, which was a little nerve-racking. My mask still hangs off the rear view mirror.


But he looked really well and it was a good opportunity to poke fun at him and leave him with a toilet roll in which I'd hidden a message telling to stop being lazy and get back to work.

We sent the car to collect him on Friday and hopefully he'll be back in a week or so. Apparently he's in really good cheer. Thank you for all your prayers.

There have been no illnesses at the school and we've started to taste chlorine in the water supply; a good sign that the government is trying to respond.

Please pray for continued health and protection over the school and our family.






STAFF TRAINING DAY

We had another great staff training day on Monday (albeit not realising that one of our number was literally dying quietly of cholera in the corner).

Dr Isaac, the best friend who kept Renson alive, did a great session on first aid. The staff really engaged with the topic and it's given us many ideas on how we can improve in this area.

Pastor Edmond, International Director of ARM, shared a word with us. I gave him 15 minutes. He took 40. But I kind of expected that and it was great to hear him share the history and vision of the school with the staff.

It was also a great opportunity to brief the staff on the new house system.

HOUSE SYSTEM

As of Tuesday the school has four 'houses' named after four rivers in/near Bujumbura. Kanyosha, Muha, Ntahangwa and Rusizi.

Although the houses were introduced to the Primary school at their Friday assembly this week, the main launch has been in the Secondary school.

House Masters, Mistresses, Captains and Vice Captains have been appointed and the first house meetings spontaneously held in anticipation of Monday morning's assembly.

From Monday students will form up in houses, rather than year groups, for assembly; with, this week, 100 house points being awarded for the best presented house.

Each house has come up with a set of values, a house prayer and house chant. They will meet for morning devotions every Wednesday morning, compete together in sports, music etc... and compete for an annual house point trophy.

So far, this initiative has been warmly welcomed by staff and pupils.

When the Secondary School moved from the main school site, took in many new students and had 70% new staff at the beginning of the academic year something changed culturally within the school.

We hope that the houses will foster healthy competition and create a culture where effort, respect, good behaviour, punctuality and a smart appearance become the norm. We want to teach the students that there are consequences for all actions (good and bad) and that these consequences can impact others...their houses. We hope that this will create a positive sense of community for all students within the school.

It was encouraging, on Friday, to get a sense from all houses that they want to do this right...do it properly. Chants were being practiced and house prayers learnt, with each house raising the bar a little higher.

I'm ordering a house points trophy which will get brought out next month and awarded at our end of year prize giving ceremony...hopefully by the Minister of Education or British Ambassador.

I've an idea to hold a house Christian music competition later in the term...just depends on whether this will disrupt GCSE's and A-levels.

Please pray that this initiative will bring in a Godly culture of high standards and effort.

FINANCES

I've been reviewing both personal and school finances recently. Both look more promising than they did at the end of last term, though both currently result in bankruptcy at the beginning of June.

We remain convinced of God's plans for both us and the school.

God's track record is one of provision and honoured promises, but yet we find it hard to trust.

I was chatting about this with a friend some months back. We were both admitting our inability to trust God 100% with our finances. She made this interesting comparison.

Imagine that I offered to take my children for an ice cream each week and that each week I do this without fail. Imagine then that, despite the fact that I always honoured my promises, my children doubted me and were anxious about whether or not I'd come good on my promise this week. I'd be upset. Hurt. I'd wonder why my children don't trust me when they have no reason not to.

See my point? (Or rather hers...mustn't lay claim to somebody else's wisdom)

June will be the month of abundant blessing and I look forward to sharing that with you!

Please continue to pray for financial provision and trust.

POWER

Regideso, that state owned utility company, have a new hydro electric turbine.

No power rationing this week.

Woo Hoo!

Praise God for the little things that make life a little easier.

CASPAR

Caspar, finally, had is Burundi birthday party.

Lot's of friends turned up to help and we hired one of the country's rare bouncy castles.

The first present? An 10", Congolese, African Mud Turtle! Requires a water feature.

A first for us!

Praise God for the unique experiences that we're all having here

I made the cake. Zan Alexander need not worry.

The staff where we held the party asked what it was. I said "R2D2". They looked confused. I said, "A robot". No change. I gave up.

CHURCH

We have a new church.

Up to now we'd struggled with the one church that was at least partly English. It just wasn't our 'flavour' of church.

In the last few weeks a new, charismatic, English-speaking church has just started. It's run by a team that have successfully planted churches elsewhere in Africa and is led by a Canadian pastor.

We love it! Very Thirsty / New Wine.

It wasn't easy to leave the other church. They are doing great work. But our mission is to the school and we need to have a church that can easily work for us as a family and support us...without cultural barriers.

Many of the school's staff now worship there and it's great for us to be able to meet outside school.

Please pray that we will continue to settle well in this church.

God Bless,

Jeremy

P.S. Have you got any decent weather yet?

Today's Update

Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Yesterday Renson did not make it into the two hospitals with Cholera facilities. However a clinic near us has set up a temporary facility for Cholera patients and medical staff using tents.

Renson was put into the isolation tent with fellow patients yesterday and is reportedly in good cheer.

The clinic is now full.

Although he appears to be on the mend, it may take him some time to recover. On Tuesday they had to give 45 litres of fluids.

Throughout all of this he has been cared for by our friend Isaac. Isaac is one of Renson's best friends and only a newly qualified doctor. Yesterday, having delivered Renson to the clinic, Isaac had to wait to be fully disinfected before being allowed to return home. A very stressful couple of days for him.

Please pray mental and physical protection on Isaac.

Please pray for continued recovery for Renson.

Please pray for protection over the school. Encouragingly some parents have responded to my letter yesterday and are not sending in children with diarrhoea symptoms...so we have not issues at the school or at home.

I'll let you know how Renson is doing in my next blog.

Jeremy

Staff Prayer Update

Hello,

Renson has made some improvement....no surprise as so many people are praying.

We were grateful for the hospital he was initially in. In other hospitals there is a limit on the amount of fluid supplies that can be used on an individual patient; Renson needed a lot of fluid! In another hospital he would not have survived.

But he is still very, very ill. As I write, his friend and doctor is trying to get him admitted into one of the two hospitals that are equipped to deal with cholera. He was rejected from both yesterday because his symptoms were too severe. They have just been refused from one and are now retrying the second.

No one is sure of the options after this.

I sent a letter home today as we've been advised that the tap water is now causing a significant amount of diarrhoea in the city.

Some lifestyle changes needed for all of us.

Jeremy

Urgent Staff Prayer Request

Hello,

Please pray. Our friend and Administrative Assistant, Renson, is in a critical condition in hospital with Cholera.

The hospital he's in has run out of fluids to treat him with and are looking for another hospital in the city that will be able to isolate and treat him.

Staff are meeting at 6:30pm (5:30pm UK) to pray for him.

Please pray for Renson. Please pray that he won't get rejected by the two hospitals that could help (isolation cases are high maintenance and take up space). Please pray for his family in Kenya and his sister here in Bujumbura. Please pray for healing.

Please also pray for the staff and the school as another difficult situation presents itself at the beginning of a term and the difficulties presented by the absence of a key member of staff.

Jeremy

Spark Plugs, Ravioli and Bruce Lee

Two more days until term starts again and it's been a curious time since I last wrote....which was more recent for some as the email version sat in my outbox for a week before I realised there was a problem.

Without a doubt, the most difficult point recently was the very sudden death of the young son of our night guard. It all happened very quickly, but it seems likely that he was poisoned by a disgruntled/jealous neighbour. Tragic but apparently not uncommon in this part of the world. Very hard to understand.

On the following morning our guard, now a broken figure of a man, came round as he didn't have the money to buy a coffin (£12) to bury his son in. We were very happy to meet some of the funeral costs; but it is difficult when the only thing you can do is give money...though there is prayer too.

Caspar and Felicity both had a bout of tonsillitis which was an anxious time. Fortunately they both recovered before we had to hunt down some amoxicillin in one of the 'interesting' pharmacies in town.

I've been thinking more about my personal approach to the third term and I don't think it will surprise anyone that Bruce Lee provides relevant wisdom about how to run a Christian school in Central Africa.

He said:

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.

I'm a great ideas person, but sometimes the doing bit can seem like such an effort...particularly when the summer holidays are looming. We have a staff training day on Monday where I hope to encourage and remind the staff that we still have a third of our teaching year in which to make some fantastic changes.

A very proud moment for me last week was when our generator wouldn't start. Previously this had been caused by dodgy fuel, but a now expert rub of the fingers ruled that out. So I took out the spark plug, cleaned it and it worked. How alpha male is that!

Today we started house hunting and went to look at house. Not really right for us and the rent was $2,000! As Allie and I discussed this when we got home, the kids drew their ideal house (see photo below). Yet another area where we must trust God. We feel that we'll never find an affordable and suitable house. But Allie's been encouraging us to deny these feelings of doubt...they're not of God.

A treat tonight as we watch the new series of Foyles War which I've downloaded and crack open a tin of Everyday Ravioli I picked up at the 'expat' shop...yummy!

God Bless,

Jez

Fresh Start

We're at the mid point of our Easter break and there's been a lot of space and time for me to reflect on my work and our mission...which have, if we're honest, been a lot harder than any one would have imagined.

In a typically worldly manner, I've been looking at the way I do things (reviewing my workflow for you productivity geeks). One of the challenges of this role is the speed, variety, volume and unpredictability of my work. I've picked up some amazing apps to help me manage emails, meetings, diaries and projects...as well as this blogging app.

Allie and I are so aware of the importance of keeping our supporters updated, but blogging at the end of a long, hard day/week is often the last thing you want to do. I hope this app will help me write more frequent, if perhaps shorter updates.

I have an article app which gives me views on, amongst other subjects, leadership; albeit from a secular perspective. Feeling really challenged right now to:

- Do what's right, not what's easy...there are few troublesome pieces of work that just need finishing.
- Remember that it's not all about me...it's God and the people who work for me that make the school a success.
- Connect...really connect...with people. Spend time with them. Get to know them even better. Build relationships with everyone on the staff team.

Spiritually I'm overhauling my prayer life. Reading about and applying ways of making it more meaningful, structured...and grateful! I've also embarked on reading Christian books jointly with a friend in England. Allies does this a lot...perhaps reading a chapter a week then discussing it. In the 2 months or so my friend and I have managed to buy a book.

WORK:

This has been a challenging year so far. Hardwork, stressful and tiring...and, if I'm honest, I'm not really enjoying it. But I persevere because God has given me this job. I can be sure that the work he's given me will be for His glory...but he never promised an easy ride.

Recent reflections with my leadership team were that, on the whole, we are fixing problems and not, hopefully, creating them. Which is great...but it feels like wrestling a giant...whilst being frequently punched in the face. It's either straining or reeling.

But we do it in the hope and belief that next year will be easier as many of our challenges will have been resolved...trying to not to it in my own strength and accepting God's plans, timing and will.

Please Pray: That during the busyness, stress and strain we would continue to rely on God.

The challenges we face in the school include:

- Finances...we continue to look for the final £40,000 that will allow the school remain open until September.
- Recruitment...finding well qualified, English speaking teachers, especially for A-levels, is extremely difficult; especially as the Burundian economy prevents of from offering competitive salaries. Watch out for job vacancies in Christianity and Youth Work magazines and at the Big Church Day Out which we pray will bring some missionary teachers from the UK for September.
- Salaries...which, historically, have not been set with reference to a transparent salary structure. Naturally this creates inconsistencies and unhappy members of staff. We have a structure we'd like to move to...but these initiatives always put the salary bill up.
- Resources...for next year need to be bought soon. Without the funds to do this we may have to go ahead in faith that funding will come through. Many children are sharing text books in the Secondary School.
- Fees...for some parents are a real struggle. We have missionary children, widows and refugees whose circumstances have worsened. As a Christian school we want to be compassionate, whilst balancing this against the school's own financial issues.
- Administrative Staffing...has not grown with the school, putting pressures on the current staff and creating bottle necks around the school.

Please Pray: For wisdom as we deal with these challenges.

Personal challenges include:

- Finding time to get some work done. Distractions and demands on my time are insane. I've taken to spending some time at a local conference centre for an hour two now and then to get some work done.
- The sense that two terms were lost. In term 1 we were totally distracted by the financial crisis. In term 2 our return to the UK plus some issues in the Secondary School snatched that time away from us. I feel like I'm just starting!

Please Pray: That I might feel encouraged.

It's often the negative that we have to deal with and so there's a danger that we only see that. However there are a great many things to give God thanks for:

- The school continues to grow and new parents arrive to enrol almost every day. We have healthy waiting lists now.
- Last month we signed a formal agreement with Oklahoma Christian University who will offer scholarships to two Year 13 students each year to study in the US.
- Guitar and Keyboard lessons are now offered in the Primary School.
- The Monday morning Secondary School assembly now has a very talented worship group...one day I want our assemblies to be heard by the passing commuters!
- 20 PC's have been pledged so that we can fit out our second ICT lab at the Secondary School.
- Our first Easter Fayre was held at the Junior School. It was organised very successfully by our Year 6 students.
- All staff visas have now been brought up to date...when our Administrator 'left' we discovered that none had been done.
- Every half term I hold a staff day. A great opportunity to bring all the staff together, have some fun, do some training and share our plans.
- A-level staff are now offering additional study, teaching and mentoring to our Year 12 and 13 students to help our fledgling candidates cope with this new qualification.
- We have a full teaching staff and new administrative recruitments have really helped with building maintenance and management of our workers.
- Sports matches are now more regular in both the Primary and Secondary Schools. Also an arrangement with one of our parents means we can now offer Step Aerobics and Salsa to our Secondary girls as a sports option.
- Next term we will be launching a new House System in a bid to create a greater sense of belonging and ownership amongst the students. A points system will also create a competitive environment where both good and behaviour are recognised and contribute to House totals.
- Some staff restructuring has been put in place to provide more leadership support in both the Primary and Secondary Schools.
- Although progressing slower than hoped, our recent strategy work has given us some structure around how we'd like to develop the school.
- Offerings from Allie's father's funeral have enabled us to build a new Primary classroom, buy a new Primary projector, build two new slides for the Nursery and put shelving in for a Secondary library.
- I've managed to spend some time with the school's accountant building a financial model that will cut her monthly accounting from 2 weeks to 1 day.
- Despite all our challenges the teachers remain highly committed and our students receive some of the best education Burundi has to offer.

Thank God: For all His blessings

FAMILY:

Whilst work is tough, life in Burundi is different, challenging but pretty great.

School holidays are fun and restful...we have visitors (who bring treats)...we get letters and packages.

Harry is much more settled at school and Caspar and Felicity can often been heard talking or singing in Kirundi or French.

Life here offers some great experiences...Hippos, back garden Ethiopian restaurants, Burundian engagement parties.

We've been given plenty of DVD's and games...Settlers of Catan is growing on me.

My birthday was great fun...and well timed as Allie's mum was able to bring presents out!

Thank God: For our friends in Bujumbura

Fundraising has slowed a bit. Something I'm not very good at handing over to God. We still need £9,000 to get us through to Sept, plus next year's costs.

Over the summer we will need to find a new home, which is making us anxious, and it is likely that we'll have to pay rent on two houses for a month or two to avoid having to move house as the new academic year begins. We may also have to find some furniture too.

Please Pray: For God's provision and our faith.

FINALLY...

I've been trying to take a photo each day to document life here. Here's a very small selection.

God Bless,

Jez