This month marks my 10th month in Kenya! God is good! My sweet nephew, Elliot, is a special marker to me because for however months old he is, is how many months I’ve been here. So as our family celebrates him being 10-months-old, it marks my time here too. Even though, I wish I could hold him and snuggle him, I am thankful for technology so that I can still see his sweet face!
On May 10th, we were able to return to in-person learning on campus! Praise God! The week before, our administration team blessed us in such thoughtful ways the week before. While all of the teachers continued to work in their classrooms while online, every day, the admin team surprised us with blessings! Monday was breakfast, Tuesday was coffee delivered to us, Wednesday was chocolate, Thursday was ice cream cake, and Friday was popcorn. I felt so appreciated and blessed.
Returning to school was busy, but so exciting! I made sure to plan all of the fun and interactive activities to make up for being online. We had dress up days, talent shows, show-and-tell, an ice cream party, and a day where students could bring their favourite game from home to teach the class. My students have been such a fun group to teach, know, and love. I have enjoyed their excitement to learn, engagement in lessons, and their endless love and grace for me.
At the beginning of this month, we also had a long weekend. I was able to enjoy a wonderful staycation here in Nairobi with some teacher friends of mine. We found a great little Air Bnb only 10 minutes away. It was a refurbished double decker bus! How adorable?! It was so fun to enjoy a little girls trip before the end of the year busyness.
Lastly, a life update for me is that I will be moving next weekend! While it has been so wonderful to transition to my life here in Kenya with 3 housemates, the Lord provided an opportunity for me to move into my own one bedroom place. I will miss having housemates to come home to, but I am really excited and looking forward to creating my own space and making it home here. I foresee myself staying in Kenya until God calls me elsewhere, so making a house a home, makes me feel as though I am really getting rooted in this country that I have grown to love. I am excited by the opportunity to invite and host my new Kenyan friends into my home and pour into these relationships. I can already see God’s hand in this, by providing the cost of rent to be even cheaper than I currently pay, this new place is only a ten minute drive to work, really close to other staff members from my workplace, and with the sweetest landlord. Here are some photos of my sweet place!
To close this post, I want to share some prayer requests:
-Last week, my grandpa contracted COVID and has been in the hospital receiving oxygen. Due to his preexisting health concerns, this has been pretty serious. It has been hard on our family to know how to help, all being so far away, and the restrictions in Canada only further complicate things. Please lift up my grandpa in prayer, for HEALING and for unforeseen opportunities to show Christ amidst this difficult situation. Please also pray for my grandma, who always contracted COVID, is left at home in isolation, anxious and in need of support. Prayer that God would provide a clear path for my family to take in knowing how to best support her from afar.
-This last week of school, that the truths I have taught my students about God would begin to take root in their hearts. My prayer for my students is that they would wake away from this year with a greater understanding of Jesus and His love for them. My deep hope is that they have learned that they are created in the image of God, loved beyond measure, and are capable of giving their best whatever the task at hand. It has truly been a privilege and a great blessing to teach these young minds this year.
-As I furnish my home, for patience as I slowly purchase furniture. Furnishing a home is costly and more complicated here, so patience in the process as work to making my new house a home. More than this, prayer for a blessing over the space, that God would bring people into my home for me to share His love and tenderness. My heart is for people to feel light and loved here.
-Pray that I stay afloat as I work on my Masters courses this summer. I have doubled up on my course load since I will be staying here over the summer and it is definitely no easy feat. Prayer that I would continue to seek His strength above my own.
Thank you for listening and loving,
J.
jocelyn's adventures in kenya. 
Thanks for your updates, Jocelyn!
The love of Christ is so evident in you, and just as your RCA students were blessed to have you, so are your Kenyan students now!
You are missed and loved!
Shalom,
*Travis Bryerton* *Vice Principal K – 6* *Regent Christian Academy* (604) 599-8171 x. 2122
*CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT:* *“This communication, including attachments, is for the exclusive use of addressee and may contain proprietary, confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, use, copying, dissemination, distribution or taking of any action in reliance on the content of this information is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by return email and delete this communication and destroy all copies.” Thank you.*
On Sat, May 29, 2021 at 12:17 AM jocelyn’s adventures in kenya. wrote:
> jocelyn smart posted: ” This month marks my 10th month in Kenya! God is > good! My sweet nephew, Elliot, is a special marker to me because for > however months old he is, is how many months I’ve been here. So as our > family celebrates him being 10-months-old, it marks my time here t” >
LikeLike