april 2023.

Happy Easter! He is risen! Hallelujah, He is risen indeed! I hope that you all had a lovely Easter and took time to celebrate our risen King, Jesus! Every year, I enjoy teaching my students about the magnitude of Easter. Without Jesus not only dying on the cross, but being raised from the dead, we have access to eternal life with God in Heaven! If Jesus had simply lived a perfect life and died, he would be remembered as a saint, but because He conquered death, we get LIFE! He alone is worthy to be praised! Amen!

This Easter was a very special one for me because I got to take a trip up to Northern Kenya with a missionary family. One of my student’s this year moved to Nairobi with her family at the beginning of the year from ministry in Northern Kenya. The rural village that their family worked in is about 9 hours from Nairobi. They had been doing full-time ministry there for 3 years before moving to Nairobi. During their ministry in the village of Korr, they had learned the tribal language, started a secondary school, shared the Gospel with many families, and ministered to the community. While the Lord has called them to work in Nairobi, they still frequently visit their home in Korr and they wanted to show me God’s ministry up north.

Seeing the beauty of the desert terrain of Northern Kenya and witnessing God’s love in such tangible ways was truly life-giving. On our long drive up, the Schultz family shared with me the calling God has placed on their lives to go and serve in Korr and the miracles and challenges that they’ve faced along the way. It was beautiful to hear testimonies of God’s faithfulness and providence in providing and caring for this obedient family. Life so remote is extremely challenging, yet this family put their trust in God to provide and did he ever! Seeing this family interact with the locals in their tribal language was beyond beautiful. God is at work in this village! In 2018, the New Testament was translated by Wycliffe into the local Rendille language. Currently, the Old Testament is being translated.

I had the privilege of visiting a local’s house and heard her share her testimony of receiving the Gospel of Christ. She was so encouraged by the story of Jesus that she memorized the book of Mark. When she would face trials, she would recite portions of Scripture to claim victory in Christ. What a testimony, indeed! I was so encouraged to see in-person how God is transforming a village. There are a number of missionaries in this village now, many of which are Africa Inland Missionaries (AIM) and Compassion International.

One of the amazing ministry projects being run is a literacy class for women. This class is run during the heat of the day under the largest acacia tree to be found for shade. Women are taught how to read and write in both Rendille and Swahili, basic maths, health classes, and best of all, the Gospel! I had the opportunity to visit a class and hear the story of Esther shared to the women. How impactful to hear a story on the boldness of a God-fearing woman. These women are eager to learn and excited to be able to read Scripture. It reminds me to never take Scripture for granted.

However, since this village is so far north and close to the Somalia border, the people are facing a lot of pressure from the Muslim people in the north. We continue to pray against threats and violence and instead for peace and truth.

It was a true gift to be able to visit and support this family and their ministry in this country. If you would like to follow along with the Schultz family and their work, here is the link to their blog: https://beautifulfeet.live/

This month was a fun one for my students since they had their end of year concert and art show. The students did a great job learning Abide with Me on the recorders and creating their art pieces. It was fun to celebrate their hard work! I can tell the students are winding down for the end of the year (I am too). Their energy levels and patience are slowing down. We have one more month until the summer break. My prayer is that we would not take these last weeks for granted and continue to enjoy each others’ company.

Please continue to pray for the nation of Kenya. The protests have begun again this week without an end in sight and their has been more violence. Our school has switched to half days on the protest days. Please continue to pray for peace and safety for this nation. Thank you for your prayers!

I look forward to visiting with some of you in person next month! I’ll be back in Saskatchewan at the beginning of June and I already can’t wait to spend time with my family and friends.

-j.