february 2025.

How do you feel the month of February went by? Do you feel it flew by or that it dragged on? When I’ve asked around, I seem to get a mixed bag of responses. I, personally, am excited to enter into March since it holds my birthday and Spring break!

To recap February, the phrase that comes to mind is weight – I feel as though this month required a lot for me to hold and carry simultaneously. Holding the weight of my personal stress, workload, international paperwork and financial stress, and relationships all while trying to intentionally serve. I feel as though I’ve been driving through life with my tank nearing empty for awhile now. Maybe this is familiar to workers in overseas contexts around the 5th year mark, I’m not sure, but what I have come to realize is my need for complete dependence on God. While I feel at my physically strongest and healthiest, having implemented healthy fitness habits the past few years, I am now putting in steps to improve and focus on my mental wellbeing. I often struggle to share hardships as I want to be positive and uplifting to those around me, but I also desire to be authentic and genuine. So my prayer request is that you would pray against the enemy’s spiritual attacks of my mind, for renewed strength, and for reminders of God’s presence and closeness. The first two months of this new year were difficult on me mentally and going into March, I am proclaiming Galatians 5:1 over my life, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Thank you for your prayers.

This month at school, the students’ focus was international connectedness. The students learned about different cultures in their classes, held presentations, wrote writing pieces, had a panel during chapel to learn about how different cultures worship and experience God, lessons on cultural differences in the Bible, and unpacked the story of Babel. To finish off the month, a school-wide, community International Fair was held where students dressed up to reflect the culture they relate to (for some it is the passport country, others it is their country of residence, and still for some, it is their ‘heart’ country – where they may have lived for a number of years). It was so wonderful to see the Kingdom of God represented on this campus. Children and families enjoyed tasting foods from different cultures, learning languages, and seeing cultural performances. I think this day did a beautiful job of bringing appreciation to individual’s cultures. Our student body is wonderfully diverse, including students from over 50 different countries and every continent (except Antarctica). The Canadian booth (put on by parents) even created a Tim Hortons right here in Nairobi where Timbits and iced caps were served!

Not pictured, but our school hosted the International Christian Schools of Africa (ICSA) sports tournament last weekend, which includes schools in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Senegal, and Uganda. There were SO many kids on campus, but it was fun hearing them enjoy themselves throughout the weekend.

For fun this month, I went to a ballet performance at the Kenya National Theatre to watch some of my students both from this school and the previous school perform. It was so special seeing my students shining out in the community. I also joined a running club this month for one of their 5km runs and it was so much fun! I enjoyed the community aspect and enjoying the beautiful weather to run outdoors. The other photos are fun with friends!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Gratefully,

-j.