april 2026.

April showers has definitely been the case this month in Nairobi! We have had a huge increase in rain this month. I keep thinking to myself, let it rain now, so that hopefully it doesn’t in July!

I’ll be honest, this month felt incredibly long! I found myself frequently thinking, “It’s still April!?” But now the month has come and gone and we are entering May – the last month of school!! This month at school, we celebrated World Autism Day, where each class learned more about autism and how, as a community, we can support and celebrate our neurodivergent peers. April also included a dress-up week and teacher appreciation!

A very fun partnership that happened this month was in recognition of World Water Day! The first grade students partnered with a local school and invited them to join them on their challenge! Did you know that in the developing world, the average round trip for a day’s water is 6km? That is 15 times around our school’s track! The students worked together to walk 15 times around the track in one hour to raise money towards repairing the local school’s existing water kiosk and help to continue to a low community access to its water at a low cost. What a beautiful partnership!

An update on my friend Dorcas – She continues to require medication and check-ups as she recovers from breast cancer. Unfortunately, she and her family ensured yet another huge hardship this month. Her house caught on fire and she lost everything. I have been supporting her to furnish a new place and to pay for school fees for her children and groceries. On my latest phone call with her, she shared about her mindset amidst these challenging seasons. She shared that while she doesn’t understand why this is happening, she continues to trust that she serves a mighty good God and knows that He will provide for her family. Please continue lifting her and her children up in prayer during this challenging time. If you want to support her financially specifically, you can always send me an email.

I’ll be honest, working full time, planning a wedding, planning to host friends and family in an international context, trying to find a new home, continue having a strong spiritual and social life, cooking for myself, and working out consistently, I’m finding it a bit overwhelming keeping my thoughts in order! Yet, I feel overwhelmed in good ways too! Overwhelmed with gratitude for this very special season, overwhelmed with love from my friends and family, overwhelmed with God’s goodness. Amidst all that is going on, God has answered a prayer for Noah and I. We found an apartment to rent! We are so thankful and excited! I will move in next month and Noah will join me after our wedding. Since we work on opposite ends of the city, we tried to find somewhere in the middle-ish. It’ll be quite the change for both of us who currently don’t have commutes. It’s about a 20/25 minute drive for me and 35/40 minute drive to work for him. Thank you for your continued prayers, God is answering them and we are so grateful! We will begin furnishing it this month. Less than 3 months until our wedding now. 🙂

Please keep praying for paperwork – it has been a stressful process and we continue to trust God to work it all out! Thank you for your prayers!!

Gratefully,

-j.