Year 8 Is Going to be Great!

by Jess Cropsey

It's that time of year when we all start to see back to school posts on social media, although this year will certainly be unique as school will look different for most teachers, parents, and students. In two weeks, we'll begin our 8th year of school at Kibuye Hope Academy, the small school we have for our team's kids. Ironically, it's going to look a lot more like the first year than ever before with me and Heather as the main teachers and only six students....but hopefully not for long! 

In recent weeks, we've said goodbye to the three teachers that have faithfully served our team families for the last 2+ years. Kayla finished her 2+ year term with us in May and will be starting a new job at a school in Michigan in just a few days. As the main classroom teacher for our 11-year-olds for the last two years, she invested deeply in meeting the needs of this diverse group of learners. She excelled in asking good questions, sharing her love of writing, tracking student progress, and a host of other skills. We already miss her presence on our team and at the school.

Scott & Lindsay Nimmon have been with us for the last 4 years. Scott -- history buff, king of the cheesy dad joke, lover of all things Star Wars & Marvel, and teller of fantastic tales -- took on the formidable job of classroom teacher for the middle schoolers. His infectious smile and humor were able to cheer even the most moody among them, and the kids adored him. Lindsay has served as our principal, bringing our school to a new level in organization and rigor. Learning experience days, artist & musician study, and clubs were also her brain children and have brought richness and depth to our learning community. Their family is now settled at Rosslyn Academy in Nairobi where they will continue to minister to third culture kids. 

All three of these wonderful people have been such a blessing to our community as they spent many hours night and day thinking about how to help our team's kids grow academically, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. They truly were the backbone to our team, providing stability and support to our team families. 

And I would be remiss not to mention our amazing intern Alexis, who helped in so many ways this last year -- teaching Bible, PE, art, and clubs as well as homework help, reading, and math sessions for individual students. She was a wonderful gift that God dropped in our laps at the last minute, and she has an amazing story to tell about how God confirmed her calling here. She is now in Canada pursuing a career change from education to medicine.

Above: Alexis (center) with Maggie (left) and Sam (right)

Below: Alexis (center) observing in the eye OR with John & Nurse Rubin

Just about a year ago, we knew they would all be leaving and had no prospects on the horizon for their replacement, but of course, in God's kindness, He moved the hearts of several new people to join us and we are really hoping to welcome them here soon!

Erica Ause, from Knox Church in Ann Arbor, will be joining us for 2 years as soon as the Burundian airport opens up! She will be teaching Bible, language arts, reading, and writing to our group of 1st-4th graders. She visited in February for a short trip and also spent several months last fall in Honduras. 

Jenny Sorondo, from Florida, will also be joining us for 2 years. She has over 10 years of teaching experience as well as a variety of cross-cultural experiences. We are looking forward to welcoming her here in 2021. 

In addition to these two fantastic, gifted ladies, we're also thrilled to have Steve and Mary Wiland come for the school year. Steve will continue his counseling practice remotely part-time while also helping out at the school with Bible and PE. We're very fortunate to have Mary bring her decades of teaching experience to help us with science, math, and art. 

Steve (teaching juggling) & Mary's first visit to Burundi in April 2019 with the Heart & Soul team

We want to send a big THANKS to all of you who shared and/or prayed about our need for teachers! Rejoice with us in seeing God's answer to our prayers. If you'd like to give a financial gift to help the new folks on their way here, click on the links above. Feel free to keep sharing and praying too. Teachers are an ongoing need for us in Kibuye and other Serge Africa teams too. 

And please pray that Burundi's embassy in the US will begin to issue visas and that the airport would open soon so that our teachers and returning teammates will be able to travel. Finally, please pray for our small crew here as we do our best to teach the kids until reinforcements arrive. We'll all be stretched in new ways, but Year 8 at KHA is going to be great!