"Let the little children come to me"

(by Jess)

It is a short Bible story that appears in three Gospels, and here is my summary: Adults think that Jesus shouldn't be bothered with kids during his tour of public ministry. But when they try to keep the kids away from him, Jesus becomes angry and says: "Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."

We read this passage during Tuesday night Bible study recently, and it was a needed reminder to me that God values me and all people, not because of how smart, good, useful, productive or mature we are. Kids are not known for leading the human race in those characteristics.

God loves kids as they are and thinks they are important enough to spend time with them and bless them. One Bible commentary says this about the end of this story in Mark 10:16, "Jesus' loving action vividly illustrated that His blessing is freely given to those who receive it trustingly. The intensive compound verb "blessed" (kateulogei, imperf., occurring only here in the New Testament) emphasizes the warmhearted fervor with which Jesus blessed each child who came to Him."

So Jesus didn't just tolerate the kids; he wholeheartedly, gladly, intentionally blessed each child.

This past year, God has given Matt and I an opportunity to see just how much he loves his kids in Burundi. Because nearly all of our work here has revolved around kids in some way (it just played out that way), we have started to notice how much He is intervening on their behalf to bless them, care for them and remind us all that they are important.

Of course the main project that brought us to Kibuye was the Pediatric Ward at the hospital. When we arrived, I was surprised to see that it was the largest building on the campus, more than twice the size of the next biggest ward. Why? Because almost half of Burundi's population is under the age of 15. And because kids are important to God.

The playground at the Peds ward was completed this week!

Another construction project that Matt immensely enjoyed was the preschool and kindergarten for the local primary school. I loved watching the design evolve to take into account the future users - very short learners! Hence the windows arranged at various heights, the benches built into windows, and the minimal use of steps. We loved seeing kids of all ages who were magnetically drawn to it and intuitively explored it. Hopefully it serves them and their teachers well! (You can see some of the new pre-school students in Jess's blogpost.) Why spend time creating such a beautiful space? Because kids are important to God.

All smiles and giggles!

My roles in Kibuye have gravitated toward serving kids, too. I've already blogged about boiling lots of eggs each week for kids who are supported by the malnutrition program at the hospital. But I also get to jump in on the occasional sickle cell clinic to color with kids. Because playtime is important, too.

Elise and I joined the med students and interns to color with about 50 kids last week. 

I've had fun connecting with the Serge kids, too. I start my weekdays with "read-to-self" time with elementary boys at KHA, and I look forward to spending time with the older girls during our weekly crochet club. 

Our current crochet project is to create a few of these octopuses to give to preemies at the hospital. Apparently the squishy arms remind babies of the umbilical cord and comfort them.

Honestly, I'm not a exactly a "kid-person" who just can't get enough of them, and yet, God is opening my eyes to see what he sees: not just their future potential, but their present value and God's image in them that is worth celebrating, serving and just plain getting to know. I am glad that this Kibuye season turned into a reminder for us of how important these little ones are to Him.

And maybe, keeping these kids in view will make me a little more like them, more ready to notice and receive God's kingdom and the unmerited blessing Jesus offers.

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!