Tumaini & Rosslyn Academy

Tumaini is a counseling center run by Africa Inland Mission (AIM) in partnership with many other organizations. People, mostly missionaries, come from all over Africa for counseling at Tumaini. I was surprised at how many missionaries are actually in counseling. The battlefield of the mind seems to be an active place for Satan. If he can't disrupt the actual work, he disrupts the worker. Please pray that we are vigilant in keeping our defenses up with these attacks on and in our minds. That we can identify and hold captive thoughts that are lies planted by the enemy and that we can constantly renew our minds in the Word.

Tumaini is also the place we took Ashley for what we hope will be a positive identification of a learning disability. Strange to say, "I hope my daughter has a learning disability," but it's better than saying, "I hope my daughter is openly defiant of my instruction and that of her teachers!" Before we went, however, we had to complete an 80 question survey of Ashley's behavior. All of her teachers also had to do this. It was supposed to have been completed by Monday morning at 8am, but the teachers didn't get the survey until Thursday and trying to get 4 teachers all to do the survey by Monday at 8am was too much to ask. Consequently, Jeff had to drive to school to obtain the surveys and hand carry them to Tumaini. This was not met with a friendly spirit at the school. Oh well, be that as it may, we were able to continue with our appointment Tuesday even if it had to be pushed back a bit.

The counselor said it is highly likely that Ashley has ADHD with the Hyperactivity portion exhibiting itself as impulsivity rather than hyperactivity. However, he recommended we have a few more sessions and some other testing to identify whether or not she has other factors contributing to this. So, this summer will be a series of tests and counseling sessions to determine how best to help her. Please pray for God's guidance.

Ashley finished up school OK. She brought most of her grades up a little from the first quarter, so we're happy about that. She also got her SAT's back and though her math was very low, her reading levels put her at post high school. Guess I know what we'll be doing this summer...Math!

Pole sana, Ashley! (I'm so sorry.)

Friday we visited the other MK school in Nairobi, Rosslyn Academy. Most of our friends have sent their children there. We opted not to because Rosslyn is an hour away and West Nairobi is 20 minutes away. Rosslyn is also more expensive than WNS. However, we've heard that Rosslyn is better able to handle kids with learning issues and that their students are very welcoming to new kids..something Ashley did not experience at WNS. We weren't able to get Ashley in to shadow for a day at Rosslyn before school let out, and we weren't able to meet with either the Resource Teacher or either of the two second grade teachers, unfortunately. We did get a good tour of the facilities, though. The campus is very large (40 acres), but the student body is nearly twice as large as well. They have more availability for extracurriculars like sports, drama, music, etc. They also have a theater, a gymnasium, and a swimming pool. However, it is also more of a college preparatory school and the academic requirements and responsibilities are greater than those of West Nairobi.

I'm not sure which is the lesser evil: having 5 hours of homework each night, or having no friends at school. Actually, in this last few months, Ashley has made a couple of friends at WNS. It's far from the warm, friendly environment we were hoping for, but it's giant leaps ahead of where she was when we got to Kenya.

Anyway, we were told by Rosslyn admissions that although 6th grade doesn't have any openings just now, we would be put on the list in the first position if we could get our application turned in by Wednesday next week. Seems missionaries have a higher priority than others, so we could slip in before the others in line if they have not yet turned in their applications. We're supposed to turn in a completed IEP (Individual Education Plan) with our application, but we won't even have that until Ashley finishes counseling. Please pray for wisdom for us as we desire to do the best for our daughter and stay in line with God's ultimate plan for her. Sometimes working through difficult situations is God's plan as it grows us in ways that comfort and ease can not.

Update on Ashley

Most of you who've been following our blog or reading our newsletter know that Ashley's been struggling with school. I just wanted to update you on what's happening. Tuesday we have an appointment with a counsellor at Tumaini - an SIL counselling facility - to have her evaluated for ADD. If we can get an IEP (are you drowning in acronyms yet?) for her, then she can ask for a quiet environment in which to take tests, and we can ask for a liaison to assist with managing homework tasks, etc.

So far, her teacher hasn't been real helpful, and the school isn't really much help either, so we are also looking at moving her to a school that has a person dedicated to assisting IEP students. Sadly the new school has not been answering their phones (I've been trying all six of the number I have and that are published on their website, to no avail!). We were really hoping to get Ashley in to shadow a day yet this year, but this year is fast fading.

After seeing how she's struggled since being here, and noticing that lately she's been even more spacey than usual, I'm not so averse to medication as an option now. We'll see how the appointment goes. Please pray about us visiting the new school, that we be able to get her in to shadow before the end of the school year next Thursday.

On a positive note, yesterday we added Daisy to our family. Ashley finally got her cuddly pet! :)

SLC

"They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42

That pretty much sums up our recent Spiritual Life Conference for SIM Kenya. The conference (SLC) is held yearly and is a chance for the "feeders" to be fed. This SLC was special, not only because it was the Vigil's first time, but also because it was the first SLC to include our new Kenyan-national missionaries. What an amazing group of people they are. We commissioned three new missionaries this month, adding to the two from last year and the three commissioned in January. These men and women have been working most of their lives as unofficial missionaries and now we've been able to bring them into the SIM family. They have been the hands and feet of Christ in their communities and have already left a legacy of faith in all that they've touched. We are very blessed!

Our "apostle" was the Reverend Stan Keys from upstate New York who spoke on the "good" kings of the bible and their fatal flaws. He tackled tough topics like, "Can you lose your salvation?" He was a brave man, considering the room was filled with theologians and teachers at seminaries in and around Nairobi. In the end, we came out extremely challenged and stuffed full!

The conference was at Brackenhurst International Conference Center located in the midst of tea plantations in the hills above Nairobi. The grounds were absolutely beautiful, there was time to rest and time to enjoy the fellowship of SIM missionaries and their families that we don't get to see very often.

Ashley made fast friends with Sanyu, Dena and Josie and the four were pretty much inseparable the entire weekend. Chameleons were everywhere and each girl had her favorite pet which she wore like jewelry..in her hair...on her hand...around her neck. As we were pulling out of Brackenhurst, Ashley had tears in her eyes. It took me a few minutes to discern that the tears were because she had to leave the chameleons behind, not because she left her friends! Ahhhh..priorities grasshoppa!

Kiswahili answer guide

OK folks -- here are the answers to the Kiswahili quiz in our newsletter. Let's see how well you did!

ofisini - office
karoti - carrot
machini - machine
wikendi - weekend
kabaji - cabbage
mechi - match (as in sports match)
oksijeni - oxygen
Novemba - November
dansi - dance
kompyuta - computer
feni - fan
mita - meter
Mei - May
Juni - June
mama - Mother
wiki - week
saladi - salad

And just to keep you from getting too comfortable with this whole thing: dada - sister! :)

My name is Julie Vigil and I live in Africa.

This may seem like a demented sort of statement, requiring a sarcastic response such as, "Do ya think??" It finally sunk in for me, though. I really live here. I'm part of this country now. I have a resident alien card and a work visa. I have responsibilities that extend past two weeks in the future. When things don't go right and people don't communicate as I'd expect, I can't simply go back to where we all pretty much start with the same underlying set of expectations. I must adapt, I must learn the underlying set of expectations people in this country have in order to function. Each day I must F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely On God)

I had to become a bank signatory on our mission accounts..pretty much expected for the treasurer. The banks here are super picky about your signature matching. Checks written to cash must have three signatures and they all must look identical. For the life of me, I can't get my signature to be identical! I started wondering if it's because I'm not really sure who I am.

I used to know who I was. I was "Julie - the computer lady." I was Jeff's wife and Ashley's mom. I'm still the latter two, but not the former. Now I'm the "treasurer/finance director" - a title I simply don't deserve based on my qualifications. Now I'm a missionary - but not the kind that goes out spreading the gospel to remote areas. Rather, I'm the kind that goes to an office every day from 8 to 5, manages employees and reconciles statements, digs out receipts and makes sure missionaries have their rent paid, their bills covered, and don't get double charged for things. It doesn't really feel like I deserve that title either, not based on my preconceptions of what a missionary is or should be.

Then I think of a sermon I heard about seeing the second cross. The first one is Jesus', the second one is ours. The disciples didn't see it until Pentecost. Most Christians in America don't see it either. 99% faithfulness isn't sufficient in a marriage; just a "little" breach of contract invalidates the whole contract in business. Likewise in our walk with Christ, Jesus requires our all. We will be rewarded greatly for this commitment, but not yet...not here..at least not in entirety.

So maybe, rather than trying to be what I think a missionary should be, I'll just concentrate on being a better follower of Jesus. And just maybe, by the end of my term here, my signatures will match.