Baptisms and Boogers

I do hope no one is offended by the title. I was struggling to be creative until I realized what I wanted to write about and it created an alliteration. It must the teacher deep inside me coming out. Or, I'm well on my way to writing 3 point sermons or whatever they teach you in seminary.

Rift Valley Academy (RVA) had their baptism service a week ago. We do this outside and are gathered as a whole school. It was such a time of celebration of the work God is doing in our students hearts. The testimonies shared were evidence of God's faithful work in the hearts of those He has called His own.

We had Spiritual Emphasis Week about 6 weeks ago and witnessed a fresh work of the Lord in the hearts of students and staff alike. Even though, many of our students were raised as missionary kids much of their life they still have to sort through what is truth, they still stumble into sin, and God is still faithful to work redeeming works in their hearts. Praise God for the hope we have in Him!

As I watched baptisms, I looked around and saw numerous kids high in trees during the service. We climb trees here a lot and have almost no broken bones as a result, but I was reminded of the unique culture of missionary kids (my target ministry) as I watched tree climbers, listened to testimonies, and observed The church here that day. I am blessed!

And the boogers....I'm sure my kiddos have been picking their noses since before I got here, but I've noticed an increase of activity in this direction recently and needless to say I'd like to see the activity slow down. So, I've given a pep talk at least twice about spreading germs, washing hands, etc.... because I've gotten sick a few times - I like to blame it on the boogers.

Strategically included in this pep talk is direction to STOP picking your nose and eating and spreading your boogers! With that said, it seems to be perfectly normal in African culture to pick your nose, even while in the middle of a conversation and I'm wondering if this has some influence upon the excessive booger picking. No worries, though, I don't think I will catch the trend.