Prayer and Praise from RVA 27th January 1999 This news update was on my to do list for tomorrow but since you came knocking tonight I'll let you in on what's happening. McDonalds, Gilbertsons, and Taylors are back at RVA. Dixons and Char Taty have gone on. Juniors and Seniors all had great intermis and came back with a new appreciation of friends they got to know in a better way. No major discipline and lots of major fun. Kili was climbed by two seperate groups - one group of juniors and one of seniors. Deep sea fishing caught 80 fish in two days. Mrs. Bannister provided most of the bait as she leaned over the railing. Sailing enjoyed a tour of the mosques in the evening and saw Muslims celebrating the break in their Ramadan fasts. Aviation flew all over and buzzed the station safely. Camping and Pro Bike toured the outer limits of the country and had a great group bonding experience. Scuba and reef ecology enjoyed the sunshine. Basketball did well. Good interims were enjoyed by all despite deteriorated roads, some breakdowns and some long rides. After missing interims last year everyone here was glad to see them back. While the juniors and seniors were away a flu epidemic dropped in on the junior high and quickly spread upward through the freshmen and sophomores. The juniors and seniors got back from interim just in time to get in on the action. The Student health services is filled to capacity and the healthiest of the sickly are serving out their time in the dorms. Mrs. Shirley Eppy has been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. She is looking into options for treatment in Nairobi since she wants the support of the RVA community. Pray for her as she sees a doctor at the Aga Khan hospital and goes for tests and treatment. Titchie field day was blistering hot as we featured water sports. Acacia Primary School [where Kym Arensen teaches] brought their second graders up and camped overnight on the titchie field with our first and second graders. This is a good outreach for our titchies. Senior store sold out before one o'clock since we had such a huge crowd of unexpected visitors that day. Banquet is fast approaching and the juniors finally woke up this week to realize they can't coast anymore on this one. The sponsors are lying low and letting the students do as much as possible on this one even though their hands are busy in the background. MUN is just around the corner and Mr. Linton has his crew trying to fine tune their presentations. Becka Cook won some award money for the Bethany Crippled Children's Center when she spoke on their behalf as the MUN considered which charity to support this year. Every Tuesday morning a group of students led by Mr. Linton and Mr. Taylor meet to pray for Muslims. The first part of this month featured several chapels by Mr. Taylor and Mr. Byrne on the Muslims and on the last day of Ramadan - the 18th - an Islamic convert came and shared his testimony with the RVA students. With car jackers still operating on the lower road and the Kijabe town road so bad the Mai Maihu Sunday School program has been put on hold. The students who were involved are now going down to put on a program for the kids at the Bethany Crippled Children's Center. Revival may be breaking out. Even as I began to type I was deluged with a story from my daughter about the sophomore girls dorm racing around in jubilation at major spiritual breakthroughs during the day. Each Tuesday after Student chapel around 100 students are gathering to pray for revival. Keep the Fire Burning is the challenge. Mr. Jeff Wilson is leading a voluntary Sunday School class for those seniors and juniors seriously interesting in being totally sold out to God. 30 attended the first week. More say they'll be there this week. Students are starting Bible Studies and prayer groups and things are happening. Kids have repented of attitudes and admitted to lies. Relationships have been restored. At the same time the enemy has not fallen asleep. Some more stealing, some hostility, and some strange activity among some students have begun to appear. Pray for revival with the rest of us. Jack Taylor is preaching this term on 2 Peter 1. Baptism Sunday is Feb. 28th. Outreach Sunday is Feb. 21st. Roy and Judy Entwistle have accepted a job at AIM headquarters in New York. They'll be a good re-addition to the AIM team there. God's peace go with you all. - Jack Taylor