They are here! All 10 of our new boys are here and it’s going well. I watched them trudge off to school day and my heart was just filled with love for these little guys that I didn’t even know a week ago! God is amazing. And I say all of them are here, but one is in the hospital. He arrived Monday, got settled into the dorm, but had bad stomach cramps and so went with his folks to the hospital down the hill (also run by the mission). We got a call a few hours later that he was having an appendectomy that night! A tough way to begin your boarding school career, but we all saw the hand of God so clearly. If he had not been coming to school, he would have been in the bush of Uganda-4 hours from an airstrip and then a 2 hour flight to the nearest decent hospital, and they probably wouldn’t have known to go to the hospital until the appendix had ruptured. God is truly faithful.

Here is an overview of our boys:

Manraj is a Kenyan national whose parents are from India. He was born in California, they now live in Nairobi. Manraj is not a Christian. He is a sweet boy with a great Kenyan/Britishesque accent. We love to hear him talk! He goes home most weekends.

Joseph Kim is a Korean. His parents are missionaries in Nairobi. He is quiet and loves his noodles.

Joo-Young Park is my favorite (even though I am not supposed to have a fav). He is a Korean whose parents work in Machakos, Tanzania. He is always smiling, likes hugs, likes to talk, and loves to eat. He won’t ask for a hug, but he always sidles right up to me when he sees me during the day so I will hug him!

Dae-Han is another Korean boy whose parents work among the Masai people in southern Kenya. He is the unspoken leader of the dorm! He is a great kid, always volunteering to help and always leading whether he knows it or not-just one of those born leaders!

James Muna is a Kenyan national who was also born in the States. His dad went to Cornell and his mom to Columbia University. His dad is the head of Coca-Cola in 36 African/Mid-East nations. He’s our youngest and biggest kid! He has been pretty homesick, but is adjusting well. His parents live in Nairobi.

Joey Speichinger comes to us from Zambia. He is having a very hard time adjusting, but he has 2 siblings here at RVA and they are helping a lot.

Seth Shaffer also hails from Zambia where his dad oversees a large farm run by SIM (a mission org.) in conjunction with a Bible School. He is quiet and loves sports.

Dan Orner’s parents are with AIM in Tanzania. His dad actually oversees the entire AIM Tanzania branch and they live right on Lake Victoria near Mwanza. We had a long visit with his parents when they dropped him off and really hit it off. They invited us to come visit on a vacation, so who knows!? This is Dan’s first year and he is having a tough time. We were up till 1:30 am trying to settle him down on the second night. He does have an older brother here and seems to be doing better after a visit from him last night.

Gun-Woo Kong is another Korean boy whose parents are working in Dar es Salaam Tanzania. This is his 3rd year here. And he is the hardest for us to get to know

Andrew Wilson is the one from Uganda with the appendectomy. He is doing well and should leave the hospital today and join us at the dorm on Sunday when his parents leave. He is a great, redheaded kid. The hardest thing about the surgery was that he didn’t get to start dorm life and school with everyone else. Although it’s his first year here, I think he will do fine. News update on Andrew. He tested 6th grade so he is moving into the 6th grade dorm and now we are 9.

Last night, Saturday, we had all 17 of the 5th grade boys over for ice cream. Just as we began to serve it up, the power went out! Have you ever had 17 5th grade boys over when the power goes out? Very interesting and loud! The power came and went for the first half hour, then it stayed on most of the rest of the evening. Steve held an international yelling contest for them while the lights were out. As he put it, if they’re going to be loud, you might as well organize it! They loved it, and him for it! We had fun, but went to bed exhausted-as we have most nights this week. Nine little guys, great as they are, can drain you.

We are glad they are here and looking forward to a good year. We’ve seen, as the week has progressed, a growing unity among the boys and a degree of bonding with us. We are excited to see what God has for each of them. Oh, yes, yesterday they got to sign up for band instruments. Can you imagine practice with 10 boys (JT wants to play sax) on about 5 different instruments?! Don’t envy us too much!

Please pray for the boys and us. We need wisdom and grace moment-by-moment, even for great guys! JT and Matthew are adjusting well and thoroughly enjoying the new brothers. Sure there have been transitional moments, but we all seem to be weathering them pretty well. We pray for all of you.

Nancy for all of us