The first day of school!

Moira saying bye to Reece before heading off to school.

The sign in front of their classrooms.

Kelly with her teacher!

Unruh Update

Dear Family and Friends,

We are off and running!  A new year has started and as is usual for RVA it has come with many changes.  For starters we have only 16 dorm boys this year instead of the normal 20+.  However, we have a mix of 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th graders instead of the usual 9^th & 10^th graders only.  This is unusual to have 3 grades in one dorm, but the junior and senior dorms are overflowing.  So we will have 5 junior boys in our dorm as well.  We are excited about this group of boys and our year together.  The sophomores and juniors will all have had us for their dorm parents for one year already while our freshman boys are all completely new to RVA.  Please pray with us that we will be able to have meaningfully relationships with each of our boys and can point them toward a deeper relationship with Jesus.

Another change for this year is that Rodney is no longer School Purchaser.  We asked that he no longer fill this job this year as driving in Nairobi is highly stressful, was taking a toll on him and he needed a break.  So he is now in the classroom.  He is not a full fledged teacher yet, but will be shadowing the Wood Tech classes and looking to be a teacher in these classes down the road.    We are excited and nervous about these changes.  We are excited about this as it gives Rodney a chance to use some skills and talents that are more in line with his background.  On the “nervous” side of things, Rodney is still not sure how he is going to handle being in the same room as Jr. High kids who are using power tools!  He is not a teacher by training but does love to come along side the kids to teach in a hands on environment.  We are praying this will be a good fit for him, please pray with us about this too.

Since Rodney will not have as full of a schedule nor be off campus so much, he has a chance to step into the coaching realm as well.  This is his first time coaching soccer after many years of playing and he is excited about the opportunity to coach one of the boys Junior Varsity soccer teams.  Another result of the reduced load and being on campus more is that he will be picking up on the driving the school bus to events as needed and as able.

Faith is looking forward to being at home and keeping things running.  She is hoping to do more baking to “bribe” the dorm boys down into our apartment to hang out and talk with.  After all, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right?  Please pray for her as she looks for ways to get to know the boys better.  And if you have any suggestions, email back.=)

Our first two children will both be attending school this year and are super excited!  Kelly has been counting down the number of days till Kindergarten starts!

We have one more year here in Kenya and then are due for our home assignment and are planning to be in the US for one year.  Please be praying as we look to the future year in the US, for God to direct our steps in regards to schooling for our kids, and for support raising.  (We are currently about $1000/month short on support.)  We have never had kids in school while on furlough before and the thought of being on long road trips with our kids in school is daunting.  Please pray for wisdom.

We truly appreciate your prayer as we could not do what we do without your daily prayers bringing us before the Throne.

Thank you for praying for us!

Rodney & Faith Unruh

Current pictures of my kids and their lives around here!

Ethan on the play area that Rodney built in our back yard.

 

 

 

 

 

Reece enjoys her swing!

Kelly is having fun jumping!

Kelly & Moira ready for Kelly's first day at preschool.  She's been ready for a long time, and had to wait an entire week of Moira being in first grade before her preschool started.

This is Moira's only action picture while playing soccer after school (she is the one nearest the ball).  She spent the first 10 minutes of the game standing in the exact position she was told to stand in!

Reece isn't walking on her own yet, but her big sisters love to help her get around.  This is a classic Ethan picture that shows life for him...full steam ahead with tongue out.

Reece

This is a favorite place to play for the kids while watching soccer on upper field.

oops, and sometimes they do flip.  This is Kelly...she walked away with a smile and still did it some more.

Before and After Pictures of our Westervelt Kitchen Remodel

Here's a before picture showing "the view" from the dorm entrance down to our apartment.  (We go down the stairs to get to our main living area of kitchen/living room/office and such.  Then the upstairs is all our families bedrooms.)

This is the new view from the dorm entrance down to our apartment.  (This picture was taken from the same spot as the above one, just zoomed in a little different.)  I really like being able to see the guys enter the dorm while standing in my kitchen!

This is a before picture again, showing the old view from the living room looking towards the kitchen.

And here is the after shot from the same angle.  We love the openness of it!  I enjoy being able to be in the kitchen and still see what is going on in the living room and dining room!

Before picture... from our front door looking into the kitchen.

After picture, taken from the same spot... We were able to take out the entire wall between the kitchen and dining room.

Before picture...this is our old kitchen.  They took out our old cabinets and made completely new ones.

 

 

Now our upper cabinets go all the way to the ceiling.  Back behind the boys to the left, is a new addition to the kitchen as well.  It used to be a closet with 4 shelves, we turned it into a bake center.  I love having all my baking supplies in a back area so it doesn't look quite as cluttered in the main area of my kitchen.  Our dorm guys use our kitchen a fair piece as well, they cook a lot of noodles!

August 2010

Thank you for praying for Kenya! So far everything has been appeared peaceful.

Thank you for praying us through the year in the dorm! We have had a GREAT year in the dorm and are looking forward to staying put for another 2 years in this same dorm. We had a wonderful group of guys this past year and are praying for another solid group of guys. We will be keeping last year’s freshman as they move on to their sophomore year, and will get a new group of freshman. There are only 6 returning guys, and they are solid boys. We are challenging them to step up and be leaders in the dorm, setting a good example of being servant leaders and modeling respect in the dorm.

On the home front, our kids are doing great! Moira is now a 1st grader, and I am still struggling to believe it. She is flourishing in school, and loves learning, and spending time with friends! Kelly will be joining a mom lead preschool group this year. That means, I, Faith get to take my turn and teach for about one month this year. I feel somewhat more confident since I’ve done it once with Moira, but it for sure is not within my “comfort zone”. Ethan is pure boy and brings us a lot of joy. He still does not use many words, but does a good job in communicating none the less. He recently has shown interest in potty training, so we decided to bite the bullet and put him into undies. YIKES! Reece decided this past week to graduate from army crawling to “normal” crawling and in the process greatly increased how quickly she can get into trouble. I have found myself having to look at my house with new eyes as to what she can get in to. She is also cutting her first tooth. She has a very pleasant personality, and is fun to watch discover things for the first time.

According to the orthopedic doctor, Rodney has torn both his ACL and MCL in his right knee. He is planning to have an MRI done on Friday letting us know the extent of the damage. If surgery really is necessary we should be able to have it done right here in Kijabe. Please be praying for this! Rodney is not so good at laying low, pray that he will take it easy and let it heal well.

I, Faith, am wondering if I need to join the “new movement” and start blogging. Would you enjoy having this to look at, and those of you that blog already, is this a do-able thing to stay on top of? (Keeping in mind of course that I am mom to 4 kids ages 6 and under.=))