Many of you are keenly aware of the incredible ministry Lesa has, not only in drama, but in discipling, mentoring and training these students.  She’ll be filling you in more in our next update, but she is already learning many things that she is excited to use in her teaching/directing and for helping her students utilize drama as a ministry tool at Rosslyn and in the surrounding communities. 

If you would like to be a part of supporting her in continuing this work, would you consider giving to her educational expenses? Right now we took out student loans to pay for her schooling and books. This summer she is earning 9 credit hours at a cost of $3,500.  She’ll then take 3 hours each semester, another 9 hours next summer, and then 3 more semesters of 3 hours each.  If you would like to give a tax-deductible gift to help with these expenses, instructions are below.

1. go to AIM’s online giving page (https://dlq4.donatelinq.net/qv10/Donation.aspx?MerchantID=aimint)
2. under categories, select “Missionaries (USA sending unit)”
3. under the subcategory, select “Brown, Andrew & Lesa – Cont. education”
4. Click the “Add” button to add a donation to this project
5. Fill in the rest of the information and click “Next”

God bless you for encouragement and support of Lesa and her ministry in Kenya.

Olepishet

Many families around here like to travel over Spring break. Some go to the Maasai Mara to watch the migration of the wildebeest. Some go to the Indian Ocean and relax on the beach. Some even squeeze in a quick trip to Europe.  Well, our idea of relaxation this Spring Break was a bit different, but still just as rewarding.  We decided this was the best opportunity for our family to invest in the tiny Maasai village of Olepishet, where Lesa had led a group of Rosslyn HS students in January (Click here to read “More than I thought it could be”). We packed our Land Rover to the ceiling, including extra fuel and lots of water, and drove about 5 hours, way past the end of the paved roads, crossing rivers, driving up and down steep, rocky terrain, to reach this special place in our family’s heart.

We didn’t have a big agenda, other than camping and living in the community for a few days, and exploring ways that Rosslyn, and our family specifically, could invest in the people and church here. We spent several nights, sitting around the fire, eating roast goat and talking with the people about what God is doing in this community through the local church. We felt like real missionaries for once. Hours away from the nearest wazungu (white people), no longer under the supervision or care of some senior missionary. Just us and the Maasai.

At church Lesa and I were honored with Maasai necklaces and shukas (blankets) and staffs. We left feeling more encouraged by the community there than vice versa I’m sure, and that the beginning of a new friendship had come.

A few weeks ago, the pastor and an elder from the church came and spent the weekend with us at our home in Nairobi. We continued to share experiences together and talk about what the needs of the village are that the local church is trying to meet. And how we as a family, or Rosslyn as a school, might try to help the church meet those felt needs. One of those needs was the area of HIV/AIDS and general health training and awareness. Another was in the possibly of helping to establish a medical clinic in the village (right now it is a couple hours’ walk to the nearest clinic), the first step for this would probably be some kind of vehicle for driving people to remote clinics until a dispensary is established in Olepishet. Another possibility was in educational needs of the community and/or sponsoring the pastor/elders for further theological training. At this point, there are no outside sources of help/community development in Olepishet.  We may be the only people who are aware of these needs and who are hoping to meet them.

We’ve decided to pray on these things, and when we return in August to get together again when the school calendar allows. There is a possibility that Lesa will help lead a group there from school to do medical work 1st semester.  We thank God for the opportunity to be a part of the lives and church in this special community. Please pray with us as we seek to build this relationship and encourage the church.  As things progress, we will keep you informed of the needs of Olepishet, as any major community development projects there would require funds from outside sources.  Please be in prayer about how God may lead you in this direction.

Seussical

Upon returning from Olepishet as a family, we jumped right back into the thick of things at Rosslyn. Rehearsals for “Seussical: the Musical” were in full swing, and Lesa’s cast of over 80 actors, crew, orchestra, managers, and directors kept her busy. Our whole family was busy, actually, with Andy serving as Technical Director and also playing bass guitar in the pit orchestra. Sydney had a short starring role as the elephant bird during the evening performances. And Robert and Avery pretty much think they own the theater.  The show was a huge success – the best we’ve done yet! (Did I mention that I have the best job in the world?)

OFM

Mere days after Seussical closed, Andy was traveling with the On-Field Media team, finishing production on some projects that he’d been pushing off until the show was over.

He started with a trip on AIM AIR to Marsabit and Korr, and because OFM had chartered their own airplane, he had an extra seat and the opportunity to bring Avery along. Avery was put to work, though, as a grip, best boy, and official bird chaser (or any other animal that was making noise during filming sessions).

Avery was like a celebrity everywhere he went. Small white kids are a rare sight in these parts, and Avery’s entrance onto a school in Marsabit almost caused school to close for the day as every student wanted to shake his hand, touch his hair, ask his name, and generally just crowd around him staring. At one point, Avery, surrounded by maybe 100 kids, took off running quickly across the football pitch. It startled the kids so badly that half of them screamed, only to join Avery moments later in his mad dash.

In Korr, Avery’s favorite part was riding out into our many excursions into the desert on top of the Land Cruiser. He made quick friends with Pastor David Gargule’s children, as his children had 2 things most young children here didn’t have: English and pants. He also joined in, and nearly won, a limbo contest one night at the local secondary school.

Andy greatly enjoyed having Avery along on this trip, as nothing helps a 2nd grader understand what his dad does for a job better than taking him along. Later this summer look for the new AIM Identity film, which was shot on this trip.

Days after returning from this trip, Andy took Robert up to RVA for the weekend as Andy was a guest soloist/clinician in a concert with the RVA jazz band. A few days after that and Andy was off again to Rwanda for a few days on further production for the AIM Identity film.

Transitions

The past week has been a time of intense transitions:

After 7 months of leading the OFM team, Andy’s friend and teammate Ted Rurup has returned to Kenya. Andy hands back the leadership of OFM to Ted, very thankful for the administrative burden to be lifted, but also glad for the opportunity to provide leadership when it was needed.
2 days after Ted arrived, the OFM team said goodbye to Kate Joyce, the OFM photographer for the past 17 months, as she transitioned back to the US.

We have recently transitioned into the role of leaders for the music/worship ministry at our church, International Christian Fellowship.  We have seen God’s hand in this whole process at the church and are quite pleased and honored to step into this role.  Of course, you all know that doing this brings us joy and is a huge part of who we are.  We have enjoyed getting involved in the Leadership Team of the Fellowship and look forward to helping next year as it is also in a time of transition in its structure.

Life at Rosslyn has been amazing for me (Lesa) this year.  I have been on a sharp learning curve, as it had been so many years since I had been in a classroom.  I’ve finished up the year feeling pretty good about my classroom teaching and great about the shows.  Next year I will increase the number of classes I teach. I will also be overseeing all the high school worship teams for chapel, as well as teaching a few private guitar and voice lessons.  This is all a tremendous privilege and joy for me.   My rosters for next year are much fuller than this year, as I guess its gotten around that Mrs. Brown isn’t so bad after all.

These are my courses for next year:

1st semester High School: Intro to Theatre, Communications, Worship, 2 Independent Studies (Acting/Directing and Playwriting).

Middle School: 8th grade “Careers” class and 7th grade Speech

2nd semester High School: Intro to Theatre, Acting, Discipleship. Middle School: 8th grade “Careers” class and 7th grade Speech

I have been blessed by how much love God has given me for my students.  I’ve had some wonderful mentoring opportunities with many of them, and pray that these will continue with them next year (and even with the graduates over FaceBook!)  Please pray for me as I minister at school, not only to missionary kids, but also to many students from a variety of cultures (36!) and faith backgrounds.  Graduation was a bittersweet time for me.  It was such a privilege to sit amongst the faculty on the stage during the ceremony and hear about the students’ accomplishments and future plans, as well as to attend grad parties.  What an amazing group of students and what a school to get to be a part of.  But it was difficult, as some of these students have been in all four of my shows since I came to Rosslyn last year, some went with me to Olepishet for CFS, and all have grown dear to me.  I can’t imagine how I will cope with this year after year!

Summer schedule

June 1- Lesa and the kids leave for America
June 11- Lesa’s sister, Katie, gets married
June 22- Andy flies to America to join the family
July 5- Lesa starts 3 weeks of summer school at University of Northern Colorado (Masters in Theater Education)
July 31- Andy’s sister, Emily, gets married
August 1- We fly back home, to Kenya

In closing

We wish we could see you all this summer, but as it is not a furlough summer for us (and will be full of family commitments!) we are spending most of our time in Kansas and Illinois, with Lesa in Colorado for 3 weeks for grad school. Summer 2011 will be our regularly scheduled furlough, with our full circuit from Virginia to Colorado and every state in-between.

Thanks for the opportunity to be your missionaries in Africa. May God bless you richly for your prayers and financial support over the past 3 years.

In God’s grace,
Andy, Lesa, Robert, Avery, and Sydney Brown

We have been grateful and blessed by your prayers and emails and chats and thoughts over the past 10 weeks since we’ve returned to Africa. We have been trying to find time to get an email update written, and are very sorry it’s taken so long! Please know that you have been on our hearts and minds as well, as our goodbyes this summer are still fresh in our memory.

Over the past 10 weeks we have:

• flown across 8 timezones and eventually conquered jetlag
• Lost 2 friends in the AIM AIR accident (http://brownfamily.ws/2009/08/17/the-update-i-didnt-want-to-write/)
• Did what we could to support those 2 families who lost their husbands and dads
• Moved into a new house (our 5th house in Nairobi!)
  

  Kids, in front of our latest house

• Lost all the weight we’d gained over the summer in the US
• Struggled with electricity and water rationing, often both at once!
• Started having health issues and had a colonoscopy (Andy), the 2nd in 3 months!
• Started over at a new school (Rosslyn)
• Saw our little girl become a schoolgirl (Sydney- kindergarten)
• Saw Lesa’s return to full-time teaching
• Celebrated a birthday (Robbie- 11)
• Started regularly leading worship on Sunday mornings (after a 2 year hiatus)
• Spent 5 days in the Northern Frontier District filming (Andy) (http://brownfamily.ws/2009/10/16/worship-from-the-desert-place/)
• Driven over 600 miles through Nairobi traffic on a motorcycle (Andy)
  

  Andy, rainsoaked, and his motorcycle

• Are 8 weeks into the 11 weeks of rehearsal for The Diary of Anne Frank (Lesa)
• Praised God over and over that He has placed us here, doing exactly what we were made to do

Over the next 10 weeks we will:

• Celebrate two more birthdays (Lesa, Oct 30 and Sydney, Nov 11)
• Direct 3 HS performances (Lesa) of the The Diary of Anne Frank (Nov 5,6,7)
• Take over the leadership of On-Field Media (Andy) while Ted is on home assignment
• Spend a week as cameraman with Billy Graham Association (Andy)
• Spend 8 days in Lesotho (South Africa- Andy) on filming a documentary on the nomadic, underclass shepherds of this mountainous country

The first month of our return to Africa was a rough one. Between our friend’s deaths, the funerals, moving houses, starting a new school, not to mention being terribly jetlagged, we were a mess. Through that time we held fast to God’s promises, that he is faithful and compassionate and understanding and works all things together for our good. All things… every single thing.  We are still holding tight to Him, as life is completely different now in many ways and we are all still getting used to the many changes.

We are finally seeing some rain after a severe drought here in Kenya. People and livestock have been suffering terribly over the past few months and it seemed as if the rain would never come.  We’ve never gone without water completely here in Nairobi, but the city has been rationing water so that most of the city only received water a few days a week.  Everyone stores the water when it comes, so while it has been inconvenient, we have been okay.  The electricity was also being rationed (off 3 days a week) because of the water shortage.  The rains started up this past week and haven’t let up too much.  The rationing appears to be over and we feel quite spoiled to be able to turn on the faucet and see the water pouring in every day!  Our prayer now is that there won’t be flooding all over Kenya, which can be destructive as well.

Lesa has her 3rd drama production at Rosslyn coming up, the The Diary of Anne Frank. She is also teaching 2 high school drama classes and a middle school drama class.  She will direct a middle school play second semester, as well as a musical production for the high school.  Returning to work has been challenging and tiring for her – teaching at 35 with three kids is much different than teaching at 23!  Despite the sharp learning curve, she is loving her time at Rosslyn and feels a deep sense of purpose in mentoring and equipping these students to use their gifts for God’s glory.

Andy, filming in northern Kenya last month

The children have been busy at school with activities and getting to know new friends.  Robbie is now playing the trombone and will also be in the upcoming elementary Christmas production as a shepherd.  He and Avery are taking piano lessons at school and are both doing quite well.  Sydney is… well… still Sydney.  She loves school and is as social as ever.  She has a wonderful teacher, whom she loves.  We feel very blessed to be able to have our children at such an amazing school.  Our house has been a blessing too, though quite a bit of work for Andy as he has been working on some plumbing issues ever since we moved in.  Living so close to the school has made all the difference in the world for Lesa and the kids – no more hour-long bus/car rides.  Now we can get to school in under two minutes!  And of course, Andy loves riding a piki piki (that’s Kiswahili for motorcycle).

Lesa, leading worship on a Sunday morning

Us, with Wyclif, Selina, and Brian

We would love to hear from each of you to know how you are doing since we saw you last.  Please drop us an email and keep in touch!  Thank you again for all of your prayers and support.  We couldn’t be here without you.

In His Precious Name,

Andy, Lesa, Robbie, Avery, and Sydney

Prayer requests:

• Lesa’s show – that the students would do their best, that God would be glorified, and that our family will survive the stress!
• Andy’s trip to Lesotho – for safety and opportunities
• Kenya’s drought – that the rains would make it throughout the country (but not too much!)
• Andy’s health – please pray that the Ulcerative Colitis, which reappeared after our stressful month in August would go away again (last time it was gone for 8 years).
• AIM AIR – please pray for our friends at AIM AIR as they are still putting the pieces together after the accident.  Also, please pray for the Williams and the Toew’s families who each lost a husband/father.

Things are slowing down for us a bit.  Andy has returned from his trip and had quite the tropical island experience!  They had some incredible opportunities to film in this creative access country at locations which are usually closed off.  Check our website soon for stories and photos from that trip. His team doesn’t have any more trips planned for the near future, but will settle in to work on several video projects that they have been assigned, including one about their last island trip, an AIM orientation video, an AIM medical ministries video, an RVA (AIM’s boarding school) video, among others.

The boys’ school is wrapping up this week with Christmas parties and such.  Robbie’s class gets to take a field trip to an orphanage to share in Christmas activities with the children there, which should be a memorable experience for him.  His first band concert went quite well, too.  He’s quite the budding saxophone player!  Sydney and Avery are as busy as ever – we just keep the band-aids flowing.  We stay busy leading worship for various events, helping to lead a youth group, and meeting once or twice a month with the “Inbounders” (short-term and first-term missionaries with AIM) at our house for fellowship. We are all looking forward to the visit of our friends, the Lang family, in January.

Lesa’s first play at Rosslyn is over (click here to see photos of Little Women) and she is taking a break before next semester, when rehearsals for the next show, The King and I, will begin.  There will be nearly 50 students involved in the cast, which is quite a daunting, yet exciting challenge.   Our family is looking forward to the next school year, which will bring many changes, as our kids will begin attending Rosslyn and Lesa has been asked to teach drama/fine arts full-time.  We will keep you posted on all that this will mean for our family, as we are in prayer about if and when we may need to move nearer to Rosslyn.

We also want to bring you up to date regarding our friend, Wycliffe, and his 5 year old son, Brian, whom we told you about in our last letter.  Much has developed since our last letter!  We had known that Brian needed some medical attention to address possible hearing problems, as well as developmental problems, so we have been taking him to doctors.  As far as the hearing issue (which the doctors advised us to tackle first), we are actually picking them up from the hospital today after surgery to get tubes in his ears.  The ENT doing the procedure thinks that this will potentially solve his hearing problem.  If it does, then the next step will be speech therapy, followed by physical and occupational therapy.  We will be looking for a special school for him (special education is not typically a part of the schools here).  Including this surgery, Brian’s medical expenses have reached $1,000.  In faith, we have been covering these, but need help after this surgery (it’s on our credit card)! A few of you have indicated that you would like to help with the costs (thank you!) and we are praying that God would raise up more to help sponsor Brian on a one time or on a regular basis.  If you, your church, or someone you know has a heart for children with special needs and would like to help out, please email us.

God has been so faithful to put it on many of your hearts to pray for us continually and to support us financially.  Thank you so much for your faithfulness, it is what encourages and keeps us going.  At this point, though, we are under-supported around $1,500 per month.  We have an AIM savings account of sorts that makes up the deficit each month, but that will run out by May or so.   What this means is that if we don’t find more people to support us monthly, we will not be able to return to Kenya after our trip to the States next summer.  Will you pray for us that God will lay it on more people’s hearts to commit to supporting us monthly?  Would you also consider talking to your church about potentially supporting us (if it doesn’t already)?  We completely believe that God has placed us here for purposes of His own and that He will make it happen.  He proved it before when He got us out here and He will do it again, we know!
Upcoming events:
5-Jan: Andy’s birthday and the 1st half of the Lang family arrives.
19-Jan to 23-Jan: We’ll be vacationing with the entire Lang family on Kenya’s coast
24-25 Apr, 1-2 May: Lesa’s 2nd show as drama director at Rosslyn Academy: The King and I
15-May ?: We begin our 3-4 month home assignment, setting foot in America for the first time in almost 2 years (for most of us, anyway)

Only five months until we’re back in the States for a few months and we know that we will be so busy that the time will fly.  We can’t wait to see each of you!  Have a very Merry Christmas!

All our love,
Andy, Lesa, Robbie, Avery, and Sydney

Photos from the show

Rosslyn Academy, as a school, is a perfect fit for me. Their purpose statement is, “To inspire and equip students to use their God-given talents for Christ-like service in the world.” Wow. I love that. I pray that I can do that for these students. Especially to help them see how their artistic gifts can be used in their lives to minister to others, to earn a living, to bring glory to God, and to learn about doing that through excellence and integrity in their craft.

So, you may be wondering what this position entails and how it looks for our family. Basically, I only go to the school for afterschool rehearsals (I’m not teaching any classes this year). I started out with two rehearsals per week, then graduated to three, and have just begun doing four. This is only for the last few weeks before the production. I spend most of my day at home, cleaning, cooking, and doing some home school preschool with Sydney. I typically leave the house at around 2:45pm and come home by 7pm, which is when we have supper. Sydney will often come with me to rehearsal and play around back-stage (the high schoolers like playing with her!). Sometimes she’ll stay at home with our househelper, Truphena. The boys come home around 4:15 and work on homework/practice instruments and Andy gets home at 5pm to relieve Truphena. I usually have simple dinner planned that Andy starts and I help finish up when I get home.

Andy is helping out with the play, as well. He is the technical director which means putting the lights and sound together. We’ve enjoyed working together on it all. The boys come to rehearsals whenever they can, as well. They’ve enjoyed watching the set change each time they come and watching the rehearsal, etc. They have no problem with saying they like the movie “Little Women” and seem to be excited to see the story on stage, too. Even this weekend we’ve watched some of their “plays” that they are making up. This was an important part of why we decided I should do this: to expose our kids to the arts more and have it be a normal part of their lives. We’ve even got Tim pulled into it! He’s helping Andy with the lights and will be running the cameras for when we film it.

You may think that I get home exhausted after rehearsal. And I should be, (especially considering that it takes me an hour in Nairobi traffic to get home), but I’m not! I’m always energized by my time with the students, directing, being creative, mentoring, etc. I come home happy to be home and excited to chat with the family about all that happened at rehearsal and to catch up with their day, as well.

Every day at rehearsal we have a prayer time. We go around and share requests and then everyone prays for each other. Without fail, every day, there is at least one prayer request for a student’s parent(s) who is traveling for their ministry work. I’ve begun to see it as God’s gentle reminder to me every day that what I am doing is important. These kids’ parents are traveling to dig wells for people who have no water, to offer medical services where there’s none available for miles, to teach and encourage African pastors who are ministering in remote locations. And each of those parents is able to do their job with peace of mind knowing that their kids are getting a good education and that they are able to have experiences like being in a play and learning about/honing their God-given gifts. So, as if being in the lives of youth wasnít enough reward for me, knowing that Iím touching the ministries of all the parents too is more than enough to keep me going and encouraged that God has me right where He wants me to be.

Going forward, what’s next? Andy and I are both at the point where we both feel that we are exactly in the right ministry for each of us. We are in prayer right now about our future with Rosslyn: Should we live closer? Should the kids transfer there soon and how can we help them to make that adjustment? When should I start teaching classes there and how much of a load could I handle? How can we increase our involvement at Rosslyn while still maintaining Andy’s work with OFM and our community at AIM? Many of these are questions we are looking to answer between now and the time when we come back to the States in May.