Chapter 7

Greetings in the time of covid-19!

Leigha and I have refrained from writing new updates due to our ever-changing situation, but we think enough moving pieces have shifted that we can again inform you, our friends and family, of what’s going on in our lives and our time abroad.

A few weeks ago, Leigha began long-term substitute teaching at RVA where we’ve been staying after an unexpected medical emergency opened up the need for a middle school math teacher. Then, in another unforeseen series of events, RVA closed for the term two weeks early. We’re now in the middle of those two weeks, with teachers thinking and planning for what the next few months will look like. RVA has the unique advantage of already having a term break during the month of April, giving much-needed additional time to figure out the best ways to serve students in the coming months (across many countries, continents, internet capabilities, and time zones).

As you all know, schools have been canceled the world over. In our case, this means our Chinese university does not know when it will reopen; the government has mandated a closure of indefinite length. Because of this reality, and because we are currently “stuck” in Kenya and are already helping out at RVA, we have decided not to return to China this semester, and instead to continue volunteering at RVA until the end of their school year in July.

This was certainly a difficult decision, all the more so because of the uncertainty of the world in these times. We are disappointed we won’t be returning and continuing friendships with our students, with Chinese staff and faculty, and with our co-foreign-teachers. We miss China a lot, and wish we could have been back weeks ago. This certainly isn’t what we were expecting when we left the country in December!

Still, Kenya has a place in both of our hearts, and RVA brings connotations of home and many good memories. We appreciate being back in a close-knit community, at an international school, with family, and attending church in English – even as we remember and miss our community, school, and church in China. We admit that spending the Chinese winter season in temperate Kijabe (Kenya) was a welcome change to our expectations, and we soak in as much beauty as we can manage – even as we recall the gently rolling hills of Sichuan as seen from our apartment rooftop.

So Leigha will spend May, June, and July teaching 7^th and 8^th graders Math, and I will help out in technical capacities as well as however else I’m needed or useful. No one knows exactly what school will look like a month from now, but for the moment we’re glad that students were all able to return home before borders closed (sometimes within minutes of official closure).

In further update-news, Leigha and I also recently accepted 2-year positions with Leadership Development International (LDi) to work with Chengdu International School (CDIS) in Chengdu, the capital city of our province. She will be hired as a high school math teacher, while I will be teaching middle school social studies. Suffice it to say one of these positions is a little out of our normal sphere of work/study! But I’m looking forward to something new, and I have seen God preparing me in various ways in this process. I’m grateful for the chance to be at RVA and interact with social studies teachers and classrooms in an international boarding school context. And we’re both very excited to cement plans to return to China and to continue teaching.

Of course any plans for next year – ours or yours – should still be labeled “potential” at this point. God only knows what the next months will hold. Still, we are planning to return to China, even if that means waiting due to delays or other unforeseen issues. And we are thrilled to do so!

If you want to learn more about LDi, our school’s parent organization, you can check out ldi.global. If you want to learn more about the school itself, you can find information at cdischina.com.  

Peace, perseverance, and many blessings to all of you in this chaotic season!

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