Dear friends,
 
Greetings from Kenya.  This update will be fairly short and hopefully sweet, as Bruce is in the process of packing his bags for another trip – as usual, mosquito repellant is higher up his ‘essential items’ list than Kendal Mint Cake...
 
More on Bruce’s travels shortly, but let us start by thanking you for praying for our time back in the UK in July/August.  In addition to attending an encouraging AIM conference, we had a great time with our families and even managed to fit in a week by ourselves.  We were delighted to find that the weather was better than the Kenyan rainy season that we’d left behind - the first real downpour came as we waited for the coach to take us back to Heathrow! (see photo above)
 
Our first few weeks back at Rift Valley Academy have been busy – busier than we’d like, if we’re being honest.  Jan has temporarily added an IGCSE class (Religious Studies) to her French teaching and her schedule now keeps her out of the house all day.  Last year, all her lessons were in the morning, so she was able to devote the afternoon to marking and preparation.  Those activities are generally being done in the evening now, so it’s an adjustment for all of us.  Please pray for energy for Jan as she acclimatises to her new timetable, especially with Bruce being away from 13^th to 22^nd September.
 
So back to Bruce’s trip.  Tomorrow morning, he will fly to a new location near the coast of East Africa.  We can’t mention the name of the place because the Christians there are very much in the minority and can’t worship openly.  In recent years, some of them have started translating portions of the Bible into the local language and Bruce is joining a small team of people that is helping with that.  This trip will involve some training of the local translators and some checking of the Scripture that they have been working on.  Please pray for Bruce as he works in this new context: different languages, different people, the need for secrecy etc.  In many ways, it is a daunting if not overwhelming prospect, but we are trusting that God will provide what Bruce lacks.
 
To end on a lighter note, we celebrated our 20^th wedding anniversary last week and were able to spend a couple of nights on our own in Nairobi while friends looked after the kids.
 
As ever, thanks for all your support and encouragement.

Love,
 
Bruce, Jan, Zoë, Martha and Joe x