These kids can dance!!

This is actually a video of some of my kids from last year during one of our dance parties.  Don't worry, I turn the camera soon.  I hope this works, as I've never successfully posted a video on my blog before.  Enjoy!

You mean my blog didn't update itself in the past 2 months?

One of my best friends wrote on my facebook wall that I hadn't updated my blog in 12 years.  My sister "liked" the comment.  Oops!  I guess that means I should get going.

So back to November...

Douglas brought me beautiful calla lilies from town!  

Another annual event at KICS is the Festival of Fun (name changed from “Fall Festival,” since we don’t actually have fall in Rwanda).  Everyone dresses up in costume, plays games, and eats food donated by parents.  This year the elementary kids performed, and later the middle and high school bands impressed us with their skills.  My friend Micki is the leader of Young Life at KICS, so I signed up for her fundraising event.  For 15 minutes small children lined up to throw a giant wet sponge at my face.  Lucky for me, it was mostly just little kidlets so they either missed, hit my shoulder, or just grazed my face.  By the end I was wet, but the kids were happy!  They also had a raffle where Douglas and I won a backpack, 2 water bottles, 2 t-shirts, and a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure- fun!

I hosted my first ever baby shower!  The secretary at our school, Clementine, had her second baby boy and she named him Ian.  Baby showers are in no way a custom here, and Clementine even joked, "Should I bring a basin and soap to wash Ian?" Rwandans don't have any type of celebration before the baby is born (because that's too much assuming), and they don't ever announce a pregnancy.  You are allowed to notice and comment, but they would never go around shouting that they're expecting a child.  Despite the drastic differences in culture, Clementine (pronounced Clemen-teen) was still excited to have an American-type party (since she works with all Westerners) AFTER her dear baby was born.  We hosted it at our house, and invited the whole staff.  Some men came and said hello, but they all seemed to disappear as we opened gifts and got excited about things like bath soap and tiny hats.  Clementine loved having us shower her with  gifts and we loved passing around her new gift from God- sweet baby Ian!


Thanksgiving brought a half day of school that started out semi-tragically.  My class had been reading the story Tumbleweed Stew and brought in all of the ingredients on Thursday morning.  A wonderfully kind American mother in her class offered her 7 quart crockpot to cook our delicious stew.  They brought it in, without a transformer (for voltage), because I assured her I already have one in my classroom.

So, before the kids come in I pour in some water and plug it in.  I turn it on. CRACK, smoke, tears (from me) and I quickly learned that no, it was not a transformer, but instead a battery regulator.  Go figure.  I had ruined the possibility of tumbleweed stew for my students on Thanksgiving.  Plus, I had ruined a fancy  Kenmore slow cooker brought from the States.  Douglas came to comfort me (benefit of working at the same school as my husband!) and then my boss said he'd take my class so that I could calm down.  An office assistant talked to me and had the idea of bringing two big pots to school, and then cooking it at home.  I called the mother and apologized, to which she responded, "Are you still going to be able to have soup?"  Such a relief!  I assured her that my mother would bring one as she was coming in a few weeks (and she did!) and returned to our class.  It turned out to be a delicious soup, and the kids eagerly brought in so many ingredients that we have more than double what we needed.  Other staff and the guards welcomed a hot cup of soup for lunch. :)  God really provides in all circumstances.

Benjamin and Nicholas, the youngest kids in the
family that invited us over! 

Pretty tables!

In the afternoon a family from our church invited us over for a delicious meal.  Surprise!  We even had turkey.  I made green bean casserole, which is a tad different without cream of mushroom soup in a can, but even so, I received compliments!  We hung out, played games, and the guys watched a football game downloaded from the week before.  After celebration #1, we headed over to a KICS teacher Thanksgiving feast, where I ate only macaroni and cheese covered in cheddar cheese.  It certainly wasn't the same as my usual parties in the States, but I still got to be around wonderful people and indulge in delicious food.  No catch phrase, though. :-/


Well, that catches you up through November.  I don't want to do 2 months in one post because then, if you're like me, you'll just scroll through the words and look at the pictures when it gets long.

Do expect updates on:
-KICS Christmas program
-Field trip to a motor garage
-Christmas break with my mom!
-Etc., etc.

So, more to come.  Thanks for your patience and not giving up on me.

With love,
Kerry
kerrybryan87@gmail.com

Field Trip!

My little first graders were completely thrilled and giddy to be going on a field trip!  One child even said she was too excited to eat lunch.  It was field trip day and judging by their reactions, any outsider could have easily believed that we'd all be going on safari or something.  Well, we were leaving our little hill, but not going far.  As an ending to two of our science units (plants & living things) we were going to a family's house to see their GARDEN!  Whoa, I know, it's a big deal.
The little scientists were thrilled to jump in the cars of 4 parents as we headed 7 minutes down the road to the area called Nyaturama.

 They were impatient as we gathered around the table to discuss expectations of the day.  We had to work first and play later, as they had already seen the cool playground the family had in their backyard (brought in a container from America, no doubt).  The precious six and seven year olds put on their scientist jackets, glasses, and took out their cameras so they could capture mental images of the different living things!  Tall tree, tomato plants, and even 2 cats!  After we were fully prepared to walk around the house to the backyard, we got in an organized line (because sometimes scientists have to be a bit serious!) and ventured up the hill.

 They did pretty well taking pictures of what they would later record and looking at how different plants can be!  If you look closely you can see that some of the little ones are holding their arms up to hold their cameras.  One of the wonderful things about teaching primary students is that they never question using imaginary objects.  This is extremely helpful when you want each child to have their very own digital camera.  They can even go back and look at all of the photos they took so they can draw pictures.  Technology has helped creativity!  Yes!  They were excited to remember that we were even walking on plants! After the walk they met again on the porch and drew pictures, labeled the plant parts, and recorded living things that they saw. They were both happy and scared of the cats.  After recording their findings they each got to plant a tiny tomato seed!  They looked precious digging a hole and delicately placing it inside.  They'll have a high population of tomato plants in a small area, but that's okay!

After that we got to have snacks.  Many of the snacks came from plants, which was very fun.  We managed to avoid most of the rain (despite being in the prime of rainy season here in Rwanda) and had an enjoyable, information packed field trip!

Oh Lake Bunyonyi

A couple weeks ago KICS had a week off for a fall break.  Douglas and I decided to take a small journey to the north to the beautiful country of Uganda.  We took motos to the bus park, a bus along windy roads, then motos to the mainland on Lake Bunyonyi.  We had a guide take us in a dug out canoe to the island where we stayed, Byoona Amagara.  They showed us to our geodome and we began our four days of wonderful relaxation.  It was an especially wonderful break after the end of the first quarter and parent teacher conferences.  We were feeling overwhelmed with all of that along with extra things to meet accreditation requirements (particularly updating curriculum guides).  On our second day there we rowed over to another island called Bushara, where some of our other teacher friend

 were staying for the night.  Although it was a bit of a challenge for us to get there (turns out neither of us are naturally good at steering so we went in lots of circles), we were much more effective on the way back.  While we were there we hiked around the lush island, enjoyed the beautiful trees, and kept our eyes open for pretty birds.  I don't know much about birds, but since moving to Africa I've had a new appreciation for how cool they can be sometimes!  After a couple of hours we left Abby (2nd grade teacher) and Natalie (5th grade teacher) and ventured back to our little dome.
We had fish for dinner, which we were a little disappointed to learn was from another lake in Uganda, but it was still so delicious!  Douglas enjoyed a drink that we don't have in Rwanda (or the US, tthat I know of).  It's called "Tangawezi" and it's ginger beer (like root beer, but ginger!).  It has that "bite you back" kind of taste, so I'm not the biggest fan.

While we were there we had a lot of time for reading, which is exciting.  Douglas finished a book called Heavenly Man, which is an amazing story of a Chinese man who was repeatedly persecuted for his faith while always keeping his trust in God.  Douglas highly recommends it and I hope to read it on our next break.  I read God's Big Picture, a book that simply outlines the Bible and really helped me to gain more understanding of how everything fits together as one book.  My friend Hannah (now in Bible School in the U.K.) gave it to me last year and I just made time to read it.  It was definitely helpful to me!  We also spent time praying together, particularly about our future!  We are so torn on where to be or what to do, so we'd appreciate your prayers for this matter as well.  It i 

not to just seek after our own desires, but instead be truly open to do what God wants for us.  It is easy to think we'd like to go a certain place, but it is so difficult to know what is best (especially when there is more than one option that is extremely appealing).
Douglas and I also had free time to play games!  It was nice to spend time together in this way, as it seems that we are doing school related things, or we're just so exhausted!  I had so much fun just hanging out with him!
The past week back at school has gone quite well. We thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful break, but we were both eager to get back to school.
I hope those of you in the States are enjoying fall!
With love from Rwanda,
Kerry :)

Another cute Rwandan baby!

Most of the staff at our school is American.  We have a couple of Canadians, Brits, and Dutch people as well.  We even have one woman from Mauritius!  One of the most special members of our staff is a Rwandan woman named Clementine.  Spelled like the fruit, but pronounced ClemenTEEN, she is our secretary.  She sorts everything out during the day, sits at reception, and takes care of children who are hurt, sick, or sad.  We have been missing her for much of the year because she left for maternity leave.  A couple of weeks before she was due she got malaria, which postponed the delivery a bit.  She was already supposed to have a c-section and a couple of weeks ago her baby boy came into the world!  She named him Ian (not such a Rwandan name) and last weekend Douglas and I got to go see him.

He is precious!  Ian is still so small and adorable.  When we got there he was in his little bed covered with a mosquito net (of course!), sleeping soundly.  He didn't even wake up when I was holding him.  Lucky for me one of his socks fell off so that I could see his tiny little toes!  I love that.

I am so excited for TWO new babies in our family when we come home.  Jenny, Douglas' sister is due in December, and Erin (my brother Aaron's wife) is due in April.  Please pray for them!

Enjoy the pictures!

Clementine's older son, Roy

Really, Kerry? Who does that?

So, when I was 14 I thought I had lost my last baby tooth. 14?  Yes, I remember being in Beginning Composition and Literature as a freshman in high school and having to ask my teacher if I could go to the drinking fountain because I had just lost a tooth.  She glared at me in disbelief, I showed her the little tooth, and she responded that in her history as a teacher she had never had a student lose a tooth.  Go figure, since most people do that in first grade.

Well, turns out I still had another baby tooth that was pretty comfortable just sticking around.  It wasn't noticeable to the average observer and it didn't really bother me.  Somehow my dentist wasn't concerned.  He figured when it came out the other one would come in and it would all be hunkey dorey (not sure how to spell that since I've never typed it and I'm just using it because it was one of my favorite phrases that my grandma used).  WRONG.  I was 21 and about to leave for India for the summer when I felt something poking through the roof of my mouth.  Not in the middle, but right behind that baby tooth.  Well, sure enough, the tooth was coming in whether that baby was going to leave or not!  Rude, but apparently necessary.  I made an appointment to see the dentist and he proclaimed that there was not much I could do now, so I might as well go to Asia and not worry about it.

So I took his advice.  Then I came home.  Next I moved to Africa.  This catches us up to 6 months or so ago.  The baby tooth was starting to move and a small gap had formed.  It was becoming clear that I should do something, but weddings pretty much trump all else and I wasn't going to try to fit dental work into my wonderfully cramped summer, and I definitely would not have braces in my wedding pictures.

A few weeks after we came back to Rwanda, gum started to grow between these two teeth and Douglas encouraged me to go see someone.  Now, Kigali is a city with lots of people, but not lots of orthodontists.  It is a blessing that many people at our school have lots of connections.  One woman who has been here 5 years told me about Dr. Pineda, an orthodontist/dentist from the Philippines who had put braces on some KICS students a couple of years ago.  She assured me that she was legitimate, so we made an appointment and went to see her the following week.

She said braces, which was no surprise.  The happy surprise came when we realized that they'd cost about one fifth of what they would charge in the States. Score!  God provides in awesome ways.

On Thursday morning I got my last baby tooth pulled from my 24 year old mouth.  They gave me the tooth in a small capsule and I put it under my pillow.  The tooth fairy left me enough money for the down payment of my braces!  What a humorous tooth fairy.

So here I am, braces and all.  For now I have a bite block so that the adult tooth can move forward.  This means that I am unable to chew for a few weeks, so I'll mostly be eating soup!  Yes, it also makes my smile look funny.

This is the excitement in the Bryan house as of late.

Who is God?

A couple of weeks ago, we had a staff devotion about everything that God is called.  Reading this extensive list was quite overwhelming to me.  Really?  God is ALL of these things?  I mean, of course he's our Father and Creator, but He is SO MUCH more.  He truly covers all of his bases!  He's the Ancient of Days, but also Everlasting!  Jesus is called the Great Shepherd AND the Lamb of God.  It is a long list to read, perhaps too much to read at once.  I do encourage you to do what our staff did when presented this list.  Take time to thank our Lord for all that he is to us!

The thing that blows me away the most is that God doesn't really ask us to be anything He is or wasn't.  It's all right here!  Comfort others because I am a comforter.  Share the truth, because I am the truth.

Which part of God are you seeing in a new way today?  What do we as human beings need to change so that we can live our lives in the way that Jesus did?

God is SO good!

THE NAMES OF GOD

OLD TESTAMENT NAMES FOR GOD

ELOHIM......Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1

meaning "God", a reference to God's power and might.

ADONAI......Malachi 1:6

meaning "Lord", a reference to the Lordship of God.

JEHOVAH--YAHWEH.....Genesis 2:4

a reference to God's divine salvation.

JEHOVAH-MACCADDESHEM.......Exodus 31:13

meaning "The Lord thy sanctifier"

JEHOVAH-ROHI......Psalm 23:1

meaning "The Lord my shepherd"

JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH.......Ezekiel 48:35

meaning "The Lord who is present"

JEHOVAH-RAPHA.........Exodus 15:26

meaning "The Lord our healer"

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU......Jeremiah 23:6

meaning "The Lord our righteousness"

JEHOVAH-JIREH.........Genesis 22:13-14

meaning "The Lord will provide"

JEHOVAH-NISSI.........Exodus 17:15

meaning "The Lord our banner"

JEHOVAH-SHALOM........Judges 6:24

meaning "The Lord is peace"

JEHOVAH-SABBAOTH......Isaiah 6:1-3

meaning "The Lord of Hosts"

JEHOVAH-GMOLAH........Jeremiah 51:6

meaning "The God of Recompense"

EL-ELYON..............Genesis 14:17-20,Isaiah 14:13-14

meaning "The most high God

EL-ROI................Genesis 16:13

meaning "The strong one who sees"

EL-SHADDAI............Genesis 17:1,Psalm 91:1

meaning "The God of the mountains or God Almighty"

EL-OLAM...............Isaiah 40:28-31

meaning "The everlasting God"

MORE NAMES OF GOD

     ABBA.............................Romans 8:15

     ADVOCATE.........................I John 2:1 (kjv)

     ALMIGHTY.........................Genesis 17:1

     ALPHA............................Revelation 22:13

     AMEN.............................Revelation 3:14

     ANCIENT OF DAYS..................Daniel 7:9

     ANOINTED ONE.....................Psalm 2:2

     APOSTLE..........................Hebrews 3:1

     ARM OF THE LORD..................Isaiah 53:1

     AUTHOR OF LIFE...................Acts 3:15

     AUTHOR OF OUR FAITH..............Hebrews 12:2

     BEGINNING.........................Revelation 21:6

     BLESSED & HOLY RULER..............1 Timothy 6:15

     BRANCH............................Jeremiah 33:15

     BREAD OF GOD......................John 6:33

     BREAD OF LIFE.....................John 6:35

     BRIDEGROOM........................Isaiah 62:56

     BRIGHT MORNING STAR...............Revelation 22:16

     CHIEF SHEPHERD.....................1 Peter 5:4

     CHOSEN ONE.........................Isaiah 42:1

     CHRIST.............................Matthew 22:42

     CHRIST OF GOD......................Luke 9:20

     CHRIST THE LORD....................Luke 2:11

     CHRIST, SON OF LIVING GOD..........Matthew 16:16

     COMFORTER..........................John 14:26(kjv)

     COMMANDER..........................Isaiah 55:4

     CONSOLATION OF ISRAEL...............Luke 2:25

     CONSUMING FIRE................Deut. 4:24, Heb. 12:29

     CORNERSTONE.........................Isaiah 28:16

     COUNSELOR...........................Isaiah 9:6

     CREATOR.............................1 Peter 4:19

     DELIVERER..............................Romans 11:26

     DESIRED OF ALL NATIONS.................Haggai 2:7

     DOOR...................................John 10:7(kjv)

     END....................................Revelation 21:6

     ETERNAL GOD............................Deut. 33:27

     EVERLASTING FATHER.....................Isaiah 9:6

     FAITHFUL & TRUE........................Revelation 19:11

     FAITHFUL WITNESS.......................Revelation 1:5

     FATHER.................................Matthew 6:9

     FIRSTBORN (3) ............Rom.8:29,Rev.1:5,Col.1:15

     FIRSTFRUITS............................1 Cor.15:20-23

     FOUNDATION.............................1 Cor. 3:11

     FRIEND OF TAX COLLECTORS &SINNERS …Matthew 11:19

     GENTLE WHISPER.........................1 Kings 19:12

     GIFT OF GOD............................John 4:10

     GLORY OF THE LORD......................Isaiah 40:5

     GOD....................................Genesis 1:1

     GOD ALMIGHTY...........................Genesis 17:1

     GOD OVER ALL...........................Romans 9:5

     GOD WHO SEES ME........................Genesis 16:13

     GOOD SHEPHERD..........................John 10:11

     GREAT HIGH PRIEST......................Hebrews 4:14

     GREAT SHEPHERD.........................Hebrews 13:20

     GUIDE..................................Psalm 48:14

     HEAD OF THE BODY.......................Colossians 1:18

     HEAD OF THE CHURCH.....................Ephesians 5:23

     HEIR OF ALL THINGS.....................Hebrews 1:2

     HIGH PRIEST............................Hebrews 3:1

     HIGH PRIEST FOREVER....................Hebrews 6:20

     HOLY ONE...............................Acts 2:27

     HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL.....................Isaiah 49:7

     HOLY SPIRIT............................John 15:26

     HOPE...................................Titus 2:13

     HORN OF SALVATION......................Luke 1:69

     I AM....................................Exodus 3:14, John 8:58

     IMAGE OF GOD............................2 Cor. 4:4

     IMAGE OF HIS PERSON.....................Hebrews 1:3 (kjv)

     IMMANUEL................................Isaiah 7:14

     JEALOUS..............................Exodus 34:14 (kjv)

     JEHOVAH..............................Psalm 83:18 (kjv)

     JESUS................................Matthew 1:21

     JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD................Romans 6:23

     JUDGE................................Isaiah 33:22, Acts 10:42

     KING.................................Zechariah 9:9

     KING ETERNAL.........................1 Timothy 1:17

     KING OF KINGS........................1 Timothy 6:15

     KING OF THE AGES.....................Revelation 15:3

     LAMB OF GOD...........................John 1:29

     LAST ADAM.............................1 Cor. 15:45

     LAWGIVER..............................Isaiah 33:22

     LEADER................................Isaiah 55:4

     LIFE..................................John 14:6

     LIGHT OF THE WORLD....................John 8:12

     LIKE AN EAGLE.........................Deut. 32:11

     LILY OF THE VALLEYS...................Song 2:1

     LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH............Revelation 5:5

     LIVING STONE..........................1 Peter 2:4

     LIVING WATER..........................John 4:10

     LORD..................................John 13:13

     LORD GOD ALMIGHTY............... Revelation 15:3

     LORD JESUS CHRIST..................1 Cor. 15:57

     LORD OF ALL..............................Acts 10:36

     LORD OF GLORY ........................1 Cor. 2:8

     LORD OF HOSTS.........................Haggai 1:5

     LORD OF LORDS.........................1 Tim. 6:15

     LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS....Jeremiah 23:6

     LOVE.................................1 John 4:8

     MAN OF SORROWS................................Isaiah 53:3

     MASTER.......................................................Luke 5:5

     MEDIATOR...........................................1 Timothy 2:5

     MERCIFUL GOD.................................Jeremiah 3:12

     MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT........Malachi 3:1

     MESSIAH................................. ……………John 4:25

     MIGHTY GOD............................... …………Isaiah 9:6

     MIGHTY ONE...........................................Isaiah 60:16

     NAZARENE.........................................Matthew 2:23

     OFFSPRING OF DAVID.................Revelation 22:16

     OMEGA..........................................Revelation 22:13

     ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.....................John 1:18(kjv)

     OUR PASSOVER LAMB...........................1 Cor. 5:7

     OUR PEACE....................................Ephesians 2:14

     POTTER...........................................Isaiah 64:8

     POWER OF GOD.............................1 Cor. 1:24

     PRINCE OF PEACE..........................Isaiah 9:6

     PROPHET..........................................Acts 3:22

     PURIFIER.......................................Malachi 3:3

     RABBONI (TEACHER)........................John 20:16

     RADIANCE OF GOD'S GLORY..................Heb.1:3

     REDEEMER.................................Job 19:25

     REFINER'S FIRE...........................Malachi 3:2

     RESURRECTION.............................John 11:25

     RIGHTEOUS ONE............................1 John 2:1

     ROCK.....................................1 Cor.10:4

     ROOT OF DAVID............................Rev. 22:16

     ROSE OF SHARON...........................Song 2:1

     RULER OF GOD'S CREATION..................Rev. 3:14

     RULER OVER KINGS OF EARTH................Rev 1:5

     RULER OVER ISRAEL........................Micah 5:2

     SAVIOR...................................Luke 2:11

     SCEPTER OUT OF ISRAEL..............Numbers 24:17

     SEED.....................................Genesis 3:15

     SERVANT..................................Isaiah 42:1

     SHEPHERD OF OUR SOULS....................1Peter 2:25

     SHIELD...................................Genesis 15:1

     SON OF DAVID.............................Matthew 1:1

     SON OF GOD...............................Matthew 27:54

     SON OF MAN...............................Matthew 8:20

     SON OF THE MOST HIGH.....................Luke 1:32

     SOURCE...................................Hebrews 5:9

     SPIRIT OF GOD............................Genesis 1:2

     STAR OUT OF JACOB........................Numbers 24:17

     STONE....................................1 Peter 2:8

     SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.....................Malachi 4:2

     TEACHER...................................John 13:13

     TRUE LIGHT................................John 1:9

     TRUE WITNESS..............................Revelation 3:14

     TRUTH.....................................John 14:6

     VINE......................................John 15:5

     WAY........................................John 14:6

     WISDOM OF GOD..............................1 Cor. 1:24

     WITNESS....................................Isaiah 55:4

     WONDERFUL..................................Isaiah 9:6

     WORD.......................................John 1:1

     WORD OF GOD................................Revelation 19:13