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Don’t real missionaries endure hardship?
What kind of a missionary works with…white kids…in Africa?
Rift Valley Academy (pictured above), is a ministry of Africa Inland Mission, though AIM missionaries make up only a fraction of the student body. Though it was a hectic time of year, I had a chance to sit down with Canadian missionaries Todd and Kylie Dubber in Kijabe Kenya. Todd is a high school gym teacher while Kylie coaches the girl’s field hockey team—both at Rift Valley Academy. Outside the classroom and off the sports field they’re also parents—raising their own two kids as well as a dorm full of teen-age girls. Still sound easy? Read on…
What's it like being dorm parents, real parents AND teaching at RVA?
Todd: "There’s no separation between work and home. By the end of the day you just want to fall into bed."
Is working at RVA too much work?
Todd: "I would say we’re well-used, we just have to be wise with our time."
Todd and Kylie Dubber
Todd: "Being long-term missionaries, we’ve had the chance to see the kids grow up. We have the opportunity to see them make decisions that are wise…we have a lifetime connection with the kids"
Kylie: "I grew up at RVA. My favourite part is the fun—it’s kind of like counselling at camp. I love the constant activity."
Compare teaching in Alberta vs. teaching missionary kids
Kylie: "Kids [here] have such a big world-view. They see how good they have it."
Todd: "I don’t fight with the apathy. I have adventures with kids all the time- it is very much like camp. I feel more used now…I’d rather be more efficiently used than caught in a rat race."
How does the word ‘missionary’ apply to your work?
Todd: "A school of missionary kids doesn’t necessarily mean a school full of Christ-followers...We lead devotions four nights a week." Todd says most kids know a lot about the Bible, but life-application varies widely. One of the dorm-girls is Muslim, for example
Is it difficult support-raising for this ministry?
Todd: "Support raising is absolutely a challenge.” Todd says he and Kylie are still missing 20 per cent of their support, and that their church has questioned whether their work can really be classified as missions.
Kylie: "When missionaries show pictures of poor, hungry and needy children it appeals to churches…when you show pictures of kids running around in designer clothes—they don’t realise that we’re freeing up their parents to do exactly that kind of mission work."
"A school of missionary kids doesn’t necessarily mean a school full of Christ-followers," says Todd
Other challenges?
Todd: “We actually have the kids longer than the parents do…the question is, is our role supervision or parenting? If we want to see maturity and growth, we have to parent. It’s easy to be the enforcer of rules; it’s harder to parent.”
Kylie: “It’s hard being disconnected from family and friends.”
Todd: “And the intensity of life sometimes leads you to neglect your own spiritual maturity. You’re constantly on call."
Advice to others contemplating ministry at RVA?
Todd: "Number one, come with a vision, but don’t try to do everything at once. Two, Pace yourself. Three, seek spiritual input." He explains that it’s also important to reach out to Africans. In coaching RVA’s volleyball team, Todd gets a lot of exposure to national schools through sports meets. Once a year he puts on a volleyball clinic in the community.¤
Rift Valley Academy website
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