20th ANNIVERSARY Jubilee

Lynn and Hart are in Tanzania to join the 20^th Anniversary Jubilee Celebration of the Lion of Judah Academy. A small team has accompanied them. The celebration begins today, Monday, September 19 and culminates Saturday, September 24, with a grand celebration and graduation. In between is a week of special activities.

While Lion of Judah Academy (Simba wa Yuda, in Kiswahili) classes actually began meeting in 2001, the first classroom building was completed, and classes began meeting on the campus, on September 16, 2002…20 years ago! On that day there were three classes with about 25 students altogether. Today, Lion of Judah Academy includes about 750 students in fourteen grade levels, over 50 teachers, and a 75 acre campus! God has indeed blessed wonderfully…and continues to do so! Year in and year out LOJA is recognized as one of the outstanding schools in the nation.

Through this week we hope to post something each day, to highlight the anniversary celebration, as well as catch you up on the school itself. On Thursday we will include a link to the special 20^th anniversary video which has been prepared for this occasion…you will definitely want to see it!

The school’s alumni, the Lion of Judah Academy Students’ Ministry, has taken the leadership for planning the event…they’re doing a fantastic job. The excitement around the campus is electric. As I am writing I can hear the inter-school soccer (“football” here, of course!) tournament less than 100 yards away (this morning the alumni team narrowly defeated the teachers’ team in a “friendly match”…sure seemed to be competitive for a “friendly match” — but I guess that’s what happens with teachers and their former students! Editor’s correction — I’ve just been informed I reported that incorrectly!! Apparently the TEACHERS won the match! My apologies!)

The District Commissioner (the government leader of the area in which we live), came to kick off the celebration. A photo display, prepared by the alumni, was opened…to help everyone see with their own eyes what things actually looked like 20 years ago!

We’ll post more about the celebration in the coming days. But here are a few other notes which may be of interest.

THE TEAM – this year’s team is small…only four people. We had expected several more team members, but one thing and then another came up – illness, conflicts, and other issues – so four actually made the trip. We are confident it is just the team God had planned!

– Hart and Lynn Inlow, two of the LJA co-founders, who weren’t going to let anything get in our way!

– Tony Zurolo, who has made several trips to the school and has done some incredibly innovative problem solving related to water management and emergency lighting. Tony is providing upgrades and enhancements to both the water management and emergency lighting systems, and has been hard at work since the moment we arrived

– Doreen Murray, who has come to learn about the school and experience the culture first hand; Doreen is fitting right in, hard at work, and both being blessed and providing many blessings.

A NOTE ON OUR ABSENCE over the past six months – You may or may not have noticed we haven’t posted any news over the past six months or so.

It’s not because nothing has been happening!

We – Hart and Lynn – started the process of moving last February. Selling our home in Hobe Sound, building a new home, packing, and all the rest! Life has been crazy, to say the least! We actually made the move on August 1 and have been getting acclimated and settled in our new home in Penney Farms, Florida. Then, a week ago, we came over here to Tanzania.

Life is good. We love our new home. But we just haven’t had time to post updates on The Lion of Judah Academy.

We’re going to be correcting that over the next couple of weeks and will not only be telling you about the anniversary jubilee, but also catching you up on the past several months at Lion of Judah Academy. Some important things have been happening, and a couple of major challenges have come up.