Director’s Corner

Director’s Corner: 2021-22 School Year Off to a Great Start!

October 25, 2021 By Matt Miller

*Last year’s socially-distanced school picture. The pandemic has required flexibility and creativity to keep learning moving forward despite challenging circumstances*

Our 2021-22 school year began on Aug. 25th with a continuation of in-person learning at VVA. We are grateful to be in one of the countries of the world that has had consistent and courageous leadership to safeguard people from the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, VVA was one of the few schools in the world that was able to have in-person classes for most of the 20-21 school year. What a blessing! Rwanda continues to be a leader in Africa in vaccinations nearing 4 million first-doses administered representing almost one-third of the population.

We just reached the end of our first instructional quarter and were blessed to welcome VVA parents for teacher/parent conferences. We are grateful for the growing sense of parnership with our parents as we work together to support our students! In other exciting news, construction has begun on a new chapel designed by VVA alumni Asher Miller (’21). Asher is using innovative construction techniques that incorporate recycling and the use materials often discarded in other projects. The chapel is designed for small groups to use for devotionals, Bible classes, prayer, and meditation. If any parents or visitors would like to visit the construction site, please let us know and we will be glad to give you a tour!

Finally, I am excited to announce the theme for the year developed by our Student Service Council. The them is “I AM” and focuses both on who God is and who we are because of Him. This theme is shaping our devotionals, assemblies, and even some of our house challenges this year, and helping us all come to a deeper understanding of the nature of God and our identity in Jesus.

Blessings in Christ,

Dr. Matt

Director’s Corner

March 22, 2019 By Nathan Ross

A Growing School

We have now been in our new school facility for more than two months, and we can see growth happening all around us! With the opening of the new school, we were able to add more than 10 students at the semester break, bringing our student body to almost 100. We are so thankful for this facility that has increased our capacity to be a blessing to our community!

More importantly, we see daily signs of growth in our students academically, socially, and spiritually. It is such a joy to see students sharing their creativity, insight, and faith with each other. We want VVA to be a place where students are challenged to grow holistically in an atmosphere of love and support. We believe this unique atmosphere will produce servant leaders who will impact the future of Rwanda and the world. We hope you enjoy our 2018-19 school picture taken in front of the VVA Library!

Matt Miller

Director’s Corner

December 3, 2018 By Nathan Ross

A Story of God’s Faithfulness

As we prepare to move next month into VVA’s permanent home, I want to remind our school community how much God has done in the past two years to bring us to this place. In October of 2016, we had the opportunity to purchase a one hectare plot of land, the plot that our new school is being built upon. The only challenge was that we only had 1,000,000 RWF in our land development fund! Despite this, we made a down payment, telling the owner of the land that we had faith that God would provide what we need to complete the purchase. We even asked the land owner to lead a prayer asking for God’s provision! Three months later, we had all that we needed to complete the purchase! In the same way, God has worked through the generosity of countless individuals and churches to provide all we need to finish phase 1 of our building project.

We are on track to move into our new school buildings on December 15, and plan to begin our new term in January 2019 in our new home. Let’s all stop for a moment and say thank you to our powerful, generous Father who has made this possible, and pray that he would help make VVA a place that fulfills our vision: Developing obedient disciples of Jesus who transform Rwanda and the world through academic excellence, growth in character, and service.

-Matt Miller

Director’s Corner

December 15, 2016 By Matt Miller

Raising Up Future Innovators of Rwanda

We hope to plant seeds of innovation and entrepreneurship in our students so that they contribute to the development of Rwanda.

If you ask the VVA primary and secondary students what the highlight of the year has been for them so far, most likely someone will mention our field trip to the Winnaz Potato Chips factory.

Winnaz is a local start-up that is producing high-quality potato chips right here in Musanze. Our students were able to visit the factory and learn about how locally grown potatoes are transformed into delicious chips.

At the end of the visit, workers from the factory brought out several platters piled high with chips that our students quickly made disappear!

There was a purpose to this trip beyond an enjoyable outing and filling our student’s bellies with potato chips. We wanted to show our students that products like potato chips, which are often imported from other countries, can actually be produced in Rwanda using local materials.

We hope to plant seeds of innovation and entrepreneurship in our students so that they contribute to the development of Rwanda.

We believe VVA students will be among the future leaders of Rwanda and are excited to see the contributions they will make!

~ Matthew

Director’s Corner

May 27, 2016 By Matt Miller

20160527-vva-newsletter-widow

Looking Back…

We have arrived at the end of our second year at VVA. As we look back at the 2015-16 school year, it is amazing to think of all that has happened! Our school has grown to an enrollment of 42 students after beginning with 17 in 2014. We have added Kindergarten and First Grade classes, a lunch program, and now we have our first two High School Graduates—Stephen Crowson and Abby Miller! We are so thankful for all of you parents who have entrusted your children to us, and we look forward to many more milestones together in the future.

We are also in a period in Rwanda where we all look back and remember the horrible events that occurred 22 years ago during the genocide against the Tutsi. We look back and remember in order to ensure that these things will never happen again. This year, VVA was able to organize our first “Walk to Remember” in which our primary and secondary students walked to the Musanze Genocide Memorial for a program to honor those lost during the genocide and learn about fighting genocide ideology. We also had the privilege of helping a genocide widow in our community with rice, beans, corn flour, salt, sugar, soap, oil, and charcoal. I am so proud of the way our VVA family came together to donate more than 75,000 RWF to help a woman who has experienced great suffering. She asked me to share with you her appreciation for the help she received.

As we remember the past, we also work together to build a better future for Rwanda. I believe this future is a bright one because of the amazing children we privileged to serve at VVA who we believe will someday be leaders of this beautiful nation. The excellence, service, and character they are displaying show that there are great things ahead!

~ Mr. Matthew Miller

Director’s Corner

December 16, 2015 By Matt Miller

Half-Way!

There is something special about reaching the half-way point of a journey. Whenever I drive to Kigali, I am always glad to reach Nyirangarama, not only because I can stop to get some maracuja juice, but also because it means I am at the mid-point of the trip. It is always good to stop and take a short break before pushing ahead to finish the journey. This is the point we have reached in our school year at VVA. Now is a time for all of us to rest, connect with our families, and prepare to finish the journey of this school year well.

We have a lot to reflect on and be thankful for this semester that is ending, and much to look forward to as we look ahead to a new year and our second semester. Our community is growing, both in numbers and in depth. In January, we will have more than 40 students at VVA! We are looking forward to more opportunities to connect as a school community as we learn, pray, and play together.

All of the teachers, staff, and administration of VVA want to wish each of our VVA families a wonderful Christmas break. May you take joy and comfort knowing that God loved us so much that he sent his only son Jesus in the form of a little baby so he could grow, live, and eventually die for us. In his life we learn how to live, and in his death we find true life. Merry Christmas!

~ Mr. Matthew Miller

Director’s Corner – October

October 30, 2015 By Matt Miller

It is amazing that we have passed the halfway point of the first semester of VVA’s second year! I want to thank all of the parents who continue to entrust us with the education of your children. I am especially grateful for the way you have shared with others about VVA, helping us to double our enrollment this year from 17 to 34 students. Almost all of these new students are the result of referrals from current VVA families, which is a very encouraging sign for us!

The past three months have been exciting for us at VVA. We have expanded to an adjacent building and have begun offering lunches on-site, and experience that is increasing our connection together. We have also increased the opportunities we have to connect together as a spiritual community. We hosted our first community worship time in early October and now have several parents participating in our moms and dads prayer times. We hope more and more parents will take advantage of these opportunities to grow together spiritually.

Finally, I would like to ask for your prayers as I take a short trip to the US to recruit more teachers for VVA. Pray that God will bring the right people to serve your children and the community of Musanze. It is a great privilege for us to serve you through VVA!

~ Matthew Miller

Director’s Corner – June

June 15, 2015 By Matt Miller

In one week, the first year of VVA will come to a close. As I reflect on all that has happened since our school began last September, I am amazed at all that God has allowed us to accomplish. We have had the privilege of serving 24 students from six different nations. Together with our teachers and parents, we have created a new source of community in Musanze that is allowing people to connect with one another at events such as our fall festival, monthly breakfast chapels, and movie nights. We have even been able to purchase our fist plot of land for our eventual permanent home. I especially want to recognize Julie Reagan, our High School educational facilitator and Mary Clayton, our Preschool 2 teacher, who have given so much of themselves this year to help VVA begin with a strong foundation. They are returning to the US in a few weeks, and we pray for God’s blessing as they move on to the next chapter of their lives.

My favorite thing about VVA is the sense of family that is developing among the students, parents, teachers, and staff. It is my hope that our community will grow in depth and in numbers as other families join us. If you have been blessed by VVA, please spread the news! I pray for God’s richest blessings on all of our VVA families as we enter into our summer break, and look forward to seeing you all on August 19th when our new school year begins!

~ Matthew Miller

Director’s Corner – March

March 31, 2015 By Matt Miller

A Season of Hope

The rains have begun falling again in Musanze, signaling the end of the dry season and the beginning of the season of planting. This is a time of hope, as so many people in Rwanda plant their fields and pray for God to provide for their needs. We have been focusing on hope at VVA over the past few weeks. I believe the students of VVA are an amazing sign of hope for the future. Our school is made up of students from seven different nations and represents future leaders that have so much potential to impact the world for good. While the rains represent hope, they also announce the coming in Rwanda of a season of memory and mourning as we commemorate the 21st anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi. We want everyone in the VVA community to know that our thoughts and prayers are with all who are remembering loved ones who were lost during this horrible chapter of the history of Rwanda. We are grateful for the sacrifices of many who have made it possible for the future of Rwanda to be a future of hope. It is our purpose to contribute to this future through offering an excellent international education to students from Rwanda and elsewhere grounded in the character of Jesus, the greatest of all sources of hope. As we celebrate Easter this coming Sunday, may the empty tomb remind us that death is not the end of the story. May God bless us all during this season of hope! ~ Matt Miller

Director’s Corner – February

February 26, 2015 By Matt Miller

More Than a School – A Community!

Here at VVA, we are working hard to build a school culture in which our students can excel academically, be equipped to serve Rwanda and the world, and grow in the character of Christ. But our vision for VVA goes beyond the walls of our school. It is our desire that VVA contribute to the development of community in our city. This is the reason that we value events such as our annual Fall Festival. It is our hope that the families who have children at VVA can create connections with each other that help friendship and love to grow throughout our city.

Our most recent VVA Community event was our movie night. Many of you joined us for an evening watching the Disney movie “Frozen” under the stars in the front lawn of our school. We enjoyed it so much that we have already planned a second movie night for Friday, March 13^th and another in May. We have also begun inviting family of our students to stay for muffins and participate in our chapel service on the last Wednesday of every month. As we spend time reading God’s Word and praying together, we are drawn closer together as a community.

I hope all of you will be able to take advantage of these opportunities to help VVA be more than a school!

~ Matt Miller

Director’s Corner: 2021-22 School Year Off to a Great Start!

Director’s Corner

A Growing School

Director’s Corner

A Story of God’s Faithfulness

Director’s Corner

Raising Up Future Innovators of Rwanda

Director’s Corner

Director’s Corner

Director’s Corner – October

Director’s Corner – June

Director’s Corner – March

Director’s Corner – February

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