Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Amy and the girls of KUW (Juniors, 11th grade) 

      Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

from Amy and the girls of Kedong Upper West (our dorm J ). I am so thankful for your partnership in ministry that allows me to serve these families and be an extension of their ministries all over Africa as we seek to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the unreached. Praying you have a wonderful holiday season with your families as you celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior!

Serving with you,

Amy Jarrett

If you feel led to give or become apart of my team with a one-time financial gift or monthly support you can send checks (made to AIM) and include a letter that says it is for Amy Jarrett to:

Africa Inland Mission

C/0 Receipting

P.O. Box 3611

Peachtree City, GA 30269-7611

You can also call their headquarters directly and set up credit card deposits or automatic monthly check deposits. That number is (1. 800.254.0010 ).

More info about AIM is available at http://us.aimint.org

Team Members Needed :)

Dear Friends,

We are in the home stretch for term 1. All the girls and I are feeling the “wear and tear” and are ready for the break to come in just 9 days. Please be praying we would finish strong and be encouraging and patient with one another as we are all tired and stressed.

I wanted to write a short letter and ask for your specific prayer for my financial support situation. I received my statement the beginning of this month and found out my support was $1,000 short of the monthly target which meant that I only received 1/3^rd of the normal deposit to cover all my groceries and living expenses for the whole month. Obviously, if this was to continue into next month, there is just no way I could continue to be on the field. I was so tempted to be very discouraged when I found this out last week, but the Lord has been bringing His truths to mind and reminding me of His faithfulness and that He knows my needs.

Would you pray that God would provide for this support in the way that He sees fit and that He would continue to work in my heart to trust Him for these needs? Last year I had to leave the field because of insufficient support and was finally able to return in January of this year so it was hard to think of this being a possibility again. I am trusting that the Lord would make that clear, but really am praying that He would make it possible for me to continue serving here in Kenya at Rift Valley Academy. I know the Lord knows the needs of these girls and what is best for them as well as for me. When I look at the picture, I see that our dorm is going so well and I have been blessed to build wonderful relationships with my girls and He is working in their hearts to draw them to Himself. I see how He has given me 2 girls outside of the dorm to disciple and a host of other ministry opportunities while being here.  I see that the families represented in our dorm (20 units) are able to continue spreading the Gospel to the unreached and in their places of work throughout Africa while being able to rest in the fact that their daughters are getting an education and being prepared for life after high school. They can continue their work because RVA allows them to stay on their field even though their children’s needs are changing as they grow. We are all a part of the gospel being spread out to the unreached, we just have different parts to play (you are included in that J )!  These are some of the things in my field of vision, but I know I can’t always see His bigger plan so need to trust Him to lead and provide if He would have me continue at RVA.

I am so thankful to know that the Lord is my provider and I am so thankful for each and every one of you who are apart of my team.  I can’t do this on my own. God’s provision through your support is what allows me to be apart of this wonderful ministry here on the ground. Thank you for joining me in prayer.  

If you feel led to give or become apart of my team with one-time gifts or monthly support, here is some practical information for you. You can send checks (made to AIM) and include a letter that says it is for Amy Jarrett to:

Africa Inland Mission

C/0 Receipting

P.O. Box 3611

Peachtree City, GA 30269-7611

You can also call their headquarters directly and set up credit card deposits or automatic monthly check deposits. That number is (1. 800.254.0010 ).

Again, I am thankful for you and for your prayers! I am looking forward to seeing many of you very soon!! I am praying for you.  

Serving with you,

Amy

Warm Sunny Days in Kenya

Party Time in the dorm :) Hello friends!!!
            Somehow it is Nov 2^nd and we only have 17 school days left in our term! How did that happen?? :) It has been a wonderful term 1. I have so enjoyed getting to know my girls and have felt such a bond with them right from the beginning. That is such a gift as often it takes until starting the 2^nd year to have that type of relationship, but it has truly been special. I am so thankful for the Lord’s hand in this.
                           Birthday Dinner :) notice I try to bring fall to Kenya since it is more like summer this time of year. 

It has been quite the busy term. With birthday dinners, coffee dates with my girls, roommate dinners (having a set of roommates over for dinner each week), Tuesday dorm devos/meetings, treating injuries (good thing I have my athletic training background :)), editing papers, cheering my girls on at their games and keeping up with 20 teenage girls in general might be the reason I haven’t updated once since this term started! I have loved having the coffee dates with my girls as this gives me a chance to catch up with the each of them one on one and hear more about what the Lord is doing in their hearts and hear about their families.
Basketball games.. Number 12 is in my dorm! :) (she made that shot!) 

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This term we had Spiritual Emphasis week where the speaker brought us back to the basics of how Jesus Loves us, He guides us, He knows us, He rules us, and He Calls us. One question the speaker asked that 
really made me stop and think was, “Are you ready to say, ‘Yes’ to Jesus before you even know the question?” I talked with a friend after that session about my desire to be married, and how I am sometimes “afraid” to give that over to the Lord completely because I don’t know what His answer will be.  I am thankful for the Spirit working to show me that fear and for His help to continually give that over to Him who is faithful and sovereign. There is no reason to fear what His plan is because He tells me in Prov 3:5-6 to,  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” There is no reason to be afraid of the Lord’s plan for me because I know that it will be for my good, and more importantly for His glory. I would appreciate prayer to continue surrendering my will to His and that the Lord would give me patience to wait on His timing. I share this because I have been realizing that maybe others have also struggled with this type of ‘waiting’ in their lives or maybe even a different kind of ‘waiting’, and I have been so thankful for the Lord bringing others around me to encourage me in this season of life, that maybe there would be someone I could in-turn encourage as well.
One of my favourite days of the year here is Multicultural day. It is a holiday in Kenya so we don't have classes that day but do lots of fun activities like eat caramel apples and play American football (flag football) :) This year the theme was RVA Olympics, so the kids played all sorts of variations of olympic events it was so much fun to watch! We celebrate all the cultures represented by our students and staff. This year there were 32 unique nations represented!! Such a picture of what heaven will be like! This is me and some of my girls before the flag ceremony. 
my girls from Wales and England (Jasmine and Ella) :) 
more of my girls from Germany and Tanzania (Julia and Abi) 

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           Another thing that I would ask prayer for is how I am continuing to grieve the loss of my brother this summer. Most days I am OK and have been so encouraged hearing from my dear sister in love, Christine, about how the Lord is holding them in His arms. I have felt that same love and care in so many ways. However, one thing I have noticed is that whenever I have heard unsettling news from home or if any of my family have something they are struggling with, it seems to be multiplied by 150% in my mind and in those moments I am having to give them over to the Lord instead of worrying about them. Besides the fact that God’s hands are much more capable than mine, He also loves them more than I ever could.  Again, I am reminded from His word in Matt 6:25-27, 33 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. “ As you can imagine, I think my prayer life has increased and I find His Word and His truths to be such a balm to my heart and the hurts that can sometimes come up. God is so good. In my women’s bible study this year we are doing an inductive study by Jen Wilkin on 1st Peter. I have LOVED this study. The verse that I am working on memorizing is 1^st Peter 1: 3-9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. I love this verse. Our hope is not here on earth where there is pain and death, but ours is a LIVING HOPE based off this inheritance THROUGH JESUS in His death and resurrection where He has the VICTORY over death. Praise Him!

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           One recent item of prayer for my girls is that the Lord would be showing them how His word is sufficient and should be the basis of everything they hear. Last night at dorm meeting, we had a great discussion that arose from the recent statement put out by Jen Hatmaker on homosexual marriage and the church. This was such a huge burden on my heart and I really felt like the Lord wanted me to share with the girls about this. So I talked to them about the fact that we will have spiritual leaders in our lives that teach us things and we should always be measuring every thing they say against scripture (no matter who is doing the teaching!). We talked for a while and now I am praying that the Lord would work in their hearts and guide them as they seek Him and that they would desire to be in His Word as well. 

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            We have three and a half very busy weeks left in this term, and then I will be heading to the States, Nov. 26^th for about 6 weeks awhile our school is on Winter break. I am SO looking forward to time reconnecting with friends and being with family. I will be traveling to Charlotte, Indy, and Co Springs while home, so it will be a busy break for sure. I hope to see many of you while I am home!

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One more prayer request is for a few more financial supporters to join my team in the New Year. Because of some people committing to one year or other’s finances changing, I will be about 300$ short a month starting January 1^st. Will you join me in praying for the Lord’s provision for these needs? Thank you so much for your prayers and support for me and the ministry that is ongoing at RVA. Even if you can't join monthly, one time gifts are so helpful because I end up having a lot of ministry costs that are not covered being in a dorm. So those extra gifts really help lighten the financial load for me and allow me to keep blessing the girls in creative ways. 
If you do feel led to join my team in that way, you can send checks directly to AIM. Make the check payable to Africa Inland Mission and send it to: AIM PO Box 3611, Peachtree City, GA. 30269. The first time you can just send a note telling AIM it is for me (Amy Jarrett) and AIM will send a receipt for your donation. The bottom third of that receipt is a tear off portion that can be sent with the next donation. AIM only sends receipts not bills so if they don't hear from you one month they will not bother you again. You can also set up automatic (monthly) credit card gifts by contacting AIM directly at the office (1-800-254-0010) if you’d like to arrange this option.

As always, I would love to hear from you and pray for you. Please let me know if there is anything I can pray for in your life. I am so thankful for all of you. Thank you for your support that allows me to be here living life with these precious girls.  
OH! And before I forget, I am once again a GREAT Aunt!!! :) My niece, Elissa, and her husband, Blake, had their second child, a little girl named Rosemary Paige Dias. I am so thankful that she is healthy and strong and Momma is doing great. :) Can’t wait to meet her in about a month!

Serving with you,
Amy

Looking out from the Storm

Hello dear friends,
 
 Well I am not really sure how to start this letter because I am still not sure I have wrapped my mind around everything that happened this summer, but I am holding on to the rock that is our sustainer and faithful God.
  I moved into my new apartment/dorm (Kedong Upper West, KUW) on July 16^th. I then left for Japan for what was supposed to be a 3-week visit to see my twin and her family on July 17^th. We had a great few days together and I enjoyed meeting my namesake, Eimi (Amy) Selah, as well as spending lots of time with the older kiddos. It was funny because my niece, Hitomi, couldn’t quite understand that there were two Amys.. so she kept calling me “Abby”! J We had a lot of laughs about that.
 
4 days after arriving, we got a call from my dad in Indiana (their late Friday night). My stomach dropped when Alicia said who was calling because I knew it was late at night on Friday. Then we heard the news that has been something I have dreaded ever hearing. My brother, Tom, whom has been suffering with M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) for the past 10 years had died that night.  My brother, Jon, wrote this and I would like to share what he said. “When you go on Facebook, the status asks "what's on your mind"? Well, weighing heavily on the Jarrett/Graham family minds is the fact that after 10 years of an auto-immune illness that left my younger brother, Tom, in intense, body-wracking pain 24/7, he took his life.
While not condoning his actions, it is hard to find fault in what he did. He had researched his illness, been a vocal presence to the illness community, wrote to Washington, been to many, many doctors, gone through experimental chemo therapy and numerous other treatments. All to no avail. He has been sick for so long, it is hard to even remember the times that he wasn't sick. When we get illnesses, they are sometimes severe and we lay there puking or with the lights out with a migraine or whatever we are doing, always knowing that our bodies will recover and you just stick it out for the hours, or days that it takes to recover.
Tom's illness was progressively worse to the point this summer that he rarely was able to get out of bed. The pain never went away despite the best care possible. His body, and his fogged brain had enough” So even though we are still grieving and mourning the loss of Tom, we have hope in the fact that by God’s grace and sacrifice for Tom’s sins on the cross, we know he is in heaven with his Savior. He is whole and healed with no more pain. One of the “themes” of this whole time of grieving that the Lord has shown us over and over again is God’s grace. What a gift!! In my head and heart, I often think of God’s grace and realize in a small way just how beautiful it is, but hearing the gospel over and over during this time has been like having my breath knocked out of me (in a good way). 1^st Peter 5:10 says, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” It is not our job to earn our spot in heaven, it is ONLY by God’s grace.  The Lord laid this song on my sister-in-love,  Christine’s heart right before the viewing. “Thank you for the cross Lord, Thank you for the price You paid, Bearing all my sin and shame, In love You came, And gave amazing grace, Thank you for this love Lord, Thank you for the nail pierced hands, Washed me in Your cleansing flow, Now all I know Your forgiveness and embrace. So we are grieving, but not without hope.

     I want to share a few examples of God’s care for our family that we experienced in the midst of this. A friend of my sisters organized raising funds for my WHOLE family to travel back to the States and to Indiana. Laura and I were coming from Japan, my sister, Beth from England, Pat and fam from Colorado, Jon and fam from South Carolina. Those funds were raised quickly and we all made it home by Wednesday evening the 27^th and the viewing was on Thursday and the funeral on Friday. The overwhelming amount of support from friends, family and even messages from the ME community online was incredible!! The 5 area churches represented by our family members surrounded us with love and care. They provided us with meals for a week for my family of 50+ people. That was a wonderful blessing to not have to worry about that each day. My family was able to have intense, constant family time, which was so healing. Christine and Austin and Andrew have been such a testimony to all of us. Their faith in God and love for Tom have been fully evident in every word that comes out of their mouths. The way Christine grieves allows us to grieve well. I could say a lot more about her, but she would want me to point you instead to her Lord, who is where her strength comes from.
The next story is almost unbelievable (BUT GOD). Laura and I had our long-haul flight from Tokyo to Dallas and noticed that the 2 flight attendants on our side of the plane were very sweet. About 3 hours into the flight, baby Eimi started to get a little fussy, so I went to the back of the plane (we were in the last seat anyway) to stand and bounce her. I got to talking with one of the flight attendants (Susan) and in our small talk it came up of why Laura and I were traveling home to Indiana. Of course I started breaking down when explaining why and Susan immediately stood up and gave me a hug and called the other lady, Terry, to come over and they both hugged me and were crying with me. Well as we were talking, lots of things came up and they knew I was coming from a visit with my sister and that I was a missionary in Kenya. I told them how God had provided the funds for us to fly and how He helped us get Eimi’s passport in time to travel. I said a few other things I can’t remember but enough that Terry said, “you know Amy, you are not alone on this flight, Susan and I are Christians. Can we pray for you?” So they prayed for me right there and we talked for almost 2 hours. Laura got a nap this whole time J. She came and found me and Terry went to the front of the plane for a minute. When she came back, Terry said, “it sounds like the Lord has already taken care of your flight, but I want to help.” She handed me a 50$ bill!!! I was shocked! She knew we had a 4-hour layover in Dallas (which turned into 14 hrs because of a cancellation and delays) and said you will need food! Susan also handed Laura another 50$ later. I mean, I get chills just remembering this again!! God was watching out for us through these sweet “angels” in the sky. We both kept saying, this was not an accident! God knew. They pampered us the whole rest of the flight and continued to say they would be praying for our family. Needless to say, we will never forget Susan and Terry and their care of us. I have traveled SO many times and have never heard of anything like this, so I know this was just another extension of God’s care for our family in such a hard time. Those were just a few of the ways that, to me, was like God wrapping me up in a big bear hug. That sounds a little silly maybe, but it was truly so comforting. I traveled back to Japan with Laura on August 4^th and then had 2 more days with her family before heading to Kenya on the 8^th.
       Another way God showed His sovereign care was that my best friend, Julie Sandefur was coming to spend about 2 weeks with me before school started. We had tried to plan this trip ever since I started coming back to Kenya and it finally worked out. God knew I would need a friend here with me. We kept busy seeing some of the beauty of Kenya as well as finishing unpacking my house.

            This week I have been busy with meetings for the beginning of term and finishing up preparations for my dorm. Because there are a smaller amount of Juniors boarding at RVA this year, I get to have ALL of the Junior girls in my dorm. So I will have 20 girls this term, and 21 during terms 2 and 3. I am SO excited to have these girls in my dorm. 8 of them were in my 6^th grade PE class I taught my first year, and 7 of them were in my Sunday school group last year. I have also had a few of their older sisters before so it is fun to be so connected already from the beginning.

            I would appreciate prayers for our family as we continue to grieve at different stages and miss my brother. He was an incredible and loving brother.  He was a steady presence in our family even during his illness. Please keep Christine and my nephews, Austin and Andrew, in your prayers too.
            Please pray for a strong start of the year with the girls; that we would build relationships quickly and that the Lord would give me wisdom as I lead these sweet girls. Also that the Lord would give me insight to any issues as well as helping me see anything I need to. J (so general at the beginning, but the Lord knows what I mean. )
            Please pray for continual support needs. There are always many expenses that come up with having a dorm that is as big as mine. For example, I had to buy a small deep freezer because I never had enough space in my fridge/freezer combo in my last dorm. Anytime we want to do something special for our girls, those funds have to come out of our own pocket so it just depends on what the Lord has blessed me with for that month. He is faithful and I know I can trust Him.  If you ever feel led to give a one-time gift or become part of my monthly support team, your gift can be sent to African Inland Mission.
By Mail

You can contribute by mail. To do this, make your check payable to AIM and include a separate note indicating the missionary name or project name. Our mailing address for contributions is:

Africa Inland Mission
Attn.: Receipting Department
P.O. Box 3611
Peachtree City, GA 30269-7611

You will get a receipt by mail, and attached to that is a form you can use for future contributions.

Scheduled Automatic Contributions

If you are going to be giving on a monthly basis, we can arrange automatic contributions from your checking account or from a credit card. Click here for more information, or call our office at 1-800-254-0010 if you’d like to arrange this option. You may also contact us through our Contact Form.

More information is online at: http://us.aimint.org/give/​

I so appreciate your support and love.  I also should mention that I am thankful for the community the Lord has surrounded me with here at RVA. It was really sweet. I got to see 3 of my girls from my first dorm here. They are getting ready to start their sophomore year in college. I was talking with them and sharing about my brother. Before we said goodbye they put their arms around me and prayed for my family and me.  You better believe I had tears in my eyes. J I have many fellow staff members and friends that have continued to check in on me and pray for me. The body of Christ is a beautiful thing and such a picture of the love of God.
I will close for now!!
Much love to you all.
Serving with you,
Amy
Below are some pictures of my time with Laura and her family as well as our family in Indiana. 
 

Final sibling picture with Dad.. that is a tough realisation every time. 

"trins" :) 

7 sisters together for the first time in a LONG time. 

Aunt Amy carrying baby Eimi the Kenyan way :) 

Keishi, Hitomi, Aunt Amy 

my nieces and nephews are growing up!!! 5 in college. so crazy! L-R
(Sister)Laura, Nate, Tyler, Ethan, Carter, Luke (brother in love), Chris, Me, baby Jamie being help by Katie

Jarretts dont do things in small groups. Hiking in Turkey Run 

baby Eimi and Aunt Amy :) 

"sis" Alicia, with Yoshiki, Eimi, Keishi, and Hitomi 

Jamie and Susie, Christine, Debbye and Leo, and me