Breathe..That Is the Key

Hello dear friends,
  I wanted to write and thank you for your prayers for me and my girls. We are entering the last 2 weeks of term and clearly feeling it. I am doing well, though physically exhausted. Please pray that I would finish the term well and with Joy. It is so easy to get distracted by the crazy "to do" list that I have and I want to be intentionally living with joy even amongst the crazy schedule.

 Please be praying for the 12 girls in my current dorm as well as the 16 girls from my last dorm that are preparing to graduate in 2 short weeks!! This is a huge transition time for them as they are not only going to college but also leaving their home here in Africa and adjusting to a very different culture and way of life in
 N. America, Europe, or Korea. They have come home many nights lately, subdued with the realisation that they are experiencing many "lasts". Pray that they would grieve well but also look ahead with excitement about the future the Lord has for each and every one of them.

On Saturday, our dorm went to Naivasha for our end of the year Dorm Party. We had SUCH a special time. I was so thankful that we were able to go even though our road situation out of Kijabe has been a bit of a nightmare recently with the heavy rain and fog. We were planning on taking a bus, but were not allowed to at the last minute because of unstable road conditions. I was thankful that 3 staff members were willing to help us out, by driving us and giving up a day of precious time when the schedule is so busy. We had a great time of relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather and camp ground that goes up to Lake Naivasha. I know the girls really enjoyed the time together. Some of them said, "It's funny that we forget how much we like each other when we hang out. Usually we are so busy doing our own thing, we take that for granted." I am thankful for the Lord's leading and prompting for me to find ways of providing opportunities for these girls to find healing and friendship among each other when they have been living together for a year with tension and not much unity as a dorm. Thank you for your continual prayers for Suswa Dorm!

Suswa Dorm: Back row to front: Stacy, Jo-ine, Sarah, Emily, Danieke, Me :), Mary, Tirza, Heather, Kalie, (middle) HaYeong, Minju, Haley, Phoebe, Suzann, (Front row) Amy, Sophia, Yealin, Cindy, and Abby 

Great that the restaurant would seat our whole group together :)

The girls stand out against the grey skies and grey water  of Lake Naivasha :)

                                             
On Wednesday, I will host a Graduation Open House for my 28 Senior girls that I have had in my dorms the past 2 years. The school schedule is so busy I haven't been able to put a time together with them all, so I am really looking forward to that. On Saturday the Senior class will head to the Coast for their "Senior Safo" (class trip basically) for almost a week. Exams for my Juniors are next week, and then it is graduation! In the mean-time, I have to start packing up for what I hope is my final move (4th move in 6 months) for at least the next 2 years. Lord willing, I will start the new school year in a dorm with the current 10th graders. So that means I will get them for 2 years as Juniors and then Seniors. :) YAY!

I appreciate your prayers for strength and health as we finish this term. The whole term we have had a nasty virus going around campus that knocks people out anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. Please continue to pray for protection for me and the girls as we finish the term well. I would also like to ask you to keep praying for the girl who I talked about in my last letter. Her parents made the decision to withdraw her from RVA. I am praying that the Lord would continue to work healing in her heart and that she would find her joy in Christ and His salvation.

Love to you all. Would LOVE to hear from you, even if it is just a quick hello and something you and your family are up to. It is always so encouraging to hear from home. I am very excited about my up-coming trip to Japan as well. I can't wait to see my nieces and nephews! Also my trin, Laura, and I will get to celebrate our 31st birthday together (though a few days late) which is something that has been a rare treat in the last 10 years since she has been in Japan!

Serving with you,
Amy

Still Alive :)

Hello dear friends, 
I am so sorry for the long absence in-between letters and updating you. Because of that, this will be a long one as there is a lot to update you on! I can't tell you how thankful I am for your prayers and responses to my last email. The Lord has been answering those prayers. Praise Him! The last 6 weeks with the girls have been so good. I told them last week during our dorm devos that I had completely forgotten to share with them my testimony and how the Lord brought me here because I have been so comfortable with them. They have embraced me so sweetly and been so intentional. I did finally share with them last week and it was really special to hear how the Lord used some of the things in my life (like my mom passing away from Cancer) to encourage a few of the girls and prompt one to share with me her experience with a family friend that passed away from a battle with cancer. She hadn't ever really allowed herself to grieve him because she didn't know who to talk to. In this "job" as a dorm mom, I am constantly reminded of this verse, though I think it applies to all of us, and is such a sweet reminder to me of God's love and comfort and how He created us to live in community and together.  (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)
 
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
Family Dorm night: Playing Apples to Apples 
 
I would ask that you would continue to lift one of my girls up in prayer. She is struggling with some deep emotional issues and not in a healthy state of mind to deal with them. Please pray that the Lord would be working in her heart, that she would either accept Him or if she is saved, that the Holy Spirit will work in her heart to show her the truth and she will start the process towards healing. I am praying that God’s truth would pour into her heart and replace those lies she is choosing to believe with His light.  

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My volleyball team ended the season May 18^th, and we won our JV league. It was so much fun to coach these great girls, though I am definitely appreciative of a slightly less busy afternoon schedule since being in the dorm again. I am continuing to help in the Physical Therapy room for 3 afternoons a week. Since Rugby is this term’s main sport, they are keeping us busy! :P
My JV girl's Volleyball team 

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We just had our mid-term break this last weekend and I was able to get away with some wonderful friends to a house in Naivasha (about 1.5hr drive away). These are friends that I have joined since January in a Tuesday dinner “club”. We take turns hosting each week. This group has been such a wonderful support and I am thankful we could have this special time away since many of them will be leaving RVA in July, either for a year-long home assignment or for good (for the foreseeable future). Another difficult part of the life at RVA is the constant transitions. I would appreciate prayers as I look towards those transitions coming up and saying goodbye to so many friends. We are experiencing about a 60% turnover in staff this year.
Family Photo :) Tuesday Dinner Club 
Each of the special ladies in this picture are leaving in July (or sooner). (Except the little one :) ) Going to be so hard to say "See you later" 

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  My girls and I were all ready for a break. There has been a NASTY virus going around the campus, which has been ongoing for about a month. I have had this cold since the beginning of the term and several of my girls have been sick with it as well. Please keep praying for physical health and protection for our campus. With such a busy lifestyle, it is hard enough to keep up the pace while healthy, let alone while being sick.
 

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An exciting thing to look forward to will be our end-of-term dorm party. Because of a lot of things going on at the end of the term, we will be going earlier (June 25^th) as a dorm to celebrate. In another effort to make this a special term for these seniors, we are going to a campground/ restaurant on Lake Naivasha that is a favorite of mine. We will hang out there for the day where they have a sand-volleyball court, a comfortable lounge where we can play games, and of course we will eat great food! :)  Because there are 20 girls in my dorm, you can imagine this will be a little bit more costly than just cooking for the girls myself. If you are looking for a way to bless these girls in a unique way and help support me in the cost, you could send a one-time gift to AIM by mail.
To do this, make your check payable to AIM and include a separate note indicating the missionary name and that this is a one-time gift. 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. 
 

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In an effort to wrap up this letter, I would like to share two more personal family prayer requests. Many of you have met my younger sister, Rachel before. Rachel has autism/Aspurger’s; though socially speaking, is fairly high functioning on the spectrum.  She has been on a decline for the last 2 months. We are not sure what has triggered this decline though have our suspicions that this could be some sort of emotional breakdown after a relationship she had with a young man ended before my Dad was heading back to America to be with her.  The best way to describe her current state is that she is living in an alternate reality. This is, of course, scary and painful to see her like this for my whole family. Rachel has been a blessing to our family in so many ways. She has taught us much and we are asking the Lord to restore her health. We trust that He is good no matter what He has in-store for our dear sister. Please be praying specifically for an appointment to open sooner with a neurologist instead of June 24^th. Also be praying for strength for my dad, as he is her main caretaker right now. We are praying that we would be able to find a person that could help be an at-home caretaker a few days a week to help dad. Being so far away has been very difficult on me and many of my siblings who live on other continents (in Japan and England) and even out of state, Colorado and South Carolina. Please join our family in praying for Rachel.
My sister, Debbye, and husband, Aaron with their 4 boys; Paul, Jarrett, Declan, and Leo, and our sister, 
Rachel, at Easter. 

 
Please also pray for my brother, Tom, who will be having his final round of Chemo on June 14^th. I am going to quote my Dad here, “Although he has not had significant improvement in his condition, our family prays that he will still see healing on this side of Heaven. This is his 9th year of this disabling illness, myalgic encephalomyelitis. Thanks be to God, he and his family remain in good spirits and see many blessings in ministering to many others around the world in this illness community with whom he is in contact. We praise God for what He has done and will do in the days ahead. Please pray for his upcoming treatment and recovery."
Picture of my nephews, Andrew and Austin with a poster of their Dad (my brother, Tom). The #millionsmissing movement was hosted a couple of weeks ago to bring awareness of the millions of people who suffer with "hidden" illness like M.E. Thanks for praying for him.. What a special family. 

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I am so thankful for each and every one of you who have joined me on this journey that the Lord has me walking right now. Sometimes life can be full of trials, but our God is great and gives me hope even amongst these hurts.  1 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."
 
Our hope is not found in “comfort and ease” on earth but in our relationship with Jesus Christ who gave his life for us. He died on the cross for our sins. If we believe in Him and trust in His work on the cross, then our hope is in HIM and we look toward heaven where we will live with him eternally and worship Him. Oh how I look forward to that day.  Recently the Lord has been reminding me to keep looking to the cross. Dear friends, the cross is where our hope lies, not in things or people of this world. Isaiah 53:3-6
 
"Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all."
 
If you made it this far, thank you for sticking with me. There has been a lot going on as you can see! Please let me know if I can be praying for you. I want to share one last exciting "thing" that happened on May 2^nd. My niece was born, making the count, 35 nieces and nephews and 1 great nephew. I was so honored that my twin, Laura, and her husband, Keisuke, named this cutie, Eimi (pronounced Amy) after me. What a joy. I am so excited to meet her in July once our school year is on break in July. (Graduation is July 14^th and I leave on the 17^th) 

                            Keisuke and Laura Noguchi Family. Yoshiki, Keishi, Hitomi, and Eimi :) 

Serving with you, 
Amy