Dear friends,
Will you please pray for Kenya? Tomorrow, Oct 26th, they are to hold the re-elections after the Supreme court annulled the results from the August Elections. This whole process has been wrought with political tensions and unease. Many Kenyans just want it over, but hope for a fair and balanced election. Please be praying for peace and for justice to be done. It has been a very confusing process. Even though they are to be held tomorrow, there is uncertainty that it will even happen! They have called for a holiday today and tomorrow.
Pray for the safety of those Kenyans who want to exercise their right to vote. The opposing party is calling for protests and boycotts of the voting and in some counties have threatened violence against those voting.
We are safe here in Kijabe, but covet your prayers for our Kenyan brothers and sisters who want to vote and have this election behind them. I have been encouraged by the response of so many of my friends when I ask them how they are doing. They often respond, “We don’t know what will happen, but God is in control. We have been praying and it will be OK.” I am so thankful for their faith and that reminder to me in the midst of so much uncertainty for them.
We are praising the Lord for rain!! The last 2 weeks we have gotten heavy rain almost every day. Our local "weather man" said this recently, "Based on RVA rain data from 1986 - 2017, the yearly average is 37.4 inches. Until this month, this was the lowest record by far of any year. Currently we are at about 16 inches for the year. The only other year close to that was 2000 with 15.78 inches." So it is a much needed answer to prayer for Kenya!
On Friday we celebrated Mashujaa Day (Heroes Day) in Kenya. This is one of my favorite days of the year here!! At RVA we call it Multicultural Day where we celebrate the diversity of our school. This year’s theme was “The Multitude at the Throne”. With 36 nations represented in our student body, it is indeed a small glimpse of what we have to look forward to in heaven!
Will you please pray for Kenya? Tomorrow, Oct 26th, they are to hold the re-elections after the Supreme court annulled the results from the August Elections. This whole process has been wrought with political tensions and unease. Many Kenyans just want it over, but hope for a fair and balanced election. Please be praying for peace and for justice to be done. It has been a very confusing process. Even though they are to be held tomorrow, there is uncertainty that it will even happen! They have called for a holiday today and tomorrow.
Pray for the safety of those Kenyans who want to exercise their right to vote. The opposing party is calling for protests and boycotts of the voting and in some counties have threatened violence against those voting.
We are safe here in Kijabe, but covet your prayers for our Kenyan brothers and sisters who want to vote and have this election behind them. I have been encouraged by the response of so many of my friends when I ask them how they are doing. They often respond, “We don’t know what will happen, but God is in control. We have been praying and it will be OK.” I am so thankful for their faith and that reminder to me in the midst of so much uncertainty for them.
We are praising the Lord for rain!! The last 2 weeks we have gotten heavy rain almost every day. Our local "weather man" said this recently, "Based on RVA rain data from 1986 - 2017, the yearly average is 37.4 inches. Until this month, this was the lowest record by far of any year. Currently we are at about 16 inches for the year. The only other year close to that was 2000 with 15.78 inches." So it is a much needed answer to prayer for Kenya!
On Friday we celebrated Mashujaa Day (Heroes Day) in Kenya. This is one of my favorite days of the year here!! At RVA we call it Multicultural Day where we celebrate the diversity of our school. This year’s theme was “The Multitude at the Throne”. With 36 nations represented in our student body, it is indeed a small glimpse of what we have to look forward to in heaven!
We see this in Revelation 7:9
"The Multitude before the Throne"
“9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
What a blessing to see a small picture of this and how I long for the day when we will be before the throne of God.
"The Multitude before the Throne"
“9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
What a blessing to see a small picture of this and how I long for the day when we will be before the throne of God.
Great picture of my dorm (Except we are missing 3 girls :( )
this girl loves her Texas :) (Emma)
Tanzania and Kenya girls :) (Abi and Natalie)
this girl loves her Texas :) (Emma)
Tanzania and Kenya girls :) (Abi and Natalie)
This term has been one of the more emotionally trying times for my dorm. They are facing many deadlines in their college applications and the many essays that come with those along with their normal heavy class load. On average, I would say our kids apply to 5 colleges, some 8-9!!! Because they are not familiar with life in the States, they are often applying to many with the hopes of the best financial packages being a huge factor in their decisions. Some have family near those colleges, but others will be moving 1,000s of miles from their families in Africa or Korea. Only a few of them have actually visited these colleges so you can imagine the unknown they are facing. Please be praying for them and for me as I hope to continually encourage them to look to the Lord in this time of transition. He is going before them and will be with them. Pray for their stress and that they would not worry, but would trust that the Lord will guide them and provide for them.
We have also been facing a lot of emotional problems with their peers in their class. They have had 1 expulsion, 5 suspensions and 2 compassionate leaves in their senior class alone in just 1 term! You can imagine the strain that has placed on relationships within our dorm and their class. Again, I am just praying that the Lord would use this in their lives to draw them to Himself and would use it to help them grow. There has been a lot of hurt with gossip and rumors. As with any small community, there is a bit of a bubble and unfortunately those “rumblings” can continually bring hurt instead of allowing healing. Pray with me for healing in these relationships, that they would understand the discipline is done in love and that ultimately they would love their classmates and forgive them. That they would not allow Satan to have a foothold in this situation and cause disunity and further hurt. Even though I wish these things weren’t happening, I know the Lord uses these times to teach us and strengthen us. Pray for wisdom and boldness for me to speak truth whenever I need to.
We have just 4 weeks left in this term! I am excited for a chance to see my family this Christmas. I will be home in Indiana from Nov 29th-Dec. 28th and hope to see many of you. I would appreciate continual prayers for me. This last year has been difficult in many ways as I continue to experience strong reactions of grief and almost panic when I am faced with difficult news from home. By God’s grace, I do not linger long in that state, but it has been hard. I am thankful for God’s patient reminders to me of His love and care. I have been studying a John Piper study on the “Journey to Joy” from Philippians this term with my Sunday school class. It has been so helpful to keep reminding myself of the joy I can have because of what our Savior did for you and me on the cross. In this pursuit of joy, our faith is being stretched and sharpened as we learn to treasure our Savior’s gift of salvation even amidst adversity. Learning to rest in the supremacy of God’s sovereignty. God is in control and completely trustworthy.
There is so much that the Lord has been teaching me, but this might become a book if I keep going so I will stop with that for now. :)
Thank you for praying for our SEW (spiritual Emphasis week). I know the Lord was working in the hearts of my girls. I was so thankful to have a time of reflection with them and hear what they were challenged by in our meeting last week. Our speaker works with Ravi Zacharias’ ministry and had an incredible testimony of growing up in a nearby town to Kijabe with a single mother and 6 siblings. They were so poor they didn’t know when they would have food again. Through a family that worked here in Kijabe, he came to Christ and went on to become a brilliant scholar and speaks all over the world. He really challenged a lot of my girls. His theme was “Love the Lord Your God with all Your Mind”. It was so cool to hear them realize the importance of being in God’s Word and learning to be prepared to give a response to people that would question their faith.
I would appreciate your continual prayers for financial support. God has provided enough each month even though my monthly support is 400$ short most months. I know He is in control and am resting in that. With Christmas and graduation coming up, I hope to bless my girls with dorm sweatshirts and a grad gift. These are extra costs that can be a big chunk when you think of multiplying it by 22 girls! If you feel led to give, you can go to this new AIM link that will go directly to my new profile page with AIM. https://usgiving.aimint.org/missionary/1035510
OK ONE MORE PRAYER REQUEST: :) One of my girls, Miriam, will be leaving and graduating early at the end of this term. Her family has been serving in Kenya for the last 4 years but after a 1.5yrs of waiting for a work-permit that never came through, they have decided to move to the States. They will continue their ministry from Stateside. Miriam could have stayed for the year as a senior, but has felt a lot of peace from the Lord about returning to the States with her family. We are going to miss her so much! Please pray for her as she faces this transition a lot sooner than the rest of her class.
Serving with you,
Amy
We have also been facing a lot of emotional problems with their peers in their class. They have had 1 expulsion, 5 suspensions and 2 compassionate leaves in their senior class alone in just 1 term! You can imagine the strain that has placed on relationships within our dorm and their class. Again, I am just praying that the Lord would use this in their lives to draw them to Himself and would use it to help them grow. There has been a lot of hurt with gossip and rumors. As with any small community, there is a bit of a bubble and unfortunately those “rumblings” can continually bring hurt instead of allowing healing. Pray with me for healing in these relationships, that they would understand the discipline is done in love and that ultimately they would love their classmates and forgive them. That they would not allow Satan to have a foothold in this situation and cause disunity and further hurt. Even though I wish these things weren’t happening, I know the Lord uses these times to teach us and strengthen us. Pray for wisdom and boldness for me to speak truth whenever I need to.
We have just 4 weeks left in this term! I am excited for a chance to see my family this Christmas. I will be home in Indiana from Nov 29th-Dec. 28th and hope to see many of you. I would appreciate continual prayers for me. This last year has been difficult in many ways as I continue to experience strong reactions of grief and almost panic when I am faced with difficult news from home. By God’s grace, I do not linger long in that state, but it has been hard. I am thankful for God’s patient reminders to me of His love and care. I have been studying a John Piper study on the “Journey to Joy” from Philippians this term with my Sunday school class. It has been so helpful to keep reminding myself of the joy I can have because of what our Savior did for you and me on the cross. In this pursuit of joy, our faith is being stretched and sharpened as we learn to treasure our Savior’s gift of salvation even amidst adversity. Learning to rest in the supremacy of God’s sovereignty. God is in control and completely trustworthy.
There is so much that the Lord has been teaching me, but this might become a book if I keep going so I will stop with that for now. :)
Thank you for praying for our SEW (spiritual Emphasis week). I know the Lord was working in the hearts of my girls. I was so thankful to have a time of reflection with them and hear what they were challenged by in our meeting last week. Our speaker works with Ravi Zacharias’ ministry and had an incredible testimony of growing up in a nearby town to Kijabe with a single mother and 6 siblings. They were so poor they didn’t know when they would have food again. Through a family that worked here in Kijabe, he came to Christ and went on to become a brilliant scholar and speaks all over the world. He really challenged a lot of my girls. His theme was “Love the Lord Your God with all Your Mind”. It was so cool to hear them realize the importance of being in God’s Word and learning to be prepared to give a response to people that would question their faith.
one of my favorite spots on campus, yellow acacia trees with Mt. Longonot in the background.
I would appreciate your continual prayers for financial support. God has provided enough each month even though my monthly support is 400$ short most months. I know He is in control and am resting in that. With Christmas and graduation coming up, I hope to bless my girls with dorm sweatshirts and a grad gift. These are extra costs that can be a big chunk when you think of multiplying it by 22 girls! If you feel led to give, you can go to this new AIM link that will go directly to my new profile page with AIM. https://usgiving.aimint.org/missionary/1035510
OK ONE MORE PRAYER REQUEST: :) One of my girls, Miriam, will be leaving and graduating early at the end of this term. Her family has been serving in Kenya for the last 4 years but after a 1.5yrs of waiting for a work-permit that never came through, they have decided to move to the States. They will continue their ministry from Stateside. Miriam could have stayed for the year as a senior, but has felt a lot of peace from the Lord about returning to the States with her family. We are going to miss her so much! Please pray for her as she faces this transition a lot sooner than the rest of her class.
Beautiful sunset over Mt. Longonot
Thank you friends for standing with me in prayer and support. I am so thankful for you. Please, PLEASE let me know if I can pray for you specifically about anything.Serving with you,
Amy
