After the Easter Sunrise service at Tenwek
Happy Easter Dear Ones! He is Risen!!
We have home videos from when I was little that I can never get out of my head and think of every Easter. Laura and I (my twin) had the HIGHEST pitched voices you could imagine. (sorry family, thanks for loving us anyway haha) we would yell, “JESUS IS ALIVE!!!” over and over while looking for eggs during our hunts with my dad capturing every minute at my mom’s request. :) He had one of those big video cameras that you held up on your shoulder and weighed about 10 pounds. :) While this is a funny memory to think of, it also makes me smile and say to myself, “Jesus is ALIVE”. That is a true and wonderful statement to reflect on. Jesus arose from the grave and conquered sin and death.
We have home videos from when I was little that I can never get out of my head and think of every Easter. Laura and I (my twin) had the HIGHEST pitched voices you could imagine. (sorry family, thanks for loving us anyway haha) we would yell, “JESUS IS ALIVE!!!” over and over while looking for eggs during our hunts with my dad capturing every minute at my mom’s request. :) He had one of those big video cameras that you held up on your shoulder and weighed about 10 pounds. :) While this is a funny memory to think of, it also makes me smile and say to myself, “Jesus is ALIVE”. That is a true and wonderful statement to reflect on. Jesus arose from the grave and conquered sin and death.
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” –Matt 28:2-7
So as we reflect on this resurrection Sunday, I am reminded that I serve a living Savior. By his death on the cross for my sins (and yours), and then His burial and resurrection we are granted the greatest hope of all. Our sins have been atoned for and by His finished work on the cross we are saved. It didn’t stop there though; Christ was raised from the dead and is sitting at the right hand of God! Praise Him!
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” -1 Cor 15: 55-58
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” -1 Cor 15: 55-58
We have VICTORY through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Because of Him, I am able to have that victory personally, as are you! I’m still not sure exactly how Easter eggs entered the picture, but if it points us to remembering that JESUS IS ALIVE and that reminds me of the victory I have in Him then I am all for it. :)
KUW dorm Senior year Banquet 
We love our KUW Sweatshirts :)
2nd term here at RVA ended with several challenging things happening in my dorm. As seniors we had banquet, re-entry seminar –or transition seminar, choir tour, and preparations for Interim trips. With AP exams approaching and end of term creeping up, my girls were stressed to the max. I've learned a lot about other stressors that face our teenagers these days growing up in a digital world with information galore at their fingertips. It isn’t all-bad, but there are definite problems that arise from all of this. I talked with one girl who said, “Aunt Amy, it is hard for adults to understand the comparison and insecurity that we face on things like Instagram or Snapchat.” It is easy to be quick to think, “honey, comparison is everywhere and its always been that way” however, the more I work with this generation it becomes clearer to me that there is something I can’t truly comprehend because it doesn’t hit me the way it does them. There are similarities of course but in the age of social media, I am not where they are. They constantly have things in their face and can be tempted to be consumed by it. The answer for all of us doesn’t change. We need Christ’s love in our hearts to see that we are made in His image and that we are only complete by Him. To know and believe that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and be fully present and content in God’s sovereignty, trusting that He has us where we are and the time of life we are in at every moment for a reason. My prayer is that I would be faithful to remind my girls constantly of this truth. I myself wrestle in different ways of staying fully present and not looking back sinfully to the past or worrying about the future.We love our KUW Sweatshirts :) A couple of weeks ago I was really struggling with fear for my family. I knew I was not trusting the Lord and knew truth, but asked some friends to pray for me because I was having trouble fighting it. In God’s loving faithfulness, He showed me my sin and reminded me of His truth. I was reading a book called, “None Like Him” by Jen Wilkin. This book is about God’s attributes in which we cannot be like Him (and why that is a good thing). This particular chapter was about God being Eternal. She talked about how we often want to be eternal in the way we look at our circumstances and want God to make things beautiful in OUR TIME. How the problem lies not with His timing but with our perception of it. She talks about our need to live in the present fully. How it isn’t wrong to look back at the past, but when our desire to cling to the past with sinful nostalgia, or when we idolize what once was, or resenting losses etc. overrides our trusting in Him and His timing of our days we are not living in His time. It isn’t wrong to grieve or miss those we have lost, but it is wrong to covet how it used to be.
Then at the same time, how am I looking at the future?? Am I looking forward with sinful anxiety and anticipation that causes me to not be fully present in the now? Again, it isn’t wrong to look forward to the future, but how am I looking? Is it looking for an escape, am I dreading the future and the fear of the unknown? Matt 6:34 reminds us to not be anxious for tomorrow because today has enough trouble of its own. Do you see where I am going with this? All I could do was repent of my fear at this clear message from Him. Our God is a personal and loving God. He didn’t leave me in my worry and anxiety, but gently showed me His truth and gave me the peace that only comes from Him. I know this is getting long, but I was so encouraged by this that I pray it might encourage some of you who may be wrestling with something similar. I definitely shared this whole chapter with my girls and was so encouraged by the wonderful discussion we had about it. I shared how I had been struggling but that the Lord is faithful and is not leaving us to our own resources and strength. Praise God.
Also, I wanted to say again that I am constantly aware and thankful for your prayers for my girls and me. I had 2 girls at the end of this term that went through some personal difficulties. They both ended up on compassionate leave -1 for the last week and a half of term, and 1 for a few days-. I was so thankful for the Lord’s protection of both of these girls and how He is working in their hearts to get help and how He provided a way for both of their parents to get here and be with them at their lowest points. The Lord gave me a deep calm about both of them and I know it was His strength helping me to know what to do and what to say. At this point, I was extremely exhausted from lack of sleep after several days of illness for some of my girls and myself. Physically I was busy, tired, and spent but I had just been studying about God’s strength and I know He was giving me a chance to share in His strength and sufficiency. Thank you for praying!
On the way to Jinja, Uganda.. We passed over the equator :)
My week-long Interim trip to Uganda was a blast! It was hard to get up the energy to be excited about the time, but I knew once we got on the road, I would enjoy it. We drove 12 hours each way to Jinja, Uganda. We had the opportunity to experience many different ministries where we looked at each place through the eyes of “When Helping Hurts” which is what we were studying for our trip. The idea being, when helping, there is a good and better way to help. The main thing we wanted to see was; were these orphanages, churches, seminary, and other cultural scenarios focusing on, “Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development?” It was so neat to hear our kids process and look through this lens as we had the privilege of being exposed to many different ministries. Each evening we ate with a local pastor or missionary so we could ask questions and learn from these faithful servants. 
On one of the Islands on Lake Victoria, we worked along side high schoolers from the school there (in the solid colorful shirts) to do a service project of cleaning up the biggest village on that island. It was so neat to do this with the kids there.
I love this quote from the book, When Helping Hurts,
“ The goal is to see people restored to being what God created them to be: people who understand that they are created in the image of God with the gifts, abilities, and capacity to make decisions and to effect change in the world around them: and people who steward their lives, communities, resources, and relationships in order to bring glory to God. These things tend to happen in highly relational, process-focused ministries more than impersonal, product-focused ministries.”
Of course we had some fun being on Lake Victoria, rafting the River Nile, eating lots of good food, as well as just spending time together as a group. We had 6 kids and they were a blast!! My co-leader, John, and I would just sit in the front of the van laughing at the kids joking around and teasing each other.
Of course we had some fun being on Lake Victoria, rafting the River Nile, eating lots of good food, as well as just spending time together as a group. We had 6 kids and they were a blast!! My co-leader, John, and I would just sit in the front of the van laughing at the kids joking around and teasing each other.
feeling confident after the first rapid
then the terrifying experience of flipping on the 2nd rapid.
I just spent the first week of our Term break at Tenwek with my Dad and Rachel where I enjoyed getting to visit with many visiting doctors from all over the States and catching up on lots of rest! Dad and Rach will be there till the end of April so dad can cover the OB department while long-termers are on their yearly retreat. Next week I will head to the beach to help with the Children’s program during that same retreat. I will stay an additional 4 nights for some vacation time with some friends so I am really looking forward to that time.
Term 3 starts April 21st. Please pray for my girls to have special times with their families as this is most-likely there last time at their home as many will go straight to the States, Europe, or the UK, right after Graduation for college.
Thanks for sticking with me if you made it to the end. :) My nephew, Tyler, is coming in May for a month. You can imagine I am ecstatic! He will work down at the hospital with a friend of mine in the Physical Therapy department, as that is what he is studying at Clemson University now. I will also coach JV Volleyball again so will start the term off busy as usual. :)
Please keep praying for the transitions for my girls and me. I know the Lord has a plan and am excited to see what He has for each of us.
I would love to hear from you! I pray for you all often and thank God for you.
Serving with you, Amy
Please keep praying for the transitions for my girls and me. I know the Lord has a plan and am excited to see what He has for each of us.
I would love to hear from you! I pray for you all often and thank God for you.
Serving with you, Amy
