June Update from Kenya

View of Lake Naivasha from the cottage we stayed in over Midterm 

June 7^th, 2017
How is it already June?? In some ways, this term seems to have lasted for so long, but then in other ways I cannot believe it is June.
 
Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer. We seem to be moving on from the sickness scare though we have a new flu bug going around the last week. Again, Praise the Lord for his protection. One situation that needs prayer is for our water pipes on campus. They have been doing a renovation of all the pipes for a while but with those being “offline” the old ones have been breaking so we have been on a water shortage for about 2 weeks now. Please pray for our maintenance team to be able to figure out what is going wrong and that they can fix it.

Beautiful Sunset over Mt. Longonot (left) and Kijabe Hill (right) 

I feel like this is a familiar prayer request, but please pray for my work permit to come through. Mine expired on Friday (the 2^nd). We have turned in my renewal application, paid for it, but are now stuck waiting for it to come through. Our guys that work on immigration are calling and trying to figure out what is going on with mine that it hasn’t come through with the others that were submitted at the same time.  Thank you for praying, God knows!

Full Rainbow that was such a beautiful reminder of God's promises

My girls are working through a very busy last term of their junior year. They have ACTs this Saturday and next week is their Junior store again. I have several girls who have lost a grandparent in the last couple weeks and others who have parents traveling away from home for health tests or surgeries. Please pray that they would have peace from the Lord, as it is so hard to be away from their families during this time. Pray also that they would continue drawing closer to the Lord in these difficult times. It has been encouraging to have coffee dates with some of the girls and hear how they are leaning on the Lord in their struggles.

Love these girls and a chance to spontaneously spoil them. :) 

One of the things the Lord really encouraged me with recently was about how God’s grace is for each day. (I know this, but it seems I forget sometimes!) Instead of looking at situations with eyes of despair, or 
wondering how anything will ever get done, or anyone will ever get through; I need to remember that God gives me grace EACH day. It is not a one-time supply that will be used up in a difficult situation but will be
renewed each day. We need to keep our eyes on Him who is our Strength and our faithful Savior. Of course I am reminded of Lamentations 3:21-24

“But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:
²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.”
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

I love that verse!
I have some exciting news to share. I am thankful for the Lord’s provision of an affordable ticket to Japan for a month this summer during the break. Some of my family also chipped in to make it possible for me to go. What a blessing this will be to Laura and I!  Last summer I was supposed to be there for 3 weeks but then our time was cut short when we received news about my brother. I am so thankful we will get some more time this summer and thankful I can be with Laura and the family on the anniversary of Tom’s death. God is so loving and I am so thankful for this gift.

This last week I was glad to have my new friends, Enrico and Tina, come stay with me here at RVA so Enrico could see Kijabe hosptial. They are doing a 4-month internship at Tenwek for Enrico’s medical school. I met them in April when Nathan was here and we served at the WGM retreat doing childcare with them. They were such an encouragement to me and we really enjoyed the time together.  We got away for a weekend to Lake Naivasha during our school’s Mid-term break.

We climbed through Hell's gate Gorge 

Our school board has been in the process of searching for a new superintendent for the last year. After much prayer, they decided to name Mark Kinzer (our current assistant to superintendent and an elementary dorm parent –among many other job responsibilities) for a 4 year term as the superintendent. Mark and Carolyn are my good friends here, like honorary parents :),  and I have no doubt he will do a wonderful job leading our school. Please pray for Tim and LeAnn Hall who will be stepping down and moving back to the States after 29 years of ministry at RVA and for the Kinzers stepping in to be our Superintendent. So much transition for both families!
 
I pray that each of you will continue to be encouraged in the Lord and will look to Him as your daily source of strength.  If any of you are going through something difficult, I pray that you will draw close to the Lord and remember the hope and victory we have in Him. I am going to borrow something my sister-in-love, Christine, heard at church and shared with us recently. 

“Our Pastor gave 6 truths to remember on suffering from these verses. Each one the Lord has taught us on this difficult journey and each one is filled with inexpressible hope and joy for the restoration that is to come through Christ for the believer! ….1 Peter 5:10-11 ‘And after you have suffered (It's expected) a little while (It's limited), the God of all grace (Grace is available), who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ (There's a plan), will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you (Live on promise). To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.’ (Ends in worship)”

 
Thank you for your love and support of me dear friends. Thank you for your care and prayers for my girls that the Lord has blessed me with the privilege of being here and caring for them at RVA. I am very thankful for the ability and gift to partake in what the Lord is doing here and in Africa through the many families serving across this continent. I hope that you also know what a big part you are playing in that. It is the Lord’s doing, but He lets us participate and it is so sweet.
 
Serving with you,
Amy

If you wish to become apart of my support team through one-time gifts or monthly giving, here is a link to information about how to do that through African Inland Mission.

https://aimint.org/us/give/

OR:

3 WAYS TO GIVE

1. Online Giving

Link to our online giving portal. https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=BA2CB0A93B314EC

Search for your missionary or project and set up your donation. (Note that all online contributions are handled as tax-deductible contributions. If you would like to make a non-tax deductible personal gift to a missionary, please send a check by mail made payable to the missionary).

2. By Mail

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.

3. Scheduled Automatic Contributions

Africa Inland Mission is pleased to offer an automatic contribution transfer option which can electronically transfer money from your checking or savings account on the 15th of each month.

https://aimint.org/us/give/automatic-contributions/

 

March Update

Greetings to you from a beautiful and cloudy Kijabe,

Why do I have beautiful and cloudy in the same sentence?? Because we have been praying for rain for the last month or so and we had a full day of rain yesterday! Praise the Lord. Please continue to pray for Kenya and other places in Africa that still need rain to combat the drought and famine-like conditions.

The doctors’ strike in Kenya continues after more than 90 days, please continue to pray for resolution between the government and the union. Many people are suffering and the lives of patients are being lost who would normally be a ‘routine’ case. One positive note that one doctor noted at Tenwek Hosptial was that patients who normally wouldn’t come to the mission hospitals for treatment are coming and hearing the gospel as they receive treatment. Pray that many would come to Christ even in this horrible situation.

Life at RVA continues to pass by in a whirlwind. The girls really enjoyed their Banquet on Feb 17^th. All their hard work paid off as they put on a very successful night for the seniors. Their theme was Princess Bride and they did a great job. I had so much fun helping them get ready by doing hair and makeup for the big night. 

KUW Dorm. 21 girls and Aunt Amy :) 

The next big event of the term will be Interim. This is a weeklong field trip the Juniors and Seniors get to go on to learn different cultural experiences and earn a social studies credit. We have groups going to N.Africa, Tanzania, and many locations across Kenya. I am leading a group of seniors to the Maasai Mara where we will learn about Photography and Conservation issues.

Please pray for the girls and I to end this term well. (Leaving day is March 25^th!) As we get closer to the end, attitudes and emotions are easily tested and we want to continue to be intentional with living a life of praise and thankfulness to the Lord. We also want to encourage others and build them up instead of giving in to the temptation to get frustrated and angry with others.

Thank you for praying for my support, the Lord continues to provide and it has been encouraging to see that happen over the last 3 months. In January our support target went up to 2,490$ per month, so I am still short by about 300$ in monthly commitments, but the Lord has provided through different gifts so I am doing OK. J

I am really looking forward to the different opportunities coming up in our March/April break. My nephew, Nathan Jarrett –pre-med senior in college, will be coming to Kenya to see me on March 25^th. He will observe Dr. Dan Galat, an orthopedic surgeon, serving at Kijabe hospital the first week he is here. Then the first week of April we will join WGM for their retreat as part of their child-care team. We will help lead a VBS program for them. I am SO excited to see Nathan! A day after Nathan leaves, I will travel with some friends and fellow staff to Cairo, Egpyt to see one of my best friends, Julie Sandefur who is doing an internship there for a few months. It will be so fun as my sister, Beth, who is living in Cambridge, England will also fly down to join us! I am looking forward to the time with friends and Beth as we will get to see so many of the different historical and biblical places that I have always wanted to visit.

I would appreciate continual prayer for wisdom and guidance as I seek to point the girls to the Lord. Navigating this time of their lives is filled with challenges and opportunities to shape them into young women who love the Lord and want to grow in His image. I know I need the Lord’s strength to be faithful to my part of that growth and need to be faithful in prayer for the Lord’s working in their hearts. Thank you for joining me in praying for them.

I am really enjoying my Swahili lessons! I feel like I am finally learning how to conjugate verbs and now I just have to keep practicing!! I want to be better about talking to my national friends in Swahili so that I use what I am learning.  

Below is another letter from one of my girl’s parents who are serving in what AIM calls a “creative access nation”..

“In much of the world Somalis are known for their most famous pirates and Muslim terrorists.  To us, they are neighbors and friends, those who have never met a Christian nor heard about the grace of Jesus.  We live and serve among these people in East Africa for the privilege to see Somali Muslim "Sauls" become Kingdom of God "Pauls"! 

I was talking to a couple other boarding moms this week, who ironically both serve the Somali people and both have daughters in Amy's dorm.  We all agreed, no loving mother thinks when their child is small, "Oh, I'd love to send this precious baby to a boarding school someday!"  Most pray the opposite, "Never boarding school, Lord, please!"   We understand that cry.

Neither do most people cry out to the Lord, " Send me like a fearless fierce arrow into the Islam that holds the Somali people locked in lies!"  But this is my heart.  This has become my desire.  This has brought me to this place of East Africa.  This is my call.

Rift Valley Academy, as we live and serve in Somali zones of East Africa, is powerfully serving our daughters and therefore our family. At RVA, they are shaping lifelong friendships with other students who understand their family life, work, commitment, and identity in Africa.  They are thriving in their classrooms with great academic opportunities and acting in school plays.  They also are surrounded by loving Godly leaders like dorm parents, deans, class sponsors, coaches and teachers, all who reinforce what we pass along to them.  They are challenged and stretched to lean on the Lord and grow in their character.

Rift Valley Academy has become a beloved part of our family life.  We labor in some of the least desirable parts of east Africa.  Here the life of a teenage girl is extremely narrow and isolating. We are thrilled that our girls can attend RVA,  it is one part of their life that God is using to bloom our daughters into the godly women He has made them to become.”

Thank you for your part in serving the Lord and these families who are reaching the lost in Africa through your support of my ministry here at RVA. I pray you will be blessed by this knowledge.

Please let me know how I can be praying for you.

Serving with you,

Amy

Warm and Sunny Days

January, 2017
​ 
Greetings from a WARM and sunny Kijabe! :) January is our summer here. So it is nice and hot during the days (around 80 degrees) then cools down each night since we are at 7,000ft+. Couldn’t ask for nicer weather…. If it sounds like I am bragging, I kind of am, except for really it is just a way to entice you in hopes that maybe you could come visit me! :) 
 
I had a great time at home this December break. It was SO wonderful to be with my family and see many of my friends. I was busy as I traveled back and forth from SC to Indy on the bookends of my time in the States and flew out to CO for a week. The Lord really encouraged me by the many conversations I got to have with family members and just being near them really filled up my reserves emotionally. Thank you for praying for us! We were able to have a special trip at the end of the break as a family. We stayed in a big house on Hilton Head Island with 13 adults and 19 kids total. It was SO much fun. :)
Pictures of the Family 

Hilton Head beach, Christmas Eve Christmas Steps :) (very sunny morning) typical Jarrett couch piles Happy New Year! we do nothing in small groups :) (I LOVE IT) Cousins :) (missing some!) 

 
Term 2 is off to a great start! I had 1 girl return from furlough so am now at 21 in the dorm. Each Tuesday night for our dorm meeting (devotion night) I have 29 girls total since some of the 11^th grade station girls (parents live and work at RVA or Kijabe hospital) join us as well. It is a FULL living room on those nights! The big “thing” this term is, BANQUET! (our type of prom) Because the juniors put it on as a gift to the seniors, it is a big deal here in KUW. They transform a building into an entire “set” and create another world. This night of fun takes about 9 months of planning and preparation so you can imagine how it can lead to stress for everything to be pulled off just so. I would appreciate prayer for my girls and myself as I try to remind them of doing this well. We are trying to remain intentional in our words and actions to encourage our dorm sisters, the young men in our class, and the teachers involved in making this happen.  We have been looking at how our words affect others and loving others before our own needs. 

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 Because the ministry at RVA is a support branch of taking the gospel to the unreached, I wanted you to have a chance to hear directly from some of my girl’s parents occasionally. I will try to include a little something from them in some of my updates. :) Hope you enjoy hearing about them!! This is from Adam and Suzie Hailes. I have had both of their daughters in my dorm (one last year and 1 this year).

“We are planting churches among primarily animistic people, the Antandroy and Antanosy people of South and Southeast Madagascar.  It is our goal to make disciples of Christ and see those that we disciple do the same.  We have been on the field about 5 1/2 years, living in 3 different locations. We have been able to be a part of 10 new church plants with many preaching points getting close to church.  As for our family, educational options are very limited.  Our eldest was 12 when we came to Madagascar.  The others were 11 and 7 and we've since had an addition.  In our opinions, at their ages it would not have been most beneficial to enter a school in a foreign language.  After a year of homeschooling it was clear that was not the best choice for us so we looked into Rift Valley Academy.  We never anticipated being a "boarding school family" but it's been such a blessing in so many ways.  Now we know our girls are being taken care of not only academically, but spiritually, physically, emotionally and socially!  There is a unique unity and connection among the students and staff at RVA. We praise God for those with AIM who have faithfully followed God's calling on their lives!” 

Thank you for praying for the Haile’s family in Madagascar!

 

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Last Thursday I experienced one of those days where you are reminded, oh yeah..I live in Africa! The Lord was protecting us in both situations but it was just a reminder. I rode to town with some friends to get groceries. We noticed the land rover (my friend’s car) was not working quite right, but there was nothing obvious. Well on the way back to school (about an hour drive, mostly uphill) we noticed after about 15 minutes that the engine was starting to overheat and we could only go about 20mph uphill. We called her husband for advice since you especially do not want a diesel engine to over-heat. He had us pull over at a gas station and we ended up waiting for him a little over an hour to “rescue” us. We were thankful it was not an urgent problem that caused us to be stranded on the side of the road, which can leave you vulnerable to all kinds of problems. We were able to make it back to school going very slow and sticking together. The second incident happened later that night, due to a security guard accidentally pushing the wrong button. We had a lockdown for about 15-20min. (it seemed like a lot longer than that!!) Because we didn’t know at the time that it was an accident, the whole campus locked down (picture a VERY LOUD tornado siren that wails for about 5 minutes) just how we are trained to do. (this is something we had actually practiced 2 days earlier ) The lockdown is for our safety from invasions or attacks on the campus, so you can imagine that when we have the siren go off and no one knew about it, we take it seriously and it can be a little scary to say the least! We were very relieved to finally hear the “all-clear” siren and get a call explaining the accidental push of the button. Weeeeewwh. It is always a good reminder that our security is ultimately from the Lord when these unplanned things go “wrong” in our day. I reminded several of my girls about the verse in Psalm 91:1 (my Mom always referred to this as our “911” )

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

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Thank you for praying for my support over the last few months. The Lord has provided and several people gave gifts over the Christmas season; which was such a blessing. Please continue to pray for provision of the 300$ monthly support still needed for the year. I am continually thankful for each and every one of you. Please let me know how I can be praying for you.
Serving with you,
Amy 

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