Week six update

Well, the time continues to absolutely fly by, and it's now only a little over two weeks until school closes for the August holiday.

The German volunteers left today after working hard in the school for almost a year.  Every year, the mission organization Liebenzell send an assortment of young German volunteers to help out with the school's work, mainly in the dorm, but also in other areas of school life.  When they leave, they are always missed because each of the volunteers brings something different to the Amano 'table'.   Unfortunately, they always have to leave in the middle of July which means the last two weeks of this term are pretty hectic every year.  But as hard as it is for the staff once the volunteers leave, it's often much harder to the students, who have built strong relationships with the volunteers over the course of their year here.  And going back home can sometimes be bittersweet for those who are leaving - with the excitement of going home and seeing friends and family equally matched with the sadness of leaving the school here.  Please pray for these volunteers as they head back into life in Germany, and please pray for us as we try to pick up the slack for the last couple of weeks of term.

That said, this week is Spiritual Emphasis Week, where a group from the UK come and take devotions, bible studies and activities for both primary and secondary students throughout the week.  This year there is a team from Northern Ireland  led by Sam Balmer which is running the week, and it has been a tremendous success so far.  In a school which is dubbed a Christian school, it's often very easy to simply go with the flow without any personal commitment to follow Jesus and so we're praying that, as Sam speaks the students will be challenged to live out the gospel message in their daily lives.

On a personal level, this week has occasionally been a bit of a struggle for us.  Because we're only here for a couple of months, leaving and going home is always in the back of our mind.  So please pray that we will be able to focus solely on our task here for the last few weeks of term.

As ever, we are really grateful for your support and prayer,

Matt and Lou