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October 2013 to June 2014 Report, Post 1 of 3

Hello Friends & Family!

  It’s been a long time since you have heard from us.  Almost a year since our last full report!  The reason for that is sad.  Many of you know that we lost custody of our sweet Aaron who we have had for four years and were trying to adopt.  It’s been very difficult for me to sit down and write any kind of update.  Just when I was getting to the point where I could do that… I had a miscarriage.  Sometimes it’s difficult to see the purpose that God has for these great losses in our lives.  Bruno and I do know that God has a plan for Aaron and loves him more than we do!  We are also happy to see that we can get pregnant still after so many years.  We know God will give us what we need and when we need it.  Writing and saying this is a lot easier than believing it but the alternative is to lose hope and we cannot do that!  Without hope satan wins and we stop running the race set before us.  So, we keep pressing on and moving upward and forward. 

That being said, although we haven’t kept you updated we have been pretty busy. Here are a few updates since last October!!!  I will probably be breaking this up into parts on the blog and forgive us if we forget anything that you were looking forward to hearing about!!  Please e-mail us if that happens!!  In addition to posting this in the blog, I will be doing it in Newsletter format.  I’ve not figured out how to post a newsletter to a blog or if it can be done.  Bloggers!  Please let me know if this can be done and how!!  We pray you all are doing well and that you enjoy the     report.
In Hope and Love,
Amy & Bruno Koumedjra


October visitors!

 This is the 2nd time Pinedale Christian Church had come to Togo and each trip gets better and better.  This last trip was the best so far because of the scope and amount of work they were able to do in 2 weeks, such as:
·   The dentist team saw around 300 adults and our 180+ school children through the dental clinics.  
· The teams were able to visit the village chiefs and town officials.
· They taught and preached at 3 different church assemblies.
· Built a playground and a 9 square game at the school
· Painted our school logo, a lighthouse, on the outer wall of the school.
· Visited the prison with food, soap, and most importantly, God’s Words of love!
· Taught over 1,000 children/adults at VBS.
· Gave 190 quilts, made by loving quilters from Pinedale, to our school students.
· Encouraged teens by playing soccer and basketball with them!
  The result of all this was very tangible.  People are still thankful and talking about it, lots of connections were made, my grandmother (who is 80+ years old) along with my mom, dad, and 3 others were immersed just a month after!  Praise God for such great results from great visits!

The dentist team helped so many people!  Pleased check www.teampeek.blogspot.com/2013/11/Africa-part-ii-hope.html to find out more about how they changed lives that week!


 Everyone loved having my nephew , Ashton, here to play football (soccer).

 VBS’ in villages, playtime at school,  building a 9 square game and a playground, painting a lighthouse mural, and giving  out handmade quilts kept week 2 pretty busy!!













Aaron’s picture page

Since the reason for this report being so late is because of our grieving hearts over losing our sweet boy, we wanted to include a page of memories with Aaron living here.  Enjoy!

Kumasi, Ghana Family camp

 A week after Aaron was taken from us, we went to Ghana family camp.  It was a much needed time of fellowship and encouragement.  This was also great for my parents, who were new babes in Christ, and others from Togo to be encouraged and for us all to encourage the saints in Ghana.  
My preaching topic was on “the building of the church” and I was careful to point out that “the home was instituted before the church and that if the home fails, the church will collapse and society will disintegrate.
It was a bittersweet time for us but we are so thankful for our Ghana family!


Children’s Christmas Party

 The holidays were difficult for us but we still managed to have a Christmas party for our students.  There was food, games, gifts, singing, and dancing.  Here we have all the girls putting on dresses made by Pinedale Church members.  The girls had so much fun picking theirs out!

 

Amy’s trip to the us

It had been almost 3 years since I was in the US.  Things had taken their toll on me and upon hearing my friend would not be able to visit I knew I needed a break.  So, it took one call and a few Skype messages and in 4 days I was there!  It was hard going without Bruno but he was going to Zimbabwe.  I was thankful that I got to be there for several of my family members birthdays!  Especially my grandmother’s 90th!  I wish I had space to post more pictures of my visit!  It was just great spending that time with everyone.





Bottom left & circle to right:  My grandmother, Aunt JoAnn, Uncle Steve, my mom (Marie), and uncle Mike!  We were all missing my uncle Billy that day!