letters to haiti

Dear Candice,

It’s real. I’m going to Haiti. It all clicked tonight.  There are so many emotions. There’s so much to do. I’m still in awe that this is all happening. That God chose me. I know it’s for a purpose and I’m itching to see what the purpose is. I can’t wait to go. I’m so excited!

At this point, my biggest hurdle is my support letters. I’m used to writing letters to you updating you on things, pouring my heart out, and sharing with you things that you will never know. This is so emotionally draining. It’s not like I can just sit down and whip up a quick and easy casual letter that not many people read. This is kind of a big deal.

I’m really looking forward to when this leg of the race is over. I’m enjoying every minute of it- just some minutes more than others. I can’t wait to go. I really can’t. I’m ready to be broken and changed again.

I love you.

Love,

Sara

stephen

Dear Candice,
throughout the past few weeks in church, the highschoolers have been reading throughout the book of Acts. Acts is all about the early church and the first Christians. Last night we talked about Acts chapter 6 and 7 and the stoning of Stephen. It says that Stephen was so filled with the Holy Spirit that his face was glowing like that of an angel. This is by far one of my favorite stories in the entire Bible. Basically, the church leaders (or "Christians" as they called themselves but were anything but) were upset about Stephen sharing the Gospel. And they all got so upset that they took him outside and stoned him. The whole time he was preaching the Good News, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. It wasn't actually him speaking- it was God speaking through him. So while he is sitting in this pit being stoned he cries out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord do not hold this sin against them." What amazing last words. This passage leaves me speechless. Wow. Just wow.
I pray that i would be able to have such amazing and inspiring words.
I love you.
Love,
Sara

haiti bound

Dear Candice,
guess what! God is sooooo amazing. I am going to Haiti. In early July, I will be going to a realm of the world that i didn't even know existed. God has big plans for me. And He is executing them. I have never been so excited to do something in my life. Ever.
So tonight we had a meeting. All of the students that are going on mission trips this summer meet every other monday at my church. Tonight they suggested that we keep a journal to document our journey throughout this experience. And I'm not a huge fan of just talking to a piece of paper so I decided to tell you about everything. So you're almost my journal. But not really.
The first thing in my journal needs to be my fears about the trip. So here's a few of them...

Sickness
Attachment issues to the country
Becoming mad at the world that I live in when I get back
Rejection of the reasons that I am going- from peers and from the Haitians
Dangerous people and situations in Haiti

Maybe some of them are a bit irrational but they are real fears that I have. From now until I leave, I am going to pray that God would give me peace about all of my fears so that they wouldn't get in the way of me doing His will. I don't want to be restrained by my fears.
These little fears will NOT hold me down.
I love you.
Love,
Sara

urban plunge

dear candice,
what an experience. Chattanooga was nothing at all less than i had hoped it would be. it was just amazing.
when we got to Chattanooga, i didn't really know what to expect. i wasn't sure what we would be doing or who we would be meeting. but God had it all planned out and i met everyone and did everything that He wanted.
one of our main focus missions was at a place called widows harvest. the first day we were there, we were supposed to build a wheel chair ramp. so we went to the place where widows harvest is located to be sent to wherever we supposed to go. but when we pulled up and got out, we were greeted by an older man, probably in his 60's, who immediately told us to load up his truck with wood, a lawn mower, and 16 80 lb bags of concrete. unsure of what they were for, we obeyed. then, he took us into a small old room in the building. it was here that he explained to us what the mission statement of widows harvest is. i have never seen someone be so passionate for what they did than he was. then he told us to load up our van and follow him. once again, we did what he said. we pulled up to an old small house and unloaded all of the material for the wheelchair ramp. there, we finished the ramp by putting in the side rails and pouring concrete into the ground. it wasn't until we actually needed to get this man's attention that we realized that we didn't know his name. so one of us asked him what his name was. he blankly stared and replied, "unberievable." he never told us his name. so we called him mr. sir. through out the day, we learned alot from mr. sir. he never quit and never complained. but what i loved the most about him was how much he expected out of us. he had alot of things for us to do that were quite a bit of work. and he expected us to do it. we continued to ask his name, and he continued to reply, "unberievable." mr. sir is an amazing man and he is on fire for God.
all i want is to have the contagious passion for Jesus Christ that mr. sir did.
through the rest of the trip we continued to apply what we learned from mr. sir to what we did. we had fun, we worked hard, we didn't complain, and we worshiped God in all that we did.
i may never know mr. sir's name, but i will always know his Savior's name.
i love you.
love,
sara.