Freedom

The creator of the world loves YOU. I just thought I needed to say that. I don't know who needs that reminder, or what crazy curveballs life has thrown your way during this season, but I do know that God loves you... and He loves you so much that He sent His one and only Son to die on a wooden cross so that you would be made clean and could spend eternity in heaven with the lover of your soul. I'm sure you've heard it before... but I'm also sure that you can't hear it enough. You might even be reading this and thinking... "I've heard all this before, but I don't think you understand, I've messed up ALOT... there is no way that God still loves me after all I've done." or "I'm not who people think I am, and God knows that... there is no way He could possibly love the real me." But guess what my friends, all of those things are lies straight from the pits of hell. I've thought those very things before... self condemnation is something I struggle with, but God is freeing me from that and it's amazing. Every time I messed up I would add an invisible line to the invisible scoreboard in my head... "Sin- 1032453452345. Sarah- 0" But God started showing me that He doesn't see my sin... He sent Jesus to take care of that for me. I was reading Romans 8 tonight, and verses 37-39 really hit home with me... "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Snap. There is no way around it... once you trust in Christ, and accept that He is your savior, then you have been made clean. You are loved... you are precious... you are righteous... you are loved, and nothing (and I mean NOTHING) can separate you from the love of God. So take that Satan and your lies... I've been made new, and you have no power here.

I went to Africa

So I went to Africa... Bulawayo, Zimbabwe to be specific and my life will never be the same again. Dramatic? I say nay... God did a work there that I will not soon forget. I went with a group of 9 other people, but they weren't just random people... they are my family. We share life together. We go to the same church, serve the Lord together, and share in the good, the bad and the ugly. I wouldn't have wanted to go to overseas with anyone else, they are amazing. That being said, we got on a plane on December 30th, headed to Amsterdam and began our four day journey to Bulawayo. Three planes, a ten hour layover in Nairobi, and a fourteen hour bus ride later we arrived at our "home", ready to go wherever God called, and serve however He wanted us to serve. We worked with an organization called Smile4Africa, which was founded by Albert Muvunga. Albert is an awesome man of God, living out the religion that God our father considers pure and faultless. Smile4Africa serves underpriveleged children, most of which are either infected or affected by the HIV virus. During our stay we went to two orphanages, a village, a sports academy, a school, a flea market, Victoria Falls, and fellowshipped with friends every night. The first orphanage was called Mustard Seed. Most of the kids were younger, but there were a few older ones. It was such an amazing place. We mostly just played with the kids and loved on them. They loved our sunglasses, cameras, and my tattoos and we loved to hold them and color with them, and generally just be with them. It was so amazing. I spent a lot of time with this little boy named Tommy. He didn't speak English, but he just kept calling me mama and hugging me and it broke my heart. We joked about having to do bag checks whenever we left somewhere because we all wanted to take each kid home with us. The next day we worked with a sports academy. We did a volleyball clinic and prayed with the kids. We had this awesome opportunity to get to know the kids a little better, and share the love of God with them. There was a little girl there, who was waiting for her big brother, and she followed me everywhere I went, and when she saw me she squealed in delight. I don't think my heart has ever been happier. Next on the agenda was another orphange called Penel. This one was a little smaller, and most of the kids were older than at Mustard Seed. We sang for them, and with them and got to know them better. We played volleyball, and soccer, we made jokes and laughed together... we didn't follow a step by step program of sharing the gospel, we just did life with them, even if it was just for a short while. We also got to go to a church near where we stayed, and hung out with a sunday school class. This was one of my favorites because I got to spend some time a girl named Leticia, and pray with her. I asked her what she wanted to do, and she told me she wants to go to school for mass communications, specifically public relations, which is what I'm going to school for! I got to give her a little advice, and share with her some of what I've learned, and then we prayed together. I loved getting to see her heart, seriously such a blessing. Then we went to a school where one of our friends is the principal. We sang for them, and then broke up into groups and hung out with them for a little while. We learned a little bit about them, and prayed with them. It was a private, Christian school, but after talking with a few of the kids in my group I saw that not all of them knew Jesus, so it was cool to be able to share with them! Then we went to a local flee market and walked around talking to the vendors and praying with them. I really enjoyed this part because it was quite out of my comfort zone and my partner and I really got to see God's faithfulness and love for His children. It was awesome! On our second to last day we went to a village called Mbonqane, where we worked with their school. This one was the most difficult for me because there was a little bit more of a language barrier, but it was still awesome. I got my dance on to some praise songs with a girl named Ana, and discovered that you don't need to speak the same language to have fun together. The fellowship we experienced there was like nothing I've ever seen before. During the day we fellowshipped with the kids, each other, and the Smile4Africa workers. Every night we were there a whole bunch of Albert's friends would come over and we would talk, worship, and pray together. It was amazing... but then, before we knew it our trip was over. We packed up our stuff, got back on a bus for another 14 hour trip, and said goodbye to Bulwayo and all the amazing people we had met there. I will never forget Bulawayo, nor can I forget what God taught me there. He showed me what it looks like to truly have a servants heart... not just go to through the motions, but for ones heart to be transformed into that of a servant. He showed me what true love and joy look like lived out. He showed me that joy is found in sacrifice. But most of all He showed me He is good... He is faithful... He is present.