Bowling-What Fun

Hey Friends,
Well the bowling event was a great success. We had probably close to 60 people and I think everybody had a really nice time. Good fellowship, great cause! And we were so blessed to raise quite a bit of money which goes direct to Africa Inland Mission to support us for our year in Tanzania. Below is the email I wrote to thank everybody for coming:
Dear Friends,
First off, I would just like to say thank you so much for attending our bowling fundraiser yesterday to benefit Sarah, myself, and Africa Inland Mission. It was just awesome to feel the support you all gave us for this ministry. It was a great fundraiser for us. Thank you for your generosity!
I wanted to take a moment to give God the glory for the blessings in this ministry. Sarah and I both have a heart for Africa and the Lord has really pulled all this together to minister to the D people (full people group name not disclosed for security reasons). We both have a desire to minister to these people because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. As He came as an example to the world of a true servant; we want to share that deep love with others. We are honored to be a part of this ministry.
I wanted to share with you some thoughts the Lord placed on my heart about going to Africa. The apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2 really summed up well his care and concern for the people in Thessalonica. I encourage you to read this chapter as it speaks well to the heart we have for the D people as Paul had for the Thessalonians. Verse 4 says, “We speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel.” We are blessed to know the Gospel, have personal relationships with Jesus, and have been entrusted to share the Gospel with all we encounter. Verse 8 is a great verse, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you became so dear to us.” We feel a great love for the D people even though we have not met them yet. We are devoting our lives and service to these people for at least a year and our hearts for many years to come. And finally verse 12 says, “encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” This is a great prayer. I leave you with another verse in John about trusting your lives to the hope in Christ. John 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.’” What great hope to spend eternity in heaven with Christ.
We leave June 29th for two days of orientation in New York and then leave July 1st to head to Tanzania for a year. Please keep up to date with us on our blogsite at www.emilyandsarahinafrica.blogspot.com. Some prayer request now would be that we continue to effectively use our time in spiritual preparation, continued trust in the Lord, and expand our knowledge in our job roles for our service (nursing and teaching). Thank you so much for your generous love and support!

Also a big thank you to you for tuning in and praying for us as we prepare. Sarah and I are both so excited because today at 4:30 we meet with Warren, our district area liaison with AIM, and Katie, a lady who just came back from working in the community we will be working. She is from Kirkwood and has been working with the D people for many years. If fact we will probably be living in the house she lived in. We look forward to meeting with Warren and Katie and really learning more about the community we will be working with and what life is like there. I just can't wait for this afternoon.
Well got to run to finish preparing for our meeting! I finish up working in Kansas City in just three short weeks. I am ready to be done commuting every week.
Hugs and Blessings,
EM

Yeah Earth Day!

Greetings friends and Happy Earth Day!

In the wise words of my friend Ginnie, "Every day is Earth Day!" It's quite challenging to keep that in the forefront of your mind each day. I read the Lorax to my students today. It's one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books. It is the tale of our dear friend the Once-ler. You see, the Once-ler was a greedy man who moved to a beautiful place with beautiful Truffula Trees. The Truffula trees had Truffula tufts softer than silk. Soon the Once-ler was cutting down all the trees to make beautiful and multipurpose Thneeds (See the picture above). Before you know it, the Once-ler had built huge factories to produce his Thneeds to meet every one's demands because, after all, everyone needs a thneed, right? Eventually, you guessed it, he had successfully cut down all the trees and polluted the beautiful place he once loved with the dark, dank smog of his factories. In the mean time, all the wonderful critters and creatures were forced to leave because of the destruction of their dear Truffula trees. The title character, the Lorax, tries to warn the Once-ler of his deeds, but he pays not attention, and alas, the Lorax must leave as well. He leaves behind one message for the Once-ler. A word: UNLESS. When someone comes to the Once-ler to hear the tale of the Lorax, he finally gets the message. He sends the messenger on his way with a Truffula seed. Unless you or I make a difference or take a stand to change things, the world will continue to grow dark and ugly. Ok- so this is a story about deforestation, but let's expand this idea. Each of us in our own way contribute to the beauty of our world and we are called to be good stewards of what we have been given. This message transcends Earth Day and the message of reduce, reuse, & recycle. We are all so consumed with what we want and think we need. Pretty soon we're a runaway train out of control so fixed on ourselves we are blind to the outside world. We don't see the devastation we leave in our path until it seems too late...the good news is it's never too late. It's that simple. In researching organizations established to serve the people of Africa, I was so encouraged and humbled by how many were started by one person. One person who said unless I do this, people will continue to be in need without hope. The hope we are given through the One who made us is a gift that, despite our own limitations, allows us to do great things for His glory. Whether it is going to Africa, becoming a Big Sister or Big Brother, initiating a recycling program at your school or workplace, or random acts of kindness, remember the message of the Lorax. Unless. It's scary navigating foreign territory, but with God all things are possible.

PS-This was not at all what I planned on updating today, but I hope this message is an encouragement to you. =)

Peace out,

Sarah