Living in Abundance and Need

The transition between India and Spain was quick back in October, and I’m not really even sure I knew why specifically I was coming here, except that I heard the Lord’s voice to go.  I was having coffee with Andrew, the founder here at G42 the other day and he asked me what my expectations were coming here- we both laughed as I answered that I honestly didn’t have many because I hadn’t really even researched where I was going- I just dived in because the Lord said so. It’s amazing what God chooses to do with those leaps of faith- usually they bring some of the closest community, grandest adventures, and greatest moves of God in your life. Most of my walk with God has been just that- hearing the Lords voice and just going with no idea what I am getting myself into, and it hasn’t disappointed me once- I’ve grown leaps and bounds because of it and met some of the most amazing people in places I never thought I would be. God has moved in Guatemala, Honduras, Thailand, India, and Spain right before my eyes and I’m nowhere near the person I was 3 years ago. That’s the wild adventure that comes when you put your yes on the table without even knowing what that really entails with God.

Spain has been some of the hardest 3 months of my life and the best. I’ve experienced increasing favor and blessing from the Lord in ways I absolutely never expected.  God has revamped what I thought I knew blessing and favor meant. I used to think blessing meant having great things, being surrounded by the best people, and seeing God heal the sick and blind in front of me. Boy was I wrong. Blessing is the continual presence of God, its being content in any circumstance, and wholeheartedly loving anyone who is put next to you. I could have absolutely nothing and still be blessed beyond measure. Philippians 4: 11-13 says,

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Paul nailed it here.  He knows how to find the presence of God in all circumstances, and in that Paul knows that he can do anything that God asks of him because The Source of strength is the one asking him.  

It has been a hard three months here at G42- I’ve been pushed past myself so much that at some points its hurt, I’ve had to find my voice, and God has broken some of the ugly parts in me off, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I live in a community of truth speakers, kingdom bringers, and beautiful people that are unwilling to let me stay where I’m at, ever. That’s why I am here. Yes, I am learning how to be content wherever God places me or calls me to, but more importantly God is shaking me to see what parts of me stand. The past three months has been the shaking- it’s been painful, frustrating, and hard but these next three months here are going to be vital to my entire future. He is going to strengthen what made it through the past three months and add what I need to dive into a lifetime of fighting for His kingdom and people in the nations.

My tribe here at G42 

 God requires much more than just putting our yes on the table to what He asks, He requires our covenant to never leave the table no matter what comes our way. To be content in all circumstances, because He will strengthen us for what He asks us to do. I’ve made my covenant; I am staying at the table. How about you?

I am still in need financially and prayerfully for these next three months. They are vital to what God is asking of me long term. If you want to be a part of this wild adventure and what God is doing through me, you can click the "partner with me" tab above. I deeply appreciate all your support- I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without my supporters! Be blessed this Christmas! 

A Dream becoming a Reality.

On the way to Spain about a little over a month ago my heart was aching for Cambodia, and for a ministry called Agape International Missions more specifically. They are a ministry in Svay Pak that is on the front lines battling child trafficking. I have heard their story, raised funds back in Buffalo with my college ministry, and prayed often for them but on that plane my heart ached to be there loving on those girls myself. I quickly corrected my heart, thinking it was what I wanted and not what God did but that question still lingered even after the plane landed.

About a week later I revisited that question asking God myself if it was what I wanted or what He wanted. His answer was so sweet to my ears as he whispered, “Sarah, it’s what we want. I trust you and I’m with you in this decision.” 

There is a point in any relationship where maturity happens. We grow, we trust, and we make decisions knowing the other person’s heart involved. I knew I was at a point where my heart was aligning with God’s and that He trusted me to make the decision knowing I had His heart in mind. So I took a risk, a leap of faith and applied for a job with agape. 

When I opened the email reply a couple days later, my heart dropped. “I’m sorry but you don’t have what we are looking for” was all I had to read to start protesting God in my mind and let doubts rise in my heart. During this time, we had a teacher here at G42 named Ethan who was sharing his story- where he has honestly faced almost every trial that could come against his dream and yet He was still standing before us encouraging us in ours. I didn’t understand it. He told us that at one point he felt like he had stepped out of the boat again and took that step of faith only to feel like Jesus had walked away. Man, did that resonate well with how I was feeling

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A couple days later I found out that Don and Bridget- the founders of Agape were coming to Mijas to speak at our school. Once again I heard God’s voice speaking for me to keep fighting for that dream. I wanted to protest it but at the same time I my heart still wanted to be in Cambodia. A staff member arranged it so that I could have lunch with the Don and Bridget and they couldn’t have felt more like home to me. We both shared our hearts and I knew this was a divine appointment God had made. 

Don and Bridget left just yesterday after asking me to be a part of their team- teaching some of their beautiful girls that have been rescued from the evils of trafficking. So it is with great excitement to share that I will be in Cambodia working with Agape after my time here in Spain comes to an end. I can’t wait to contend for these girls hearts and become a part of this community as the Lord uses me to teach and love on these precious girls. More details will come soon, but all I can say is that I am blessed to have a savior that gifts me with great things and has put a dream in my heart to contend for these precious young girls.  

Little Girls with Dreams Grow into Women with Vision

As I have further pursued working with human trafficking victims many people have asked me why? Why not stay safe yourself and pray for them instead? 

Prayer is a good thing, a powerful thing that moves God’s heart and shifts atmospheres of darkness but I know I’m not called to sit and watch on the sidelines while millions of girls suffer on my watch. He has given me a passion and in that passion a responsibility to do something about it. 

I wrote a post awhile back about what it looks like to dream with the Lord and how we should never come to a point where we stop dreaming or where our dreams don’t scare us anymore. I am called to be a dangerous woman of the Lord, and God has given me a dream to walk alongside woman and children who have lost all hope of dreaming because all their life they have been abused, manipulated, and used. My father in heaven has promised that He is going to bring this dream into reality and use me to speak life and hope where none can be found.

As I was praying about a week back the Lord gave me this picture of a child’s hands making a square and holding it up to the stars, essentially dreaming of what His or her future could hold. Oh how my heart felt joy in just seeing that alone. I want to be a safe place where baby girls who have been trafficked, abused, and stripped of worth can dream again. I found an anonymous quote that says, 

“Little girls with dreams grow into women with vision.” 

Man does that resonate with my Spirit. I want to be a safe place that these girls can come to and dream so that they can grow into women with fierce vision from the Lord. The Lord is moving in my Spirit and stirring a dream that scares me, and I know He is giving me an inheritance that far outweighs any that I could ask or imagine right here on earth reaching these girls.  

It's So Simple.

Well I’ve been in Mijas for a full day now and Jesus has already blown my mind with where He has brought me. I knew stepping on the plane in buffalo that this next 6 months was going to be a gift- a time of uninterrupted intimacy with my savior, but when I actually saw Mijas I was blown away. Jesus has always spoken clearest to me when I’ve been by water- creeks, ponds, lakes, Niagara Falls, the Indian Ocean, anywhere really. So it makes complete sense that Jesus has brought me to a place where I’m living in the side of a mountain facing the Mediterranean Sea right outside my window. Like a precious gift awaiting me and reminding me of his favor and faithfulness every day I hear and see those waves crashing into the shore. 

It is so evident that this place is so simple yet so full of life, even from spending just 24 hours here. Last night we ate dinner family style on the rooftop as the sun set over Mijas and the Med. Sea and just worshipped the Lord freely. I didn’t really realize how much I needed to spend my first night just worshipping the Lord for what He’s doing until I was actually doing it. I sat with people from Norway, England, Spain, and America and we just sang our hearts out to God- in different languages and different positions. It was Beautiful and absolutely incredible to feel His presence so deeply moving through each of us. A friend from England, Bollo grabbed the guitar and started to sing these lyrics and for the first time in a long time I felt it- I felt the truth of it grip me and reveal what He has for me. 

In you I’m free to live, free to breathe, free to be. It’s so simple. 

That’s what this season is about. Being free to live and love and be in the presence of my savior without distractions and other things fighting for my heart. He is doing endurance training with my heart so that when I do leave this place in 6 months no circumstance will be able to chip away at it or my faith one bit.  It is so dang simple, yet so often we complicate this truth. Our satisfaction and steadfastness in faith comes from His presence. We cannot be immovable in our faith if we don’t get that. So breathe in God’s presence and come alive right where He has you. It is that simple. 

Death Sentence.

The past two months being home have been so good but so hard at the same time. I’ve had to battle a lot of lies from the enemy and hold fast to the calling I know God has given me to go.

 

That word “go” is something that absolutely makes my heart beat faster while terrifying me at the same time. I don’t fear getting on a plane and heading to the nations. I don’t fear sitting on the side of the road with the lowest of the cast system or stepping in overcrowded bars to speak life into women being trafficked. I don’t fear giving up my “American things” and living with what I can fit in a back pack. I don’t fear going to new places with people I don’t know. The past three years has striped me of any inclination towards those fears, but for some reason leaving in one week feels like a death sentence. A death sentence that sounds like this:

“And your ears will hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it…” Isaiah 30:21

 It sounds absolutely crazy in the world’s eyes to be giving up my teaching degree, selling my things and going to a foreign land with barely anything in my pocket- all because I heard a voice say “go,” but I find so much comfort in the fact that this wasn’t my plan or my voice speaking.  I can’t deny the absolute truth that the Lord is the one that is guiding this and the only one worth facing a death sentence to my plans for. I’ve heard a gentle and clear voice speak- the very same voice that called me out of darkness and into purpose.

It would be absolutely absurd to be frustrated that God is speaking to me but honestly I have been. It’s been a season of mourning what could have been and a time to rest- the original Greek definition of rest that leaves a taste of expectation in your mouth. I have been learning what it looks like to live in a rhythm of patient expectation for what God’s doing and to release those frustrations of what I thought I wanted for my life. 

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23

This promise alone gives me what I will need to step onto the plane next week and to not look back any longer to what could have been. He has been so faithful to me, provided in abundance for every single one of my needs, and gifted me with a calling. So I can wait and expect that God is going to do great things in this next season of life-because He who promised me that is so dang faithful.