Friends and Family,

It is hard to believe that I have been on the road for again for almost a month! We are currently in Duncan, OK. It is our third church out. We just got done with an 11-day conference in Denison, TX. It was so good to see and hear all the Lord accomplished there during that conference. Our dear brothers and sisters there had such a hunger for God and a desire to see God move in their lives. There were marriages that were ready to be done away with that were restored; parent/child reconciliation. I think one of the main things was that people were just open and honest about where they were at and they didn't care what people thought. Church leaders got up and shared what they they were truly struggling with and where the Lord found them going into this conference. They were simply obeying God and His leading in their lives....It was so encouraging to be there!

The Lord has been challenging me in some areas in my personal life recently. One of them is reaching out to others and meeting them exactly where they are. Not to be judgmental or have a critical attitude towards them. I want to be able to cry with those who cry, rejoice with those who rejoice. I want to be able to sympathize and empathize with those around me....both on my team and people in the churches. This past week during one of the services I was in the hallway and I walked past a lady that was bent over weeping. I had something I was supposed to do, so in my mind I was just going to pass her by because I needed to complete my duty. But the Holy Spirit just prompted me to go back to her and just love on her. I began rubbing her back and praying to myself asking God for wisdom in the situation. She didn't want to really open up but she kept making statements like, "it would just be better if I wasn't around", or "God doesn't really want me to hurt myself, does he?" She opened up a little and said that she didn't know why she even stopped right there to cry....but I knew it was all in God's timing. She said that she was on her way out the door and wanted to run her car off a cliff. I had just such an awesome opportunity to love on her and show her Jesus. How He loved her and had a purpose for her. I walked her outside (in the middle of a Texas ice storm!) and took her to one of the trailers so we could talk to one of the staff wives. So there the Lord put a tangible opportunity right in front of me and I had the choice to either ignore her or show her Christ's love for her. I Thank the Lord that the Holy Spirit directed me.

There has been another area in my life that I know the Lord has been wanting me to surrender completely to Him. You see, I surrendered my life to Him. I told Him that I will do whatever He wants me to do, go wherever He wants me to go, yet I was holding on to one of the keys. I gave him the key ring, but I selfishly wanted to keep one out for myself...but He wanted ALL of the keys. Please pray that I would be a living vessel completely sold out to Christ and completely surrendered in every aspect of my life.

Pray also that our team stays strong and that we will be the encouragers that we need to be to others. Sometimes the weeks get long and you get drained and it is only by God's grace that we keep going. I am so thankful that he chooses to use us despite ourselves. I am so thankful that he wants to use us :)

Thank you all for your continuous prayers and support. I greatly appreciate them.

Your sister in Christ,
Sarah

Hey Everyone!

So, I have not been as faithful as I have wanted to in writing on this blog! I have a few spare minutes that I thought I would kind of summarize.
I am currently in Brownsville, TN doing a four day conference. We were in Ohio last week and I was able to have my brother and sister-in-law be my host family! It was so much fun catching up with friends and family there.
I am really enjoying traveling with Life Action. It doesn't get much better than traveling the country; meeting a lot of new people; staying in host home after host home; and most excitingly (is that a word?!) see God do His amazing work in the hearts and lives of His dear people! One of the biggest "themes" that I have seen in churches is the issue of Hurt. Hurt people hurt people. From being hurt by family members, people in our community, people in our own churches, or you name it. We have all been hurt and we have all hurt people. But the power of forgiveness is phenomenal!!
I have been able to witness this even on our own team of 30 some people. With this many people living in tight quarters and traveling in a bus, you get to see the good colors and bad colors of everyone. So, we get tons of opportunities to put into practice the things and truths that we are hearing. One thing that has hit me is that it is so freeing to keep short sin accounts with one another. And the blessing of being obedient with a right heart attitude is awesome!
Wow, I feel like I am flying through this letter and not able to put down everything I want to share. I am on a time crunch because it is Tuesday and we do a Ladies Luncheon for the women in the church and I have exactly 7 minutes before I need to go back up and clean everyones plates and tear down our stuff.
Our team has the awesome opportunity of going to El Salvador next week. We will be serving there from the 22-29. We are going to be working in an orphanage, drilling a well in a village, teaching lessons on sanitizing stuff, and ministering in a local church. Please pray that our team will really bond during this trip and that no one gets sick! We are all so excited to see what the Lord is going to do!
Well, I am down to a couple minutes, so I will close for now. I am looking forward to seeing tons of you when I come home for Christmas break. I will have a little over a month off, and I would love to get together with all of you! Let me know when is a good time for you and I can start filling my calendar :)

Your sister in Christ,
Sarah
(excuse any spelling or grammar errors, I am not going to take the time to re-read it!)

Random Pictures

the worship team
no, we are not doing yoga :)

battlefield


my "adopted family"

The Battle for Freedom...

Our team had the privilege to get a tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield. What a sobering experience...to stand where thousands had gone to war and many sacrificed their lives for freedom. A lot of blood was shed on those acres for the sake of justice.
I pondered and thought about the cross. The cross where Jesus so freely went on our behalf. Did we deserve it? Not in the least! But He went through the excruciating pain for you....for me. Why? He wanted to separate that endless gap between Him and us because of sin. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -rom. 5:8 There was nothing good in and of ourselves that deserved His sacrificial love for us. He came to set us free in order that we don't have to spend eternity apart from Him, but He also died so that we would have freedom in our lives even now! He set us free from having to sin...amen! He broke the chains that were tied to us, but how many times do we tend to go back to those chains? those things that tied us down and devastated us. Christ desires that we would go back to the cross. Ponder what He did for you and what it meant for you today.
It has been a blessing as we go and minister to these hurting people. People that are still tied to their bondage. What a liberating truth for them to know that they are FREE!
Please pray with and for us as we finish up ministering here in Gettysburg, PA. The Lord has been doing a great work in this church. The main thing I see is that He is working mightily in marriages. Marriages that are on the brinks of ending up in divorce. Witnessing men and women broken before the Lord and before each other and coming together again! I am learning so much sitting through the sessions and I am not even married! God's truth is true, no matter the audience!

Enjoy some of the recent pictures above

In Christ, Sarah

Update

Wow, what an adventure the Lord has brought me on so far! It is so exciting. Since the beginning of September, I, along with my Life Action Team have traveled a couple thousand miles and have ministered in churches in four different states (GA, MS, IN, WV) and praying that the Lord will send revival to His people. It has been amazing to be apart of something that the Lord is using as one of His tools to get the message out to our dear brothers and sisters in Christ. It gives me chills to read and listen to the personal testimonies from the people within the churches. God is definitely bringing revival to individuals who we pray will have an impact on their church, community and country!
I am currently in Elkview, WV and am just soaking up God's glorious creation! The leaves are starting to change and we are surrounded by mountains everywhere! This week my host home consists of a young couple and their baby girl, Jenna. It is a blessing to me to have people graciously open up their homes to complete strangers! We are at a different church every week so it is nice to have somewhat of a "home" for the 5-6 days that we are there. It has been a little bit of a challenge because you feel that at the point you are really getting to know the people from the church and your host home you have to leave for another church in a different state. But it is so encouraging that no matter where I am at, the Lord is always there and He is helping me to be dependent upon Him only :)
I must close for now. I pray this finds all of you doing well in the Lord.

In Christ,
Sarah