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What have I been up to...?

It has been a while since I blogged, so I thought I would catch you all up on what I have been up to in the past year or so. 2017 was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. January was greeted with sadness when my beloved Nana passed away. The same day as her memorial service I found out I was excepted to Biola University! The next few weeks were a whirlwind as I prepared to spend February through April in South Africa with a missionary family. You can read all about my trip in other blog posts. In June, I graduated High School and began my journey toward college. My senior summer was bitter sweet. I greatly enjoyed my first ever summer camp at Hume Lake, Hawaii with Mom, and countless activities with my beloved youth group. It has been a learning experience trying to figure how to continue high school friendships with out actually being in high school any more.  At the end of August I started at Biola as a pre-nursing student. With two science classes, 3 GenEd classes, and Speechless (my
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God's Story

Since I last blogged, my life has changed a bit! I'm now officially at Biola University! For one of my classes, I had to write and share my testimony. What better way to share it then through social media! Am I right? Well here it goes! What is sin? Sin literally translated means failure to hit the mark.  Most people say, “I haven't committed a crime or killed anyone, therefore I am not a sinner.” Romans 3:23 states, “ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Because God is just, he can not leave our sin unpunished. It confirms in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Titus 3:4-7 reminds us, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,   whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
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Week 11 (4/17/17-4/23/17)

This week has been jam-packed with exciting adventures!  Monday to Wednesday was spent in Swaziland. Swaziland is the only remaining African country that still has a monarchy in place. It is the smallest African country, at only 6,704 square miles, roughly the size of Massachusetts. It is surrounded on 3 sides by South Africa and one side by Mozambique. Our first night there was spent at a girls' home run by Hosea's Heart ( http://hoseasheart.org/ ) in Manzini. There are around 15 girls, aged 9-19, who are there for the sake of their own protection and well-being. Whilst there, Auntie Susan and Uncle Randy shared the gospel with the girls, as well as how God has adopted us into his family. Tuesday was spent with Pastor Vusi in a village outside the town of Big Bend. He pastors in this rural community, caring for not only his own wife and two children, but also 6 orphans! We spent the 5-hour drive listening to an amazing book entitled  Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus  by N
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Week 10 (4/10/17-4/16/17)

This week was fairly uneventful with the exception of Auntie Susan's Birthday on Wednesday!  As we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus this weekend let me leave you with this passage from John Pipers's Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ.  The agonies of God's Son were incomparable. No one ever suffered like this man. Through all eternity, we will contemplate the killing of the Son of God and sing, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain" (Revelation 5:12). Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760) and the Moravians developed a theology based on the wounds and blood of Jesus that some believers became lopsided in its focus on the "five wounds" of Christ. But we are not in danger today of any such excess preoccupation with the anguish of Jesus. So come and worship with me at the splendor of Christ's suffering. No one ever deserved suffering less, yet received so much. The stamp of God on this perfect life is found in two words: "without
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Week 9 (4/3/17-4/9/17)

After all the craziness of last week, this week seemed to go by very slowly.  On Thursday I had the opportunity to get to know the girls interning at the Baby Home as well as Britt, the Baby Home manager. We spent all day painting their house. It was a ton of work, but it was wonderful to spend time with other godly women! Friday was the first ever young adults in the new church building! We played games, ate a delicious dinner, and spent time in God's Word. Tony spoke to us about evangelism and how to share the gospel with our unbelieving friends, family and others we interact with. He said that our message must be Christ-centred, we should focus on people's needs, not their wants, and we need to make them feel loved. He also spoke about how we need to live out what we say we believe. People should see that Jesus changed us! Live the Gospel! Saturday: Julia, Auntie Susan, Hope, and I went to a conference, The Theology of Psychology. It was taught by Ed Wilde, a law
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Week 8 (2/27/17-3/2/17)

We have had a very busy week!  On Wednesday we set up the new church for Sunday! We used partitions to section off rooms for Sunday school and crèche. We set up little tables and chairs. We sorted and put away the supplies that will be used for the Sunday school.  Several families from out of the country arrived on Thursday for the baby home celebration on Saturday. Because of this we hosted 2 young at our house since their rooms were being used by the out of town guests.  Friday: Uncle Randy, Auntie Susan, Sophia, Elijah, and I went to the Baby Home for a small luncheon for the out-of-town guests. We ate authentic African food and enjoyed fellowshipping with one another.  On Saturday, we celebrated the Baby Home's 5th birthday! We had a wonderful time remembering how great our God is! It was beautiful to hear the many stories of how the Baby Home was started, how God has continually provided, and how God has cared for each of the 40 tiny blessings that God has bro
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Week 7 (3/20/17-3/26/17)

Wow! When I look back it feels like the time has flown by! It feels like just yesterday I was stepping of the plane into my new life! I had a fairly uneventful week. Four kids from Arkansas visited this week. I tagged along with them as they helped out with some projects. We worked on some things for the new church building that we are moving into next Sunday!  The stomach bug has been going around, but so far we seemed to have escaped it. Please continue to pray I stay healthy for the remainder of my time here! :) Saturday evening, we had a surprise party for Chyreece Lester! We spent the day setting up tables and chairs, arranging flowers, and stringing lights. We had a wonderful time celebrating the beautiful woman of God that Chyreece is.  Thank you for continuing to pray and for reading these updates! I love and miss everyone at home! Just 5 more weeks to go!  Bug Bite count: not as many as last week Days until my family comes: 23 ~Sarah Marie
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