Welcome to my first blog!!
I am still in awe by the goodness of God these past few months. After going through the process of college visits, college applications, and scholarship interviews, I felt no sense of direction from God. I desperately asked for guidance in hopes that He would tell me where to go to college, but He remained silent…until November. While scrolling through a Facebook group for rising college freshmen, I noticed a girl’s post who had been on a gap year in Thailand. This immediately sparked my interest and after a few minutes I found myself wide-eyed while scrolling though The World Race website. For the first time, I sensed God’s calling. Now two months later, I have committed myself to God’s will: a nine month long journey around the world in search of His glory. This is something so out of my comfort zone, but as Seth Barnes says in his book Kingdom Journey, “If we never get out of our comfort zones, we can’t grow into the places God has prepared for us.”
To be honest, I am nervous about this whole blog thing. Countless times I went through the cycle of typing a string of words and deleting them right after. It wasn’t until I sat still and stopped thinking about how my words would make me look, but how my words would glorify him, that I could write freely. This blog serves the purpose of documenting how God is working on the field and what he is teaching me along the way… so here it goes. Blog One: Saved, Chosen and Called.
I believe that God has saved me three times in my life: once when my Chinese birth mother found out she was pregnant and decided to keep me; again when a family of four chose to become a family of five; and once again when Jesus became my Lord and Savior. Each of these moments in my life is significant to where and who I am today.
I believe that God has chosen me. It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea that I could have been aborted. It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea that I could still be in China living in poverty. And it’s hard to wrap my head around the idea that I could have been adopted by a different family- possibly one that did not love the Lord. Overall, it’s hard to understand why me? But as I am in the early stages of the spiritual journey of a lifetime, I am beginning to understand why.
I have been called. At 17 years old, I have been called to share my story, share His light, and expand His kingdom throughout the nations.
If you would like to be a part of this journey, you can subscribe to my blog and follow me on social media. I am asking for support through prayers. I have gotten to witness the power of prayer and see all that it can accomplish, so I ask that you begin praying for my teammates and me as we prepare to abandon the comforts of our homes. Lastly, to make this happen, I need to raise $15,800. If you feel led to give (no amount is too small!) you can click the “Donate!” button at the top of this page.
Thank you for taking the time to read this!!
In His name,
Sarah West
