I am thrilled to announce that I am moving to Knoxville, Tennessee in February 2021! My boyfriend, James Wilhelm, and I will be serving as long term urban missionaries in East Knoxville with Raising a Voice.
This summer I had the opportunity to work with Raising a Voice and God completely broke my heart for the women in East Knoxville. At Raising A Voice, their mission is to end human trafficking through gospel-centered community transformation and global outreach. East Knoxville is one of the most under-resourced areas in the city, which has led many women to the street and hotel-based prostitution. Many of the services available to these women are simply not in this area. It is the goal of Raising a Voice to serve as the middle ground to help connect and provide available resources to women in our community.
Over the last three years, through the World Race and the Generation 42 Leadership Academy, God has been giving me bits and pieces of what my future would look like. It’s been incredible to see it unfold; and I am in awe of how perfectly He has knit the things that stir my heart together. My work with Raising a Voice will be two-fold. I will spend half of my time running their outreach programming and drop-in center. The drop-in is a day center in the heart of the community where these women can come in, take a shower or do laundry, get hygiene products, new clothing, build relationships, and allow us to access other tangible resources we have to help them. The other half of my work will be continuing mine and Saylah Leu Gregoire’s mission of creating long term sustainability for Heritage Christian School in Kigali, Rwanda.
Throughout the summer, the founders of Raising a Voice, Katie and Will Boggs mentored and helped Saylah and I restrategize how to grow Heritage Christian School. From there, a partnership was formed and Raising a Voice has taken on Heritage Christian as a ministry partner. We feel incredibly blessed by this partnership and mentorship. It is a huge blessing that I will be able to devote more time to Heritage Christian as we work towards the dreams and vision the Lord has given Pastor Moise, Saylah and I for the children in Kigali.
WHY is this important to me? When I committed to going on the World Race in 2017, I knew my life would never look the same. While in Haiti, during my first month on the field, I asked for God to break my heart for what He wanted me to pursue long term. For three years, I kept that prayer tucked away. At the end of this summer while praying about what was next, He reminded me. God showed me the three times over the last three years where it felt like my heart had broken into a million pieces. He showed me the faces of the people that my heart ached for. And because He is SO GOOD, all three of those instances led directly to the door that has opened for me. Stay tuned for Part Two of this blog and the full story next week!
So WHAT exactly is an urban missionary? Typically when we think of missionaries, we think of living and serving overseas. This is the exact same thing, only stateside. I will be living in the community I am serving, East Knoxville, and I will be fundraising 100% of my salary. It is my heart to continue serving vulnerable and exploited populations both here and abroad and it would be an honor for you to join me in this mission! I am looking for people who want to continue partnering with me on a monthly basis both financially and in prayer. If you are interested in partnering financially, you can do so here and click ‘Sara Owen’ in the drop down. I will be transitioning to a new platform in the new year to continue sending updates and prayer requests. If you are already receiving this blog, you will be added to that list. I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for partnering with me the last three years. It is truly because of you all that I am able to take these next steps of faith.
I will be in Houston, TX until I move in February and would love to see you! If you’re not in town, I’d love to chat. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
All my love from Texas,
Sara
