My main projects this summer were the drop-in center and creating an outreach schedule. The drop-in center is a day center for women to come in, build relationships, and a place where we can provide tangible resources. Raising a Voice (RAV) was able to purchase their drop-in center two weeks before we arrived in Knoxville, so naturally my first desire was to paint every single wall. If you know me, you know painting is my zen zone! It was also a goal to create a beautiful clothing closet for women to select clothing, toiletries and other necessary items. With the help of many of you on social media, within 3 hours, we were able to have enough money donated to completely make over the closet with new clothing and shoe racks, storage bins, containers and all kinds of organizational tools. Also, a shout out to my mom, Sonia Owen, for making some great curtains! The drop-in center looked like a totally different place by the end of the summer. It was transformed into a beautiful and safe space for women to come in, relax and spend time with us.
My second project was creating an outreach schedule. For RAV, outreach looks like walking the neighborhood and getting to know our neighbors and the women who are working. We often brought hygiene bags that had basics like shampoo, soap, tissues, tampons, pads, razors, toothbrushes and some snacks to hand out as well. I fell absolutely in love with outreach. My spirit came alive and it was incredible to see the trust we were able to build so quickly. Outreach is the primary way we are able to tell women about the drop-in center. It was incredible to see the fruit of those efforts over the summer. We had heard from other drop-in centers across the US that we shouldn’t expect anyone to come through our doors for at least the first 6 months. Trust takes time, which we understood. Within a few weeks; however, we had several women come in and by the end of the summer we had some women coming in regularly to shower and receive resources. PRAISE!
The Lord taught me so many lessons this summer. Knowing the situations these women face on a daily basis, or when a woman would go missing for weeks at a time, my heart would physically ache thinking about it. TBH, it was hard to not constantly troll the streets keeping an eye out for them (let’s be real though, I did this pretty often). But in that, God reminded me that His love for them is so much deeper than mine and that I could trust Him with their safety. He brought me into new levels of trust and dependence with Him. God also showed me new depths of the power of prayer and gosh is He good! I will write a blog with testimonies soon, promise.
Another huge part of my summer was gleaning valuable knowledge from Will and Katie (W&K), the founders of RAV, in regards to our ministry in Rwanda. Being mentored by W&K all summer allowed Saylah and I to restructure and strategize for the future of Heritage Christian School. We are excited to announce that Heritage Christian School will be partnering with RAV. While RAV is an anti-human trafficking organization, they have a large focus on transforming communities as a whole both domestically and internationally. It is our hope to transform not only the lives of our students and their families but the entire community in Kigali, Rwanda. This partnership will give us the administrative support, mentorship and guidance we need while we get Heritage Christian off the ground. It will also allow Saylah and I to focus 100% of our efforts on growing Heritage Christian and creating sustainability long-term. This partnership is an answer to prayer and we are excited for what is next! If you are not signed up for our newsletter already, comment with your email below!
With my time at G42 coming to an end in just two months, the million dollar question is what’s next. God has opened some doors and answered prayers I didn’t even know to pray! I have a big announcement coming soon, stay tuned 🙂
Thank you for reading and for following, praying and supporting me along this wild journey!
All my love from Cleveland,
Sara
