Your Will Lord

Hello on this rainy Saturday! I bring you greetings from Yaoundé!

I took the seven drive down into the crowded rainforest for the weekend. Katelyn and Lum have to take their PSAT’s, so I thought it would be a good change of scenery to tag along. (Do not worry, I brought my work!) Usually in Yaoundé it is hot, sweaty, and humid. Oh do not worry; it has been all of that over here, until this morning. I woke up to gray, cloudy skies, and now it is in a current down pour. So I am currently listening to Jack Johnson, sitting in my pajamas, next to a wide open window, and enjoying the cool breeze blowing through my hair. Not only are Katelyn and Lum taking the PSAT, but tonight we are going to a dance! Yes people, I am going back into a high school and dancing. But this time instead of dancing in the gym at Bear River High School, I am going to be dancing in the gym of Rain Forest International School. Even Chris will be joining us, so it should be an enjoyable time with everyone.

The reason I am writing this post goes a little more beyond then explaining what I am going to be doing these next couple of days. For the past couple of weeks I have been in deep prayer. I have been asking for God for wisdom, and praying that He would lead me to where he wants to be. For the last couple of weeks I have been preparing my mind that I was going to be leaving Cameroon in January/February. I know that when I spoke with many of you, I planned on to stay for a year, and that has been the ideal plan..well funding did not make that plan happen. Fact is I have only enough funding to stay out here in Cameroon until February. When I first got here, I was not okay with the fact. I was going to make it my mission to try to find a way to stay out here for the full commitment. The first place that I went to was to God. I literally got down on my hands and knees and cried out to God, I would pray that he would show me a way to stay here longer, and I prayed that he would open up the hearts of those back in the United States, that if they felt God was calling them to support me, that he would show them that. I was praying this every night, every day, pretty much every second. And I have to say, God is good! A Few people came out of the blue and began to support me. I have been so thankful that God provided.

But as the months passed by, the more I became antsy, the more I realized how I have been bottling up this “Culture Shock.” The longer I shoved it away in my mind, the more frustrated, the angrier, I got. I began to not really pray about my support anymore, I began to put away the real reason I was here. I began to shut down and just go through life like a zombie. It took a random weekend a few weeks ago to finally open me up. All of the emotions, all of the frustration that I was bottling up, came pouring out like a gushing river. At that point, I packed all of my clothes up, and I was ready to tell Chris and Karen that I was out. I was no longer going to stay with them, I wanted to go home. I missed my life back in the United States, I missed friends, family, loved ones that I have not been able to really talk to. I missed the convenience of things, I missed everything. I felt like I was going crazy out here in Africa, I felt so up and down all the time. I shared with them how frustrated, how angry I have been. I told them I wanted to leave. Instead of putting me on a plane, I went over to Abuh with the Peace Corps team. I have to say, that it really was a required weekend. I was able to get away, and spend all of my time with God. I was in my Bible, and I was asking God what to do. Why did he bring me here? Why was I brought to a country where communication with all of my loved ones was impossible? Why God, why was I here? It was that weekend when God really spoke to me. He made me remember why I was here. I was here to serve others. I was brought here to share the Gospel with children in remote villages, who do not have the opportunity to learn about God. I was brought here to team up with the Jackson’s to do the work of GOD. I was growing selfish, I was growing bitter, I was allowing my circumstances, and how I wanted things to be take over in my mind. I forgot to focus on the truth. The truth is that I came here to Africa for others. I did not come here for myself.

Yes, I came here to Africa to learn about different culture, and I came here for a new adventure. But the main reason I came out here was to be a worker for God. I was taken back to a time when I was living back in Los Angeles. I remember I was on my knees crying out to God that he would take my life, and lead me where he wanted me to be…and God did just that. I gave up the reins of my life, and I gave him absolute control..you know where he led me? He led me to get back in contact with the Jackson’s, who I have not seen or talked to in ten plus years, and he led me here to Africa. God is amazing. I know that we all know how amazing God is, but really..think about it, if we really give up control in our lives, and give it up to God..he can take us anywhere! He can lead us to new people, he can lead us to some new opportunity, it may be in our hometown, or it may be all the way over to the Middle East. The fact is, God has ALL power, and he has ALL authority to put us and to place us where he wants us to be.

God brought me here to Africa, to work with the Jackson’s, to help create Sunday School Lessons for Children out in remote villages that have never really been able to hear solid stories from the Bible, EVER! I am so thankful and I feel so honored that God has placed this task before me. I feel so amazed that God chose me, as weak as I think I am, he put me here, and he knows that I can deal with this. God is so amazing. I have been brought here to Africa; I have been placed here with some amazing people. The Jackson Village really is a special, amazing gifted group of people. I feel so blessed that I have been placed here.

I have been praying and asking God that with my financial situation, that he would just show me what he wants me to do, that if he wanted to keep me here till February, that he would..or if God wanted me to stay longer, that he would provide for me. I have been walking around with the mindset that I would be leaving the beginning of February, that it was the end of my adventure. The more I prayed about it, the more I felt a push from God to reach out and to ask for more support. I honestly ignored it, because once again, I was putting my circumstances in front, and I was in the mindset that I would be leaving in a few months…God kept on pushing me to reach out for more support..I put it away in the back of my mind.

Being in Yaoundé, the Lord once again has broken me down…he has been convicting me once again about putting myself in front of others. Fact is, if I was to leave in February, I would be leaving behind a program of lessons that have not yet been completed. I would be leaving the Jackson’s, and leaving behind a children’s program that is going to one day make a big difference in the way Cameroon Churches run their children’s ministry. I have so much faith in these lessons. I know that they are going to do some amazing things out here in Cameroon. So I am taking a leap of faith, and I am writing this blog post to reach out to those who are reading my blog. I encourage all of you to pray and ask God if he wants you to also be a part of these Children Lessons in Luke. I honestly do not know how long God wants me here, but all I know is that he is pushing me to reach out to all of you.

If we are in times of trouble, if we are in times of need God not only calls us to fall onto him, but he also tells us to lean on our fellow brothers and sisters. So I am doing just that. I only have funding to be out here in Africa until February. To complete my full year commitment I need funding from February- up until June. In numbers, that means I still need $5,000.00 dollars. I know you may look at that number and gasp, and I do as well. But I know that God can do some amazing things, I know that if he wants me here till June, he is going to make that happen. If we wants me to only stay until April, he is going to make that happen. God is the one in control, and he can make anything happen.

If you feel that you want to partner with me, and help me stay longer over here in Cameroon, it really is quite simple. I will place a link on here that you can go to donate. All you have to do is click on my name, and enter how much you want to donate to me.

If you want to support me through prayer, you can pray and ask God that he would continue to bless these children’s lessons in Luke. Pray that this project will be a blessing to those churches that use them. Pray for the Jackson’s that they would continue to be blessed and kept safe out here in Bamenda. Pray that I would continue to hold onto God, and that he would keep me here as long as he wants me to be out here. And the amount of time that I am out here, pray that God would continue to use me, and keep me focused on getting these lessons complete before it is my time to go back home to the States.

I thank you all for staying up to date on my travels out here in Cameroon, I am so thankful and blessed to be out in this beautiful country. You are all such wonderful people, and I thank you so much for your never ending support of prayers, and love.

Be blessed,

Sarah Newman

Link if you would like to support: https://giving.wesupport.org/gift2/designation.php?GUID=00A89C60-DB76-4A83-B25C-7EAACD29F9FF&id=47055

You can just enter how much if you would like to donate.