Going Back To Sierra Leone in March!

Hello Friends!

I have an incredible opportunity to return to Sierra Leone in March. I know some of you probably think by now I have a slight addiction :) I have never felt a calling so strong in all my life as I have towards these kids!

When I left in November I immediately began praying about the Lord providing an opportunity for me to return before the summer for a trip that focused on the kids. The traditional mission trips to Sierra Leone include a great deal of medical clinics with the central purpose of evangelizing the villages we are providing medical care in. I have loved these trips!

I spent a large portion of my time in November at the orphanage with the kids. I saw, more than my first trip, the deep emotional needs of the children. Pouring into their lives is like pouring water into a sponge. They believe they are the Nehemiah's of their nation...so do I. If this is true then they need to be poured into, encouraged and built up in the Lord.

I naturally bonded more with the boys my first trip. Not only because I have 3 boys but because they are more outgoing than the girls. The girls in the home are shy and introverted in general. This is an expected response to the tragedy of losing their families in a brutal war.

When I left in June after my first trip I immediately began praying for a way to connect with the girls on my next trip. The Lord answered this prayer. Because I stayed in the girls' sleeping area in November I made so many connections with them. I had also been writing several of them and relationships had begun this way. I had intentions of doing bible studies with the girls and having structured as well as fun times like late night pajama parties with them. I feel much of this was left undone.

The medical clinics left me emotionally drained. I know I was called to be a part of them, but they left me emotionally spent, in a good way. The med clinics were a tool the Lord used to bring a great deal of necessary brokenness in me.

In the weeks of prayer since my November trip I have cried out to the Lord asking for Him to make a way for me to return so that I could really engage with the kids, in particular, the girls, in times of structured bible study, share time and prayer. I knew for this to be accomplished it would take a trip where the kids' were my only focus.

A few weeks ago I found out about a trip being led by two men who live in Texas. Other than the two men the rest of the team is all women. The focus is to serve, disciple and love on the girls in the Wellington Orphanage....all 43 of them! We will be in the country for 7 days. Out of those 7 days we will only leave the home 3 times. Once to take all of the kids to the beach, once to go to the market and another time to make a trip to a village called Rokbob to minister to the women there. The rest of the time we will have at least 3 hours of every day set aside to do bible studies and have prayer and share times with the girls. We will also be doing fun things with them like slumber parties, craft times, etc. Each missionary will be assigned 3 or 4 girls and will focus on pouring into those girls over the week.

When God led me take on a teenaged girls' bible study 3 years ago I never dreamed I would have an opportunity to serve teenaged girls who were orphans because of a terrible war who lived in the second poorest nation in the world!!! I know that I do not deserve such a blessing. I need these girls more than they need me!

We have had two teenaged girls live in our home over the last 3 years. We currently have our sweet 17 year old god daughter, Wendy, living in our home. I feel like this is confirmation that this trip is the Lord's plan, yet I do not feel it has adequately prepared me. I will have to rely 100 percent on the Lord to use me in the lives of these girls. I am unqualified and must trust Him to flow through me!

I have just found out that in order to save $300 on the cost of our plane tickets we must have them purchased by January 15th. The cost of the airfare will be $1300! I must be honest, while I know nothing is too hard for the Lord, I am insecure about raising this kind of money in such a short time. I am going to do all I can do at this point and pray!

If you are unable to give financially will you please join me in prayer that the Lord will provide the money for me and the other ladies on the team. I will be traveling with another sweet teenaged girl from Oklahoma, Deborah Lange. Please lift us in prayer in the upcoming months as we seek the Lord to prepare us in every way!

If you feel led to give joyfully, not under compulsion, to my trip you can mail checks to our address at 1700 Godhania Rd. Edmond, Ok 73003. Please make all checks payable to 4HIM to assure you receive a tax deduction.

You can click on this link to view pictures from my recent trip: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=50904349&albumId=2871111 You can go to my blog to read about some of my experiences from my recent trip: http://shannacrawford.blogspot.com/

Below is an email from one of the leaders of the trip explaining the urgency of having the $1300 in by January 15th.

I love you all more than you know! I count it a great honor to partner with you in various forms of ministry. You are a joy to me!

In His Love,
Shanna Crawford

Everyone,

I have some great news and not so great news to share with you.

The great news is that, just last night, I found a special rate for round trip airfare to Sierra Leone through London that only cost $1,375. This is the best price that I have ever seen...EVER. Most average in the $1,800's. With that said, the total cost of our trip just went down to $2,700 instead of $3,000. Yep, that's a free 300 bucks if you're doing the math.

Here's the bad news. That rate is only good through January 15th, then its going to shoot back up. I really want us to try to get that money in if at all possible. This is a great opportunity to save $300 overall.

I know this might be a stretch for some of you to get that much in so soon. If it is, let me know and we'll try to work something out. We can talk about it this Tuesday at the meeting.

Make sure all checks are made out to 4 H.I.M.
and send to my address:

Chris Shabay
2107 Alma Dr.
Keller, TX 76248

Thanks everyone. Contact me with any questions or concerns.