Leap of Faith

"BY FAITH Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going." Hebrews 11:8

Months of praying, months of hardship, months of joy from witnessing God move in the hearts of Greek students, months of vivid memories from Africa, months of anxiety that maybe all this Africa talk was just selfish, months of questioning, months of rest. I've been through quite the journey but our God is faithful and full of GRACE. I could type 50 pages on just how God's brought me to this point and made things so clear for me but I'll spare you. But don't get me wrong, I rejoice over it and would love to talk about it so feel free to email me if you want to know more about this. Anyways check out Hebrews 11. Incredible steps of faith were taken by incredible followers of God. Africa was just supposed to be a check off of my bucket list of life, a chapter in this book that's being written. But it's not. I've recently felt the call to stop pondering, stop dreaming and DO! So BY FAITH I'm stepping out into an unknown land. The land of creating a non-profit organization as a 21 year old fashion merchandising college student in a sorority. But here we go!

I believe that for this moment in my life God is screaming at me. He's opening doors, and all I'm doing is walking through. I'm not doing anything super amazing, not even making provisions for this. God's doing everything! His GRACE has been and is incredible to experience, but "incredible" doesn't even begin to describe just how much my mind and heart have been blown over the past week or so. God's calling and all I'm doing is saying "YES!" Maybe down the road God will have a different plan. But I'm confident that right now this is it. Again, nothing superb on my end. I admit that I'm even hesitant in telling some people because I don't want the "you're such an amazing person!" comment. Because I'm not. I'm a sinner, unworthy of being used by God, but have been reconciled to Him through Jesus and can live in freedom because of this extraordinary gift. None of this should be credited to me. In fact it's GRACE that allows me to be used as the hands and feet of Jesus. God doesn't NEED me to bring Him glory but He CHOOSES me! And He chooses You! Ah doesn't that just rock your world?!

So just a quick summary of what all this actually is. I'm working on getting granted non-profit status for this organization God's leading me to start, Clothed in Hope. Clothed in Hope will provide skills training in sewing in order for widows of the Ng'Ombe slum in Lusaka, Zambia to gain respect in society, and make a sustainable income to provide for their children and themselves. Zambian women are so inspiring; so full of strength despite the intensity of their pain. There are hopes of selling garments made by the Zambian women to women in America, recognizing that these women are no different. Sure they're thousands of miles away, living a completely different lifestyle but our hearts are all the same. We all struggle with the same need for affection, security, comfort, and HOPE. Not just a short-term financial or even social hope, but a hope that's everlasting. A hope rooted in our Savior.

So yet again, please join me in praying for this. Pray for more of Him, less of me. Pray for the Zambian women who are so awfully oppressed in their culture. Pray for provision with every step of this complicated process. Pray for God to be reflected so brilliantly in every moment of this journey. He IS providing, guiding and moving and deserves praise!

www.clothedinhope.etsy.com will have shirts and other things for sale to help start up some fundraising for this endeavor. Please pass this link along once I can get a few things up, and same goes for the website as soon as that's up. Rather than focusing on financial support I want to stress the need of spiritual support! And even using this as a means to say- don't settle with anything less than God's best. Even if that means living radicailly! My eyes have been opened to see that as a Christian, my life should never make sense to others. It should simply point them to Christ.

All this for HIS glory!



p.s. a friend of mine is also choosing to live incredibly BY FAITH. check this out: www.jasonhilborn.theworldrace.org