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The Story Behind It All.
It began in the fall of 2014, my senior year of college, I had to do a project on a non-profit for school. I chose One Body One Hope as the program to analyze and research—I knew very little about it at the time. I fell in love with a place, people, and organization that I had never visited. I told my partner for the project that one day I would go to Liberia. I did not know when or in what measure, just that I would go one day. I fell in love with the stories of God’s work, His people in Liberia, the passion of the people working with One Body One Hope, the beauty of the church partnership, and the mission of education and love through the orphanage and relationships built.
Jump ahead to the fall of 2015, In September, the information for AMOR came out for students. I had always wanted to go, but last year I felt like I was not old enough or wise enough to be a leader on a trip. I shoved the idea to the back of my head and did not really entertain the idea. Around October, after the deadline of the student applications, I had three different people ask me if I had considered being a leader for an AMOR trip. I told them yes, but did not feel equipped, let alone I have never been out of the country. The third person I had talked to told me that I needed to talk to person organizing AMOR by the end of the day, so I wouldn't chicken out. So, I did. Aaron, the organizer of AMOR, said that all the leader spots were full, but if someone dropped out, or something else came up he would keep me in mind. I thought to myself, "no one would want to drop out" so there was no chance of me going. I put the idea out of my mind.
However, I knew God had put this desire in my heart for a reason. God created a yearning to serve Him in a different country and to worship with people from a different culture— the beauty of his church coming together. All of this brought joy to my heart—and the idea of sitting and listening to others talk about God working in their lives and taking away lessons from them. I kept praying that I could trust God’s timing, whenever and whatever that might look like. However, to say that I was never frustrated would be lying. There were times when I didn’t understand.
I had another opportunity arise that open the door to help refugees. However, the door was not opening very much. Then Aaron (organizer of AMOR) walked into my office in late October, he asked me if I wanted to be a leader on the trip to Liberia. They needed another leader due to the large group size, and a few other reasons. At that moment there were so many things going through my head. Then it hit me, the decision was up to me--if I said yes, that meant I would go--there was nothing else, the door was completely open. It was a hard decision because I did not know if God wanted me to pursue the trip to work with refugees, or go to Liberia. Through many small ways God showed me Liberia was the answer. This journey of trusting God has been difficult and exciting at the same time. It has also shown me the power of prayer and faithfulness.
However, I knew God had put this desire in my heart for a reason. God created a yearning to serve Him in a different country and to worship with people from a different culture— the beauty of his church coming together. All of this brought joy to my heart—and the idea of sitting and listening to others talk about God working in their lives and taking away lessons from them. I kept praying that I could trust God’s timing, whenever and whatever that might look like. However, to say that I was never frustrated would be lying. There were times when I didn’t understand.
I had another opportunity arise that open the door to help refugees. However, the door was not opening very much. Then Aaron (organizer of AMOR) walked into my office in late October, he asked me if I wanted to be a leader on the trip to Liberia. They needed another leader due to the large group size, and a few other reasons. At that moment there were so many things going through my head. Then it hit me, the decision was up to me--if I said yes, that meant I would go--there was nothing else, the door was completely open. It was a hard decision because I did not know if God wanted me to pursue the trip to work with refugees, or go to Liberia. Through many small ways God showed me Liberia was the answer. This journey of trusting God has been difficult and exciting at the same time. It has also shown me the power of prayer and faithfulness.
