Welcome! :)

Hello Everybody! :) I hope everybody is doing well! :) Well, as most of you know, I am graduating soon...it's only 2 more weeks after this week of school + finals week and then I will graduate with a major in Kinesiology and minor in Psychology! :) My graduation date is Sunday, May 18th, so if you are free that day, you are totally welcome to come to my graduation at Cal State Fullerton. It will be at @9:30ish in the morning or so, but if you are willing to wake up that morning, do come! I also am hoping to have a joint graduation party with some other close friends through Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, so I will keep everybody posted about when that will be....probably sometime the week after I graduate. :)

If you are not already aware, I will be interning with Servant Partners (SP) for a 2-year commitment starting in September of this year. You can find more information about Servant Partners at this website: www.servantpartners.org But mostly, SP is about incarnational ministry living in the inner-city, living among the urban poor and loving them the way Jesus would if He is here on Earth. I have felt a calling to be in the inner-city for a while now, and after with some wrestling and good conversations with friends and God, He brought me to apply for Servant Partners and realize that I should be doing this after I graduate. It's crazy, but I am excited for what God has in store for my life through Servant Partners and what He will be teaching me and how He will be using me for His kingdom!

So even before Servant Partners, God has been working in my life through conversations with people about Servant Partners and just sharing about how God has brought me to this place! I had hesitation from my parents at first when I told them about SP, but now that they are more accepting and supportive of my decision, and even excited for me to do something about my faith and what I believe, as opposed to just talking and doing nothing. As I have been sharing with many friends, Christians and non-Christians, they have shown enthusiasm for me and just excitement about my next step in life!

I recently was refreshed about the doubts and questions that I have gotten from people about Servant Partners. I have worried that some people may see my decision to live in the inner-city and do ministry work as a "waste" or just not something that is not worthwhile...but I was reminded of how God sees this as a beautiful thing during my Spring Break while at Catalina Island. We studied out of the book of Mark and read Mark 14:3-9. This passage really touched me; it is about when Jesus is at Simon's (the leper) house, and this woman comes and brings an alabaster of oil and pours it onto Jesus....and His disciples question it and say that it is a WASTE...but Jesus says that what she is doing is a beautiful thing...and that it is what she is able to do....so to let her do it! This touched me because sometimes the decisions that I have made to follow Jesus, most specifically recently with Servant Partners, have sometimes been seen as a waste my family members and/or friends....but Jesus is saying "this is beautiful....and I honor you for what you are doing!" And Jesus also said that that interaction with the woman is to be written in scriptures...and there is some version of this story in all 4 gospels....so this was something that was very powerful to Jesus that He wanted His people to know. So yeah...this was a great reassurance to read and understand of God's love for His people that follow Him...what some may see as a waste, Jesus sees as Beautiful! :)

Well, I have also been sending out support letters to ask for support through prayer and finances. I have heard back from some people so far, and thanks to God, I have fundraised a total of $1,o00 so far! Praise God. In times when I have sent out support letters for a few different missions, I am always surprised about how giving people's hearts are to help with finances and to commit to pray! Both prayer and finaces are hugely important to me! I will definitely keep this site updated about prayer requests, praise reports, as well as how my financial support is going. I am so grateful for those that partner with me! :-D

Just some prayer requests:
-Continual fundraising for Servant Partners for me as well as the rest of my intern class with Servant Partners
-Openness to the people that I share with about Servant Partners, that God will be moving even through their hearts as I share about God's kingdom work
-The future site that I will be at....Pasadena or South LA (I still won't know until June)
-I want to learn more Spanish....for 2 reasons: it is important to learn more for where I currently work, as many of the parents of my kids do not speak any English at all....and also, just because the area where I move to, I feel that many people will be Spanish-speaking, and so it will be important to know the language. So that God will help me learn the Spanish language and to give me persistance to learn!

That's it...thanks so much everybody and have a blessed rest of the week! :)

P.S. If you would like to receive a support letter for my work with Servant Partners, please email me at sarahstoker@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can send it out to you. Thanks :)