Send me, I'll go.

What in the WORLD!? Seriously what in the world, God is SO GOOD. This time last year I was getting back from Passion 2012 (www.268generation.com) with a freshly broken heart for victims of sex trafficking and sexual abuse. And now, just returning from Passion 2013, I am about to go and serve alongside those at Zion Project in Gulu, Uganda from January 9^th- February 4^th.

Zion Project (www.zionproject.org) is an organization that is committed to rescuing, serving, and helping heal young girls and women who have been victims of the global sex trade in Uganda. Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) ravaged Uganda for over 20 years abducting over 60,000 children and forcing them to be child soldiers and sex slaves. Though Kony has left Uganda, the trauma and abuse he has inflicted upon thousands of Ugandan men, women, and children still remains. Zion Project desires to provide inner healing to the broken hearted and sexually exploited in war-torn regions of Africa through the power of God’s love, counseling, and relationships. They have a rescue home that houses 17 girls ages 5-15 who have been sexually abused and used in child prostitution. These girls are able to live at the home, go to school, be counseled, and be loved on! Zion Project also has a counseling center for the women who have been rescued from sex trafficking where they receive treatment, mentorship, prayer, and are employed to make beautiful beads as a new way to support themselves (www.imanilove.com). And the Lord has allowed me to use what He has given me to assist Zion Project’s mission! What in the world!?! Again, He is SO GOOD. I won’t know the specifics of what I will be doing day to day until I get there- but what I am confident in is his calling to be His hands and His feet wherever I go and whatever I am doing. 

SO, I leave on Wednesday… oh my goodness that is in 2.5 days! Those of you who know me know that I have 3 main passions:

1) Serving my Lord and personal Savior…especially amongst those of different cultures, languages, and nations. 

2) Medicine. I’m about to graduate from the nursing program here at the University of Delaware this May. There is something so special to me about demonstrating Christ’s love as I have the opportunity to literally wash the feet of others.

3) God’s daughters (who I haven’t met...yet) who are trapped in the global sex trade. Everything inside me yearns to communicate the truth to these girls and women that they have been “Sought After” by the God of the universe.  

The Lord placed Isaiah 62:12 on my heart last year after returning from Passion 2012. It states, “…and you will be called Sought After, a City No Longer Deserted.” A new desire mounted in my heart to SEEK AFTER these women and children who were enslaved in the awful realities of sex trafficking in the same manner that Christ sought after me. What does that pursuit look like? Romans 5:8 states that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus Christ pursued me with His life, and continues to pursue, and will always unfalteringly pursue me with everything that He is. These women and children, who Christ calls “the least of these,” are worth every bit of that same pursuit. How beautiful is it that the Lord provided this opportunity that weaves all of my passions together?

Did I mention I leave in 2.5 days?! Oh my goodness I leave in 2.5 days. I’ll be gone for 27 days and fly back the very same day my spring semester starts- some people may think I’m crazy- and I absolutely am! I’m crazy in love with my God who calls me to “Seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, and plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17) in Uganda these next 4 weeks- even if that means a really hard time transitioning back the USA my last semester of college.

I’m not exactly sure how often I will be able to post- it’ll be a surprise to all of us! But hopefully it will be often and I will able to keep you all updated on everything the Lord is doing in Gulu and in my heart. I have never felt more loved, supported, and prayed over than I have in the last few weeks. Thank you so much to those of you who have sacrificed financially to get me to Uganda. Goodness, I have literally fallen on my knees before the Lord in humility as I have received so much financial support (for example, a best friend and recent college grad being the first to support me in huge ways- financially and emotionally; finding out that a dear friend hosted an event to raise money for my trip all the way in another state amongst those who don’t even know me personally; my brother slipping money to support me in my jacket he had already gotten me for Christmas; and two of my cousins buying me a video camera to document my time there- just to name a few of the many examples!). What in the WORLD?! That is nothing less than Jesus Christ moving in peoples’ hearts. I’VE LITERALLY SEEN the face of God in all of your sacrifices. Thank you so much for those of you who are committed to praying for me and for the girls and women in Uganda these next four weeks. Those of you who know me also know that I feel most loved when people intercede on my behalf before the Lord in prayer.

Am I excited? YES. Am I nervous? YES. Am I scared? YES. But I am comforted in the fact that I know the God who goes before me, personally, and He has never let me down... and He never will :) 

Talk to you all soon and see you all again before we know it! 

Arms high and heart abandoned,

Em