Letter from Gracie...
PLEASE PRAY! There is a lot to do before Thursday, but I feel God is pushing me to trust Him and step out of my comfortable life and literally jump out of the boat at very short notice. This Thursday (1/5/2012), I will embark on a 5 month adventure with God. Yes, I said this Thursday! Let me start at the beginning….
PLEASE PRAY! There is a lot to do before Thursday, but I feel God is pushing me to trust Him and step out of my comfortable life and literally jump out of the boat at very short notice. This Thursday (1/5/2012), I will embark on a 5 month adventure with God. Yes, I said this Thursday! Let me start at the beginning….
Many of you
know I went to Malawi, Africa in April 2009 with my Dad. Although that was 2 years ago, I remember it
like it was yesterday, how strongly I felt God stirring my heart. I felt convinced that I was going to serve
Him with my life in some way on the mission field. I also felt Him urging me toward gaining
medical skills to take with me into the field.
By December
of 2009 I felt restless that I hadn’t made any progress toward the goal of
getting back out on the field, so I convinced my parents to let me go to Urbana
2009. A huge mission’s conference of 30,
000 college students held in Missouri! I
was about to turn 18 a week before I would leave, I was alone and I got very
sick while I was there. Most of the time
I physically felt miserable, but through the worship, prayer time and
incredible speakers, I felt God’s confirmation and peace. I made a commitment to a long term mission
where ever God called me; my hope was that He’d call me back to Africa.
As soon as I made the commitment, I entered a time of serious and unexplainable illness. The year began with fainting, fatigue, migraine headaches, stomach problems, insomnia and pain, sometimes excruciating, that would just not go away. After every imaginable medical test, and a lot of experiments with prescriptions, I ended up with the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. This made school very difficult, work very difficult and actually all aspects of life were exhausting. It was a very discouraging and depressing season.
Near the end
of the summer this year I began to realize that I was learning how to manage my
Fibromyalgia. With changes to my diet,
Yoga and swimming for exercise and plenty of rest, I only have occasional “bad
days.” I am not taking any medication
and am no longer under medical care for the condition, so I began praying and
asking God to move me toward my goal. In
September, I completed my EMT Certification and began searching for the right
mission opportunity. The YWAM
Medical Discipleship Training School (DTS) looked very intriguing and I
inquired and began filing out an application.
I didn’t complete the application, thinking maybe it was too soon and
focused on school instead.
Last week I
received a call and a text message from a man named Joon from the Medical
DTS. He just wanted to answer any
questions I had about DTS and so I called him back. To make this long story a little shorter, Dr.
Joon is the Asst. Director of the School, he and many others have been praying
for me since I began the application. Dr. Joon has reminded me about my passion
for serving God in the mission field; and Dr. Joon and the YWAM staff invited
me to take a leap of faith and come to Kona this Thursday! And, so I am! I know God has something incredible planned
for me and I strongly feel Him pushing me to finally get going!
I will spend
3 months learning from teachers from all over the world about God and about
medical missions! I get to spend 2
months after that on the mission field, ministering to those in need! I
cannot imagine a better opportunity, or a clearer call from God than this!!
All this to
say I need your help. I must raise $4,000
for the Lecture phase (3 months) and another $4,000 for the outreach (2 months,
country is not yet determined). Please
consider supporting me financially.
Donations can be made out to Reaching the Hungry if you want a tax-deduction.
Also, please
pray that I will feel good while I am there and that I will not be in pain, so
that I can get the most out of this adventure God has placed before me.
Here is how
you can stay updated on what God is doing in my life and the lives of others I
will be meeting.
Stepping out in faith,
Gracie Sales
facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/gracie.sales
P.S. Please send all donations to Reaching the Hungry at 755 Vista Canyon Circle; Vista, CA 92084, or you can
use your credit card online at www.ReachingtheHungry.org.
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Thank you for your words of encouragement. The Sales Family