Sarah Krabbe - Learning to Serve

I had the chance to go to New Orleans last year and seizing that opportunity changed my life. I immediately saw the vast devastation, the countless homeless people, the innumerable amount of tiny FEMA trailers, houses still ripped apart around every corner, and the overall sadness of the city. It didn't take long for me to realize that my comfortable life back in Maine isn't all that I should be concerned with and focused on. By the end of the trip I started to truly believe that it's really not all about me.

During last year's trip, I learned a lot about myself but mostly about serving others. God clearly calls us to serve and spending a week doing all types of work in the various conditions that we were in taught me not just how to serve, but how challenging it can be, too.

Now I can say all of those things now, remembering how the trip impacted me, but I don't have the same feeling of change that I had when I returned from the trip last July. One of the reasons why I want to go back is to be able to regain that feeling and apply it to my life in order to make me more like how God wants me to be. I also want to go because I know how badly people are in need still, a few years later, and I don't want them to give up. I want to give them hope. I want to share God's love.

In general, please pray that our team is able to work together, get along, and that most things go smoothly (last year we learned that not everything will). For me, personally, please pray that I won't get distracted by things back home. I have a busy summer coming up and I don't want the complication of trying to fit my plans together (brother's wedding, family trips, work, field hockey) to distract me from the real reason and purpose of why I'm down there.

- Sarah Krabbe, grade 12