Everyone needs a dream but not everyone has the opportunity to achieve that dream. This summer one of St. Martin’s young members, Sara King, fulfilled a childhood dream of traveling to Africa. With the help of prayerful and financial support from the Hensley Fund, friends, family, and Sara’s own hard-earned money, she spent six weeks of her summer helping orphans of AIDS victims.

Sara joined Teen Missions International’s grueling two-week boot camp in Merritt Island, Florida and joined 29 other teenagers from all over the country and Canada to prepare physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for the journey ahead. Each day they studied the Bible, attended classes to learn how to evangelize to the community, ran intense obstacle courses, and learned how to survive without the amenities of modern civilization.

For three and a half weeks in Africa, Sara and her team dug ditches, cut down trees, cleared land for roads, built latrines, and foundations to a chicken house and two Rescue housing units. The Rescue Units will each house two mission leaders who will remain in Malawi helping orphans in nearby communities.

The team worked eight or nine hours a day rising before sunrise and returning to camp after sunset. Each team member hiked daily to a water pump to obtain water used for cooking, drinking, and bathing. Meals were cooked outside over an open flame, members slept in two-man tents, bathing and clothes washing was done out of a five-gallon bucket, and they shared the duty of chasing monkeys out of the maize every day. Sundays were spent visiting nearby communities and sharing the gospel through song, skits, and personal testimonies.

Sara thought the people and the African country were absolutely beautiful. She learned the average age in Malawi is 16 years old and the average lifespan is 37 years old. She was stunned to see so many people without shoes and with only one outfit to wear. Each member arrived in Africa with a couple of work outfits, one traveling outfit, one pair of work boots, and donated some of their clothing to the children as they left the country. Sara felt guilty at having a change of clothes in the midst of such poverty.

She experienced the gift of sharing and giving to help others. Along with her team members, she learned the importance of spiritual and emotional support for each other and individually. She grew stronger in faith, felt proud of the work the team accomplished and learned the value of working together for a common goal. She returned with a newfound appreciation for her home and family. Sara came home with her same beautiful smile and a new special glow surrounding her.

Sara began her senior year at A.C. Flora High School a few days after returning from Africa having experienced life in another culture and recognizing how much the experience has allowed her to grow and mature. In a thank-you letter she sent to each contributor she said, “This summer I was given the glorious opportunity to finish the hardest work I’ve ever begun…I recognized how my morals, efforts, and thoughts had progressed…I know I will always treasure this growth as I will always treasure this summer’s journey…From the bottom of my heart, I thank you and will always know how this experience was made possible.”

As Sara’s mom, I remember holding her in my arms 17 years ago at St. Martin’s during her infant baptism as Bobbi Kennedy and Rev. Jim Abbott presented her to the congregation. I never dreamed what an amazing young woman she would grow to become. Even though many of you do not know Sara personally you have touched our lives. I taught many of your children in Sunday Church School for 3-year-olds with Lib Dixon and Eleanor Rogers for many years and appreciate all of you! Sara and I thank all of you for your prayers of support and for your contributions through the Hensley Fund without which Sara’s journey would not have been possible.