Sarah Wiant
The Reason, In A Nutshell
Hi! My name is Sarah, and I’m 23 years old. This past December I graduated with a B.A. in Adolescence Education and English. Since then I’ve been working as a substitute teacher in two different school districts and with the Boys and Girls Club after school program in Buffalo, NY. I absolutely love my jobs and can honestly say that I enjoy getting up in the morning to go to work! As excited as I am to do Mission Year, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to these beautiful kids I’ve been working with and grown to love over the past few months!
I grew up in Williamsville (a suburb of Buffalo) with my mom, my older brother, and my maternal grandparents. I’m very close with my family, especially my mom, so I wanted to go to a college that was close to home. Houghton College, just over an hour away from my house, was the perfect place. Its small student body (at about 1200 when I started, and smaller than my high school!), strong Christian community and rigorous academic standards were exactly what I needed at that stage in my life. It is also a safe area, which is what I was used to: Williamsville is continually ranked one of the safest places in the country, and Houghton was no different with a 0% crime rate. My education there, however, has taught me that life is not meant to be safe. There are many reasons I want and need to do Mission Year, but most importantly I want to break out of the bubble of safety to which I’ve become so accustomed. Oswald Chambers claims “the Christian life is gloriously difficult,” but I haven’t truly experienced that yet. I’ve had a glimpse by listening to the heart breaking stories of my campers at the Buffalo City Mission, and seeing the social activism of my professors and peers at Houghton, but now I’m ready to take the next step. I’m ready to be stretched and broken in an attempt to find and practice genuine faith and love on a daily basis. This next year is going to be one of the most difficult, scary, and amazing years of my life, and ya know what? I can’t wait!
~ Sarah
About Mission Year
Mission Year is a year long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. We take teams of young people, place them in an area of need, and help them to serve people and create community. We are committed to the command of Jesus to “love God and love people,” by placing the needs of our neighbors first and developing committed disciples of Christ with a heart for the poor. Learn more about our first year program…
Sarah Wiant's Blog
Preparing for Departure / Sep 1, 02:24 PM
Greetings to you all, the amazing people that are supporting me through this wonderful new adventure!!! I suppose that since I told you all about this blog as a means of staying in touch, I might as well write something for you to read. :-)
Many of you know I had a garage sale last weekend to raise funds for my Mission Year financial goal of $12,000. I have to admit, the fundraising has been the one part of this program I’ve had difficulty getting excited about. We had a conference call to talk about possibilities for raising money, and someone mentioned doing a garage sale. I loved the idea for two reasons: 1) it’s a good way to get rid of some of the stuff cluttering up my house and 2) it’s easier to accept someone’s money if they’re getting something in return. So, I sent a flyer with my newsletter, asking people for donations of things to sell and to spread the word. I was blown away by the response! I even had complete strangers giving me donations of $10 or $20 without taking anything from the sale because they knew what it was supporting. Out of all these amazing people, one lady in particular stands out in my mind. She asked about what I was doing and I went into my little sales pitch about how I’m moving to do a year of volunteer work, etc. She listened politely until I was finished then said, “that’s great, but why are you doing this?” And I said, “to share Christ’s love for people by developing strong relationships with them.” She smiled and said, “that’s what I was waiting to hear.” I get so caught up in the service and the personal growth that I forget the real focus, and that woman provided the perfect reminder. That garage sale was greatly successful, so to all of you who helped me, thank you so much! I really could not have done it without you!
There was one more thing I wanted to mention. As this was my last weekend home, my family had a small going away party. My brother, Jeff, flew in from Denver, CO and as I was driving him back to the airport on Monday morning (4:45am, I might add!) his final bit of advice to me was to always be aware of what’s around me. When he said that, I was reminded of an incident a few weeks ago while I was working as a camp counselor. We took our campers to the pool and when one girl was tired of swimming she asked me to read to her. She was devouring the Twilight series at the age of 9, and my biggest worry at that moment was whether or not I should read aloud the section talking about sex and virginity. I happened to look away for a second, and realized that two of our counselors were breaking up a fight at the pool. In that instant, I realized how oblivious I am sometimes. This was not a fight between campers, but the two women I worked with were paying attention to their surroundings and noticed tensions rising between two adult groups from the community. The two counselors didn’t wait to be told, or asked to help, they just acted. I’m so used to being told or asked to help that I don’t pay attention to what’s going on around me. I’m hoping that my year in Chicago will help me become a much more observant, active person. So thank you Jeff, for your advice, and I will keep that in mind with every step I take from now on.
Well, if you become an avid follower of this blog, you will realize I tend to be long-winded when I’m writing, so I will leave you here and hope that you “tune in” next time. Thank you all for your support! Have a fantastic day! :-D
Comment [3]
