In awe of my creator...

In awe of my creator...

It's hard not to see God all around you here. I continue to find myself in awe of my creator for the work he has done. The majestic mountains that surround this place captures my vision the second I take a step out of my door. The hints of spring that surround this place shows that new life is bursting forth. This new life is evident in our own students as well. It's been a joy to get to know the students over the past couple of weeks. We have a good diverse bunch who have a heart for the nations. It's a honor to be apart of this process along with them. To see the change that is already beginning to happen in their lives in just three weeks makes me excited to see what's in store for the next two months.

The past two weeks of lectures have produced good food to chew on. We had "Destiny and Calling" with Femi and "Character and Nature of God" with Aaron this past week. Now we are getting ready for Dalton who will speak on "Life and Intimacy of Jesus." We have a good core group of speakers who really represent the body of Christ. They all have different life experiences, opinions, and gifts. But what unifies them is that they are passionate about our creator. They love the Lord and it is evident in their lives. It's so good to see the unity of the body. 

I just want to say thank you for all of the prayers and support along the way. I'm almost at full support- Amen! God continues to remain faithful and I know that I can pray already thanking him that the rest is going to come in. Praise God for his provision! If you would like to support me at all you can go to http://www.ywamoxford.org/

or you can mail checks to

Sarah Racine

49 Brookfield Drive

Fleetwood Pa 19522

If you have any questions please email me at SRacine86@gmail.com

Art in Christchurch

 

Yesterday we got the Justice Staff together and went into Christchurch to see the art exhibits at the museum. There was a Hearts for Christchurch exhibit which is what the picture above is from. There was about 4,000 hearts in the gallery that came from all over the world. It was cool to see how people came together during the earthquake relief a couple of months ago. Even though there was great devastation it really brought communities together. This was a good representation of the world coming together and giving their hearts out to Christchurch. 

Brian Brake had an exhibit which was called Lens on the World. He's a kiwi and it made my heart leap  to see his photographs. Most of them were from the 1960's and are from all over the world including India, China, Japan, and Yemen. I always wonder how traveling by boat was back then. I find that fascinating and wish I could have experienced it. I'm sure many of us take traveling for granted. This photograph below is from India during the Monsoon season. I found that a lot of these photographs brought me joy while others brought tears. I have come to have a deep love for Asia over the past three years. The colors, smells, people, hospitality, and culture make me want to go back for more. A lot of these photographs made me think about my own. Reasons we take pictures. What is beautiful to us? What draws us in? What the reason is for photographing the world around us? It's been a blessing to have time to process these questions. What does that looks like in my life with missions? I'm still on that journey. I look forward to seeing what lays ahead next, but am content in the present. I'm blessed to have an opportunity to experience the world around me through my eyes.   

rainy day

It's been raining outside for the past two days and I have to say I don't mind it. It's peaceful in the house and that is allowing time to rest. It's been a busy season, but I wouldn't have changed it because it was in that season where I grew the most. There are days where I miss being with the team in India trimming finger nails of the slum children. I miss Uganda's children who all want a piece of your lap to lay on. I miss Thailand's relationships. A woman, who spoke no english, went out of her way to take us to restaurant for Kristy's Birthday (walking in the pouring rain for 20 minutes). I miss Kenya's orphanages who are filled with children that are in need of love. I can see how God's hand was at work during outreach and it continues to be at work when we remember. When we remember those moments and pray for the nations.

 I have been enjoying being home. I love my community here and am so blessed to have such a great support team. I have mixed feelings leaving so soon, but I have to continue to live in the present.  There are some obstacles that always seem to come my way when it gets to this point of leaving. I know the enemy is out there to kill and destroy. It makes it hard when it seems to all hit at once. I've recently expressed the desire to want punch the enemy to a friend and he replied with, "You can, in prayer." I have to keep that in mind. The car, finances, tickets, all of that is just material things. God is our Father who knows what we need and He is more than capable in providing it. Being more focused on Him and who He is allows us to take the focus off of worldly things which get in the way and create worry. Worrying is not being dependent on the Lord. I'm choosing to be dependent on Him alone. He has never lead me astray. So I'm choosing to take on this rainy day with joy. Joy that I cannot do any of this alone. Joy that He is allowing me to walk in this next season of surprises with Him.  

A new season...

BACK IN PA:
It was a honor to see each of the students graduate a couple of weeks ago in Israel. I was especially proud of my outreach team, as I was able to see their growth first hand over the past three months. They took on the challenges that were thrown their way and grew in the knowledge of the love the Father has for them and His nations. I was so blessed to have a team that was willing to grow and strengthen me as a leader. I have just received some e-mails from our contacts about the fruits from the ministry time spent in each place. All praise to the Lord, for He orchestrated it all!

I returned to the States August 19 and was blessed to have some alone time with family up in Maine. The transitioning in coming back has been smoother than I thought, and I have my family and church community to thank for that. My love for my church community continues to grow as I see them fighting for God’s children here in the states as well as overseas. The Lord is revealing His heart to them in new ways, and they remain obedient in following His footsteps. While I am only able to be a part of the services here for three weeks, I am still so thankful for opportunities to grow alongside of them.

While I’m here, I’m trying to take full advantage of my time. I want to meet with friends and family to continue to spread what the Lord is doing around the globe. That time with each of you is very precious to me. I also know that I need to take care of myself and that means taking hold of the opportunity to rest. I have a desire to get some of the visions I had during outreach down onto an the drawing board. This is an opportunity to soak in the Lord and rest in who He is.

NEXT STEP:
As most of you know I am heading back to New Zealand in three weeks to staff the JUSTICE DTS. The Justice Discipleship Training School is about knowing Jesus intimately. The overflow of this is taking the transforming love, justice, and mercy of God to the oppressed, the victims, and the suffering. Our goal is to seek God’s heart for justice and mercy through the Word and spread that to the nations. We learn about different issues of injustice such as:
• Fair trade/slave labor
• Displaced people/refugees
• Human trafficking
• Corruption
• Human rights
• Oppression
• Gender Discrimination
• Racism
We use the outreach phase to actively take part in the lives of those affected with these issues. Some of the possible destinations for outreach are Cambodia, Thailand, India, Nepal, Israel and Palestine. The teams will focus on one area and serve alongside long-term workers, experiencing and learning more about how to bring change in spiritual and practical ways. It’s a chance to really sow into these groups of people and build relationships. I’m so excited to have you walk alongside with me during this next season. I cannot tell you how much it meant to have each and everyone of you along for the ride these past few years. I am ever grateful for you and your prayers and if you want to continue to walk with me in this season, there’s an opportunity for you to continue your support for me.  

THE NEED:
I have been overwhelmed with stories of how the Lord provides the finances to make missions possible. I’m living it out, and while I knew it would be harder this time around, one of our speakers challenged me in asking, “Who is your Pappa Sarah?” I was challenged by this question. Do we ask Him for the need expecting He will provide it? Am I making the need known? Do I have enough faith that He can do what may seem impossible to me? He loves to love on His children. We are sons and daughters of the Most High. It’s humbling every time I come to this point. I can’t do this without your help and I pray that He will continue to bless you as you sow into my life.


Justice DTS School Funds

Lecture Phase - $3,500.00
Outreach Phase- $5,500.00
Debrief Week- $350.00
Total- $9,350.00
If you feel led to give, you can make checks out to YWAM Oxford and write Sarah Racine on the memo line. Again thank you for your support. Your prayers are greatly needed as well! They really do make a difference!

->There is another need. I have three school loans that I am still paying off. All together the loans total approximately $12,000. This is the only debt that I have remaining. My hopes is to be debt free soon so I can continue in missions full time. If you feel lead to take on one of these loans while I am gone please let me know specifically.
School Loans
School Loan 1- $25.05 per month, 7 months- $175.35
School Loan 2- $56.30 per month, 7 months- $394.01
School Loan 3- $86.62 per month, 7 months- $606.34
God has continued to remain faithful in providing so far and I know He will continue to do so!

Blessings and love, Sarah Racine
SRacine86@gmail.com
610-763-8044
Mail Checks to: Sarah Racine
49 Brookfield Drive
Fleetwood, Pa 19522

What are the fruit of ours days.

I have to be honest, I'm finding it harder and harder to blog. Time is so precious right? I'm still trying to balance between keeping home updated, but also trying to be present here on the base with the school. That word time management pops into my head. Our schedule does not leave much room for getting online, but the more I think about it the more I enjoy that aspect to the DTS. We get out of our day what we put into it and quite frankly I do not want to spend my days in front of the computer here. During one of my one on one's with the students I heard a voice say, "What about one on one time with me Sarah?" I wasn't really getting away with the Lord. I have responsibilities here, but the father yearns to commune with us and I'm growing hungry for more of Him. Time management isn't easy, but I'm learning. I want my days to produce fruit. I don't want them to just pass away. I want to be intentional with getting back to intimacy with my Lord.

This past week was focused on the sin, repentance, and the cross. Continuing to die to ourselves every day and taking up the cross. I was finding that the Lord was telling us to just sit back and watch. That He was going to be doing the ministering and we were to allow His spirit to pour over the classroom. I'm really enjoying seeing the students becoming stripped before Him. They are becoming empty before Him so that He may fill them up. It's a process and I think they are realizing that this isn't going to be an easy road, but the Lord loves the process. I look forward to seeing what more He is going to do in their lives. 

Today was needed! I needed to get out into the open fields. We went to Castle Hill to go bouldering and cave streaming. Driving through this country takes my breath away. I really enjoyed being outside of the classroom in the fresh air. So thankful for the beauty around me.

 I guess that's about it for today. It's really hard to write on here all that is being processed at this point. All I can really say is thank you for patience. Please continue to pray for the nations as we are getting closer to the time of finding out the outreach teams! Will keep you posted. 

Serving New Brighton in unity.

Hey guys! Trying to be good at updating this blog, I hope you understand.

Where do I start? The first week of lecture phase is over and I must say I could not be more thankful for the students here. When we went in for airport pick-ups last weekend, the first thing most of the students asked was, "Are we going to be able to serve Christchurch?" They were ready to get in and serve. This week was spent in lectures focusing on hearing God's voice, worship, and intercession. For the past two days we sent teams into Christchurch and New Brighton to help with the earthquake relief. Thursday's ministry was focused on sending out neighborhood care teams that distributed food and water to the homes. It was hard to see some of the affects this earthquake had in this area. Many neighborhoods are still without water or power. Petro is low as well as food so this makes it very hard to obtain daily needs. On a street that has about thirty homes I found only 5 families that still remained. Most people left that area to stay with family. I was so blessed by the people I met during that time though and found most of them just wanted to talk. They were broken and in need of care and it was encouraging to see the community coming together to provide that care for them. The Lord is doing a mighty work here.

Friday we took a team into New Brighton once again. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the Lord had plans for us. The students stepped it up in a big way! Most of the staff around us had to tell them to take a break because they were so focused on the tasks they were doing that they didn't pay attention to the time. It was great to step back and look around at the students loving on the people in this area. I'm so proud of them. I focused on the food distribution area. All of the food at the center was donated and it was a lot! It was so cool to be able to give these people as much as they wanted because of the quantity the Lord has provided. He is so good and know's just wanted His people need.

Thank you for the prayers. Please continue to lift up these areas, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Christchurch is not the place I remember it, but I see this as an opportunity to serve this nation and am so thankful we are here to do that. We've been praying that the Lord would redeem this situation and that this is a chance for Christchurch to be built on God's foundation. That He would reclaim this land for Him.

The Unexpected

So as most of you know, yesterday we had an earthquake here in New Zealand. I was at the grocery store with another staff member from the DTS when the earthquake hit. I remember thinking, "Is this really happening?" Some things fell off the shelves into the isles, but that was about it.  At first, it seemed harmless so we carried on and headed back to the base for lunch. While we felt the earthquake here in Oxford no damage was done, but that was not the case for Christchurch. It wasn't long after the earthquake hit that we found out how much impact it really made. Christchurch is about 40 minutes away and they got hit hard. It had a 6.3 magnitude and left many buildings crumbling to the ground, taking people along with them. This quake left hundreds of people homeless in Hagley Park trying to find shelter from the rain. Seeing the need, our base family went to go help. We sent out three women, two with first aid care background and one who is a nurse, to go care for individuals who were hurt. These girls couldn't leave the area without bringing anyone home so we came together as a family and opened our doors to 18 backpackers. It has been such a blessing to serve this country and these people who are in a foreign land. I'm so blessed to see the body of Christ come together in unity. I can't even begin to imagine what these people saw out there, but I am glad the Lord brought them through our doorway. Please continue to pray that we listen and move when the spirit tells us to. That we be discerning in how He wants us to serve during this time of need. Christchurch is where we do our Friday Night Outreach for the school. Thank you for your constant support during this time. Please continue to lift up the people here as search teams continue to be in affect. 

This coming weekend our students will start to pour in the base. I'm really looking forward to their coming! Please pray that travels go well and everyone arrives safe and sound. Until next time!