And, There Were 12

Twelve students from different backgrounds and different talents joined together to make SIFAT a week to remember. (From top left) Christina, Cierra, Jacklyn, Haley, Cody, Canaan, Andie, Barry, Macey, Amber, Kale, and Blaze (sitting) spent 5 days of their summer in order to learn about international and local missions. They learned various appropriate technologies for third world countries such as spinning yarn from sheep wool, making candles, creating saw-dust stoves, and how to add safe eating/vitamin filled leaves to sugar cookies. The week was not just about survival, it was about learning how to serve. We are so accustomed to thinking of ourselves (I-Pod's, MySpace, etc) that we sometimes miss why we are here on this earth. What these 12 students did was very similar to what Jesus did when He walked the earth. He served. He served while not even having a place to lay His head.

These 12 also spent 24 hours in the 'global village' (simulated 3rd world village representing Asia, Africa, and South America) experiencing the life of a third world citizen. An example of the extreme differences this presented the 12 students compared to their normal Alabama lives, is how they obtained drinking water. How many times do you leave the water running while you brush your teeth? In third world countries women and children will walk up to five miles, one way, in order to gather a bucket of dirty water. When they arrive back to their mudhut or make-shift home they must then boil the water on an open fire for ten minutes in order to make it safe to drink. This process is done everyday. If we brush our teeth in the morning and at night and leave the water running we have used about the same amount of drinking water a third world family will need for one day.

I have never been more proud than I am of these 12 students who worked extremely hard in very difficult circumstances and succeeded in their efforts to become more Christ-Like.