Contributed by Laura Walls I was so happy to have the chance to talk with new Child Ambassador, Emily Smith, from LA! Emily has served as a child ambassador for less than six months, but the Lord has been preparing her heart and her community for this ministry for years! Read along to hear how the Lord is moving in Louisiana! The World Vision logo was a familiar sight as Emily Smith was growing up in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Her family sponsored Halima from Niger and Emily remembers writing and receiving letters from her friend who lived halfway around the world. "Sponsoring with my family gave me experience with World Vision and inspired me to sponsor children of my own as an adult. Sponsorship was also part of the way my mom taught me to love others by serving them." Emily's interest in serving "the least of these" continued and even expanded when, at the Global Leadership Summit in 2016, she had the opportunity to hear Father Daniel, a 25 year old Chaldean priest from Iraq who spoke about the refugees whom he serves. Emily shared a moment that impacted her greatly. "I remember Father Daniel prayed and then looked out at the audience and said, 'I’m asking you to pray for my people and I’m asking you to save my people.'” (Check out Father Daniel's story here or in the video below!) "Beyond Words" In that moment, Emily knew she wanted to be part of a solution. Soon she and some of her friends began getting together weekly as a small group to pray and seek the Lord on what they could do to help globally. They decided to focus their group on Jesus' words in Matthew 25, taking each portion, studying what Jesus said, and praying about how it should impact their involvement in the world. For verse 35, "I was hungry…" they learned about and prayed over the hunger crisis in East Africa. For "I was thirsty," they studied the impact of clean water and learned about the Global 6K. The idea that they could host their own event and make an impact on the lives of others was deeply appealing and the group, now known as "Beyond Words," went to work. A decision was made to keep their 6K unaffiliated with a specific church as many of those interested in participating were not involved in a church or were from different churches. The "Beyond Words" group boldly reached out to area businesses for support. Emily spoke to her workplace, Waitr, to see if they might be willing to offer a promo code to reduce the price of registration for Waitr employees. But the business offered more than that, instead opting to cover the cost of registration for all employees who participated! Additional area businesses offered cups of water, produce for snacks, and door prizes. The Global 6K turned into a community-wide event with 50 participants walking or running for clean water and 15 child sponsorships! Emily shared a contributing factor to the Global 6K's success, "A lot of people around here know what it’s like to work really hard and lose all of it in an instant." As a result, they relate to others who are suffering and long to help them. Following the Global 6K, Emily heard about the World Vision Child Ambassador program and was excited that it would give her the opportunity to connect others to a child through sponsorship. She signed up in May and, including the sponsorships through the Global 6K, has impacted 43 children* around the world in less than six months! One of Emily's favorite experiences in sharing sponsorship came at the end of the Global 6K event. A woman from her church came up and gave her and her friends a hug and a heartfelt thank you. She explained that her husband had recently passed away. "I have seen enough of death." she shared. "I want to do something that will bring LIFE." She then reached out to sponsor a child. Emily continued, "It's a sweet experience to see how sponsorship is definitely changing the life of the child but also the way that it impacts the life of the sponsor, as well!" * The 43 connections included Refugee Responder commitments. Three Tips from Emily for your Child Ambassador Ministry!1 - Pray a lot. I pray over each of the folders and my small group prays over the kids - that they would find sponsors. 2 - Find a good group of supportive friends and believers who will be there for you. Your network together with theirs will be greater! 3 - Talk to any and everybody: Reach outside of your church where others may not be connected with an organization and may be looking for a way to get involved! A look around the Global 6K in Lake Charles! Father Daniel's Story: Comments are closed.
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