LOTS of Great Things Have Been Happening!

It's been a while since I've posted a blog because of starting nursing school this semester, but great people have still been doing GREAT things for Project Sunset!!! 

Heather Andreasen and her son, Brayden, raised money for 90 nets by doing garage sales over the summer! Heather is the Women's Coordinator for my church here on campus at SVSU and her son Brayden heard about Project Sunset through her because she has been a huge supporter of Project Sunset since the beginning! Brayden really wanted to start raising money and so to begin he got his little brother Tolbin and some of his friends to wear Project Sunset shirts with him every day for a month to school - talk about good advertisement! Then this past summer Heather and Brayden worked extremely hard gathering items to have numerous garage sales to raise money to buy nets. Thank you so much Heather and Brayden!!! 

In October I was blessed with a lot of opportunities to spread the word about Project Sunset to a lot of different people! 

I had the privilege of going to Faith Alliance Church in Ohio to participate in their Missions Conference. I had the opportunity to share about Project Sunset and E4 Project with Eric Schmidt, one of the founders of E4. A huge personal highlight for me was that I also got to see Pastor Jacob from Gabon who was there to speak all week for their conference. It was so great to see him again! 

During the weekend I got to meet a lot of people that have supported Project Sunset in the past and meet people who now look forward to supporting Project Sunset in the future. I spent Sunday morning with the kids and we had tons of fun playing games and they were so interested in learning about Malaria so that they could find ways to help! I had a wonderful weekend and I am so thankful for all of the support Project Sunset received in just two days! We now have 39 more people proudly wearing Project Sunset shirts and spreading the word in Ohio! Thank you Faith Alliance Church!!! 

In October I had three other speaking opportunities to share about Project Sunset. Michigan Campus Compact, a group who is focused on getting college students involved in community service, asked me to sit on a panel for a student leader's conference about how to make a difference in the world around them. The second opportunity was thanks to Brian Thomas, one of my professors here at SVSU who has always been a great supporter of Project Sunset. He asked me to share my story about Project Sunset at the Michigan Sociological Association's conference. Later in the month I was also asked to speak at a Resident Housing Association conference on campus for student leaders about how to start projects they are passionate about to make a difference in the lives of others. All of these were wonderful experiences and I am so thankful for everyone who made them possible! 

Last May I went to Bowling Green Alliance Church in Ohio and spoke to their Sunday School class about Project Sunset and the kids have been faithfully bringing in money from their allowances and have raised money for 4 mosquito nets! Every little bit helps! Thank you Bowling Green Alliance kids!! 

Also in October Project Sunset was asked to help host an event on campus where Jackson Kaguri, CNN Hero of the year in 2012, spoke about all he has done and is doing for his home village in Uganda through the Nyaka AIDS Orphan Project that he founded. It was a great night! He gave Project Sunset two shout-outs during his speech and even bought shirts! 

I am so thankful for all of this continued support and encouragement and for all of these amazing opportunities that are better than my dreams! Thank you to everyone who has had a part in Project Sunset and continues to support Project Sunset! 

Meet Ginette!

In June I was blessed to take my third trip to Gabon with a wonderful team from my home church in Troy MI, Bridge Community Church. 

During our ten days on the ground in Gabon, our team helped run three mobile medical clinics in villages over three different days and we saw many patients with all different kinds of problems ranging from hypertension to malaria and HIV. At these clinics 76 mosquito nets were distributed through Project Sunset! We hope and pray that means that at least 76 more people will never have to come to the clinic for malaria treatment again!

On my last trip in March I met this woman in the pink shirt at a village church in Nkok, she was all smiles on Sunday! 

 Then on Monday I saw her at the clinic and she was very sick. This picture is of her getting tested for malaria and she tested positive. This was the first time I saw first hand how quickly malaria can make someone sick and it made my work with Project Sunset even more important to me. 

This woman was able to get the right care through our amazing Gabonese partners that day at the clinic. I left the clinic that day knowing she got the right care and medicine, but I never thought I would get the privilege of meeting her for a third time...

But 4 months later I did!! 

The first village clinic that we went to during that trip was in Nkok, the same village I got to got to church to on my last trip! I was excited just to be headed back to somewhere that I had already been and to see the new 

church building they built in those short four months. 

Church in March

Church in June

But an even greater surprise was waiting for me! Two women recognized me and remembered me by name as soon as I got there! One of the women happened to be the same woman that I met at church and then at the clinic when she had malaria. I found out that her name is Ginette and I had the privilege of playing with her kids and talking with her.

Ginette's Kids

She is healthy and pregnant! While we were talking she told me that if she has a girl she is going to name her Sarah after me! But that's not the best part of this story. The best part is that God is building relationships like this and doing great things that are impacting people through the support that you give to Project Sunset, things that we sometimes will never know about and then some that we will, like this story. As you continue to support Project Sunset there will be more and more stories like this, which makes me so excited! This greatly encouraged me to keep working hard and see who else God impacts though this program! 

Thank you so much for all of your continued support!!! It means so much to me, and so much to amazing people like Ginette! 

Thank you Allegheny Center Alliance!!!

The support we are receiving from groups around the country is astounding!!!

I would like to thank Scott Wakeley and Allegheny Center Alliance in Pittsburgh for raising 250 mosquito nets for Project Sunset!!!! Yeah, you read that right everyone, 250 nets!!!

In March, Allegheny Center Alliance held a two day famine for their youth group where they fasted, prayed, served in the community, and raised money for a variety of causes. We were blessed to be one of those causes!

125 students gathered for the event and as they fasted together they prayed for several different topics, one being Project Sunset. They learned about several issues that people face around the world with a concentration on Africa. These topics included orphans, HIV, and malaria.We are so thankful for the prayers of these students and their hard work as they raised money for these 250 nets. 250 nets that will now protect at least 250-500 more Gabonese from malaria!!!

March Trip and Updated Numbers!

During our trip to Gabon in March the goals of Project Sunset were exceeded by far yet again! We went with the goal of distributing 200 mosquito nets during the trip. We ended up distributing 288 nets while we were there and left 112 for our Gabonese partners to continue to distribute at future clinics!

This means that we have now distributed 700 nets in Gabon in under a year and a half!!! 

When we got to our first clinic on Monday everyone got one of these shirts that our Gabonese partners had made for everyone to wear. They say Paludisme with a big red X over it. Paludisme means malaria in French and so the message of these shirts is pretty clear!

On Monday during our first clinic we distributed 137 mosquito nets! 5 times the amount of nets we ever distributed at one clinic during our first trip in June. The first day was so successful that we had to go buy more to last us the rest of the week!  

Thank you for all of your continued support!!! Without everything that all of you do for Project Sunset none of this would have happened. I look forward to my next trip to Gabon in June through E4 Project with my home church, Bridge Community Church. During this trip we will hopefully distribute more mosquito nets than we ever have before! If you want to help make this goal a reality check out our website at: 

                                            www.e4project.org/programs/project-sunset/

World Malaria Day is coming up quickly on April 25th so make sure to wear your shirts and spread the word about Project Sunset!!

E4 Medical Mission Trip

TOMORROW (I'm just a little excited) our team departs for Gabon from 6 different states for our Medical Mission Trip from March 1st through the 10th.

During our time there we will be helping in many ways, which include serving at the Mobile Medical Clinics, working with the widow ministry called Bon Samaritan, and serving at Hope House, the home for abandoned and orphaned children. We have an All Star team of all sorts of doctors, physicians assistants, and nurses going along with some of us who aren't medical professionals. We are all ready and willing to serve God  by loving His children in every way we can this week! We are SO excited to see what God is going to do through us during our time there!

The part that I am particularly excited for is delivering 200 of the mosquito nets that you all have helped raise over the past couple months! This will happen at the Mobile Medical Clinics where we will also be doing some education about how to prevent malaria in other ways in addition to the nets.

Thank you again to everyone who has donated and supported Project Sunset! Thanks to all of you I have the privilege of delivering these nets to families and I am so very blessed!

Thanks SVSU!

In a short span of three months, with only a few events on campus, Saginaw Valley State University has raised $1000 for Project Sunset! Thank you to all of the students and staff who have helped us raise this much so far! Thanks to you, 100 families in Gabon will have a mosquito net! 

NSLS E-Board who helped us put on Project Sunset Night

Euchre Tournament

Listening to Pastor Jean Marc at Project Sunset Night

Evee and Brian, my RAs who helped plan the Euchre Tournament,
 playing giant Jenga!

 

THANK YOU SVSU! 

Headed to the Justice Conference

This weekend we will be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to represent Project Sunset and E4 Project at the International Justice Conference! We are so excited to spread the word about what God is doing and get more ideas to help even more people!

thejusticeconference.com

For me, (Sarah) this weekend is a great way to prepare for my next trip to Gabon which begins the following weekend, March 1-10th. On this trip we will be delivering 200 mosquito nets raised through Project Sunset, God is good! 

Please pray for us as we represent E4 Project and Project Sunset at the Conference. Pray that the right connections are made, and that our ears are open to all the ideas God wants us to absorb. 

We are VERY excited to see what this weekend holds, and you will get the full report once we get back! 

The AMAZING 2012 Totals

WOW!!! 

Since June 2012, all of you raised 493 mosquito nets to protect families in Gabon from malaria!

Which means that the total of nets raised since the beginning of Project Sunset in October 2011 is 

593 mosquito nets!

Let's say that again. 593 mosquito nets!!!

Thank you so much to everyone that has purchased a t-shirt, held a fundraiser, or donated to Project Sunset! 

We are protecting lives of people in Gabon and we're just getting started! 

I am so excited to see what we can do to fight malaria in 2013! 

Again, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication!