World Vision- #dreamshare

Hey friends and family! Lately, I have been very involved in World Vision Youth, as I am one of 60 WV Youth Communicators around the world! Right now, we're in the process of a project called #dreamshare, where we share our dreams on a global platform, and there will be one winner that will be supported by World Vision through launching a global youth campaign for their cause!

I was blessed to be nominated as one of these 5 candidates, and now we're in the voting process to choose on campaign. This is my campaign idea:

Voting starts now and continues until November 4th. I would really appreciate it if you'd click the link below and vote for my dream or any other dream you support! Also, feel free to share this link with your friends and encourage them to vote! All 5 dreams are equally amazing, and I'd be happy with any of them winning!

Vote here: http://blog.worldvisionyouth.org/2013/10/25/dream-vote/ (When voting, my dream is #2)

More from World Vision Youth:

Read more about my dream, 'Micro-Mission'

http://www.worldvisionyouth.org/acts/micro-mission-teens-for-change

A blog post WV wrote about S4S!

http://blog.worldvisionyouth.org/2013/10/14/scarves-for-service/

3rd Sale!

A couple weeks ago was my third annual Scarves for Service sale! I sold approximately 70 scarves, and raised over $1000, more than ever before! God provided again this year, as he always does. This was almost exactly all I need to pay for Gloria and Maria's sponsorship for the year! I'm in awe of how God works...

Moved to Action

When God puts something on my heart, it's like a recording that plays over and over again in my mind until I realize that it is a direct message from Him. That's what happened recently when I decided to sponsor another child through Compassion International.  I started to think about the young girl in Guatemala that we've been sponsoring since 2002 and that my 15 year old daughter Emily has recently committed to sponsoring two girls on her own. It struck me that my husband and I are sponsoring one child and we have a steady income and that our teenage daughter is sponsoring two girls without a consistent income to support her commitment. Emily stepped out in faith to sponsor these two girls because her heart could not handle the fact that children all over the world were in need.  In need of love, support, financial help, and someone who was going to love and pray for them regularly, even from continents away. 

So, she vowed to support them financially with no concrete means to pay for it.  She decided as she sponsored her second girl that she would use all of the proceeds from her "Scarves for Service" non-profit micro-business to pay the monthly fees required to provide for these two sweet girls.  Emily spends months knitting scarves for a November community sale where she believes by faith that God will provide the money she needs for the year to support these girls, which is about $940.  The thing that amazes me the most is that Emily knows without a shadow of a doubt that God will provide the money.  If she is faithful to do the work of knitting the scarves, God will provide the money to buy the yarn, the people to buy the scarves, and the venue to sell them.  

So, as I thought about the meager one sponsorship that we had, and that our daughter had two, I felt the pang of conviction that there was more that we could be doing.  That there was more that we should be doing.  God's word spoke loud and clear to my heart that day. "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:48b (NIV)

Thank you Lord for using my daughter to move me to action. Thank you Lord for using your Word to confirm that call.

~Charlotte Larsen

  Emily's Mom

Maria- Guatemala- 16

Sylivia- Uganda- 17

Hope (Blog Month Assignment #2)

Hope is the only thing some people have.
Her children fall asleep with empty bellies. Her husband has been out of work for weeks. Her health is deteriorating, and she can't get a job to provide her kids with a basic education. Hope is all she has left, but it's all she needs. God provides, He always does. Her hope is in Him.

When all else fails, hope remains, hope strengthens, hope provides.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13

Hope is universal.
I dream of being a missionary. The people I will someday serve are 
my hope. Perhaps I will be hope to them.

My sponsor daughter tells me she's struggling in school. I encourage her to trust in the Lord. School is a struggle for me as well. We share hope, hope that it will get better, hope that our Father will provide us with the strength we need. 

Around the world, through good times and bad, there's something we all share, hope in an Almighty God.

Compassion Family- Update

Recently, my name was put on a list to be assigned to a correspondence child. I was first assigned to Sam, from India, who is 17. I then put my name on the list again, and was assigned to Wisly, from Haiti, who is 10. Again, I signed up for another correspondent buddy, and was assigned to David, from Guatemala, who is 5.

For different reasons, these kids don't get letters from their sponsors, so they are supported financially, but not emotionally by a sponsor. I do not pay the $38 a month for them as I do with Maria and Gloria, but I do correspond with them through letter-writing.

It breaks my heart that some children don't receive letters, because even though they are given the opportunities that their sponsors donations provide, the emotional connection and the life-changing encouragement that will motivate them to rise above poverty is lacking. I'm so thankful I can be there for them in prayer and love as they grow and become what God has planned for them.

If you'd like to be put on the wait-list to be assigned to a correspondent buddy, email Compassion at CICqueue@us.ci.org. I assure you it is an opportunity you won't regret!

Left to right: 
Gloria- 16- Colombia (sponsored)
Maria- 15- Honduras (sponsored)
Wisly- Haiti- 10 (correspondent)
Sam- India- 17 (correspondent)
David- Guatemala- 5 (correspondent)

Thanks again for all the love and support for S4S! Without my friends and family, I would not be able to support these children in Jesus' name! Please pray for them, and I will post more information as soon as I receive more letters with more prayer requests from them. Letters take about 2-3 months to be sent from me, translated, replied to by the child, and then again translated and sent back to me. 

So far I have received a letter from Gloria, and I am awaiting one soon from Maria. I just sent my first letters to Sam, Wisly, and David, so those replies will take a bit longer, since they are newer additions to my Compassion Family.

If you have any questions about correspondence, letter-writing, or sponsorship, let me know at emily.clairelarsen@hotmail.com

In Him, Emily Claire

God Provides.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Lord's provision has been so evident! I've had an abundance of babysitting jobs, and I am now also babysitting for a new family every Tuesday and Wednesdays, which is great because it's a more regular income. 

I also have a possible job opportunity lifeguarding next year (2014) at school, which pays well and should be fun!

This money will fund my second mission trip to Cambodia in December, while still saving for missions projects in the future. The trip will cost about $1,200 total, and I have about $4,000 saved up in my bank account already.

Seeing how much the Lord has provided, it gives me hope and assurance that He will provide in the future. I sometimes find myself thinking about the future, feeling uncertain at times. Where will I go, how will I get my start as a missionary, how will I provide for my family financially? 

I have to stop and tell myself that God will provide. He always has; why should I doubt that He will in the future. I also have to pause and realize that for goodness sakes, I'm only 15 years old. I don't have to worry about the future, because I'm still growing up and growing with the Lord. One of my favorite verses, Matthew 6:26 says...

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

As the Lord speaks that truth into my life, I realize that I am so fully provided for and taken care of by a God that love and cares for me more than I'll ever know.

I also realize that no matter how I may try to plan out the life ahead, God is and will always be in control. His will is far better than mine. Saying "yes" to God and surrendering my worries, weakness, and my life to Him is so much better than living a life of uncertainty on my own. God provides, and God empowers. God is Lord over my life, my deliverer!

Verses of assurance:

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' Hebrews 13:5

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Sponsorship Update: Letter from Gloria!

Today I received a huge blessing, my first official letter from Gloria! She says she is doing very well, studying a lot because school is pretty hard. She had three weeks of vacation in June and enjoyed spending time with her nephew, whom she loves very much. Next vacation, she wants to visit her cousins in a city nearby hers. She says she loves to eat meat with french fries and salad, and she loves eating ice cream with her friends on weekends.
Right now, she asks that I pray for her studies, that they get easier because they are hard for her. Please join me in that prayer! Thank you! ‪

First time replying to sweet Gloria's letter! So exciting, many more letters, love, and hope to be shared between me and the girls, God willing!

Change is Possible!

Life isn't fair. At some point in time, we all come to realize this. We don't always get what we want, and things don't always go as planned. It's reality, life just isn't fair sometimes. But, I'm not just talking about how our lives in first world countries and well off families aren't fair, I'm talking about some of the harsher realities of life.

At this very moment I'm on vacation in the woods of Oregon, sitting in an air-conditioned cabin. I'll be going back to school in a few weeks, provided with an education that costs as much as most private colleges. I have a family who loves and supports me. I don't have to worry about finances or where my next meal is coming from...

How is it fair that while I have so much, 1.5 million children die each year of starvation? How is it fair that approximately 115 million children globally are unable to attend school and receive a basic education? How is it fair that 1.5 billion people around the world live below the poverty line? How is any of this fair? I don't understand it. I don't know why the world is the way it is, and that there are people who have too much and people who have nothing at all. I don't know why the rich live in mansions while the poor live in huts, cardboard boxes, or nothing at all. I don't know why people in America can gorge themselves until they can't eat another bite when there are impoverished families that are forced to eat scraps from the trash. I can't understand how some people can have so much and others so little. Why is the world so unequal, so unbalanced, so unfair?

I don't know this answer, but I do know that God wants us come together to help change this inequality.

My passion is to empower a generation, to help those who can't help themselves rise above poverty and live out God's plan for their lives. 

I'm reading a book now about teenagers and the power to come together and create social change in our world. Reading through these amazing stories about how God is using young people to do great things in the lives of the less fortunate is truly inspiring.

A lot of the time I think that what stops us from realizing our full potential is self-doubt. As teenagers, we sometimes think that we're too young to make a difference, that we're only one person, or that someone else will do something to make a change. If there's anything God has shown me the past 3 years is that that is so untrue! Sure, we won't be able to change the world alone, and things will never be perfect, but we all have potential to change the life of one person, help one situation. 

So, no, life will never be 100% fair. It will never be completely equal for all, without poverty, disease, heartache. It won't become perfect, but it can become better. However, the only way the world can get better is when people who care come together to create positive change. Let's get involved, let's do something! There are so many worthy causes; cancer awareness, service to the poor, support for the homeless... the list could go on and on. 

What are you passionate about? How can you make a difference? After all, change starts with us, so let's step up! 

~The Gift of Sponsorship~

A few months ago, I felt the Lord calling me to become a sponsor! My family has sponsored a Guatemalan girl ever since I was a child, but I never thought God would be encouraging me to sponsor as well, at least not yet. After all, I'm only 15... how could I afford to sponsor without a regular income? After months of prayer and research about Compassion International, a wonderful Christian ministry, I couldn't deny how heavily my heart longed to sponsor, to develop a relationship with a child in need, to share with someone that there is hope and peace in the name of Jesus. I knew that this was God's will; there had been so many signs, through testimonies of other sponsors and Compassion videos of sponsored children that brought me to tears.
I began sponsoring Gloria in April. She is 16 years old and lives in an area of Colombia with a higher risk of exploitation and abuse. She lives with her mother who is employed, her father who is sometimes employed, sister, two brothers, and two cousins. 

After I sponsored Gloria, I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would sponsor another child. I had to earn babysitting money to save for future trips and internships, and knit scarves for my trip to Cambodia, right? The thought never even crossed my mind to sponsor two girls until a couple months after Gloria, when again, the Lord was speaking to me in ways that were beyond me. 

You see, as much as I try to plan what happens in S4S and life in general, the Lord always surprises me with ideas better than what I ever anticipate.

I realized that I do have enough, plenty actually. I have so much saved up in my bank account, enough already to pay for trips to Cambodia for the next three years of high school. I am continually adding money to those savings from babysitting as well. If I reach my goal of 70 scarves, I'll make at least $700, but usually more like $800-850 with generous donations. It costs $38 dollars per month for each girl, which adds up to approximately $1000 per year including Christmas and Birthday gifts. The money I lack from S4S sales, I will pay for with savings.  

So after weeks of prayer, God has led me to this humbling, beautiful place yet again; sponsorship. Maria is 15 years old, she lives in Honduras with her mother who is employed and her father who is sometimes employed, and she is one of 8 children, yes... 8! I felt the Lord calling me to sponsor her as I prayed for another child because of her large family and because she lives in Honduras, one of the most dangerous country's in the world according to homicide rates. I felt she needed prayer, love, support, and assurance that the Lord her God is with her always! 

She is beautiful, inside and out. She is precious in the eyes of Her Lord and in my eyes. I love her and Gloria, more than words can express! Thank you Lord for precious opportunities!
I will now be funding my mission trip to Cambodia with babysitting money, and using 100% of the proceeds of S4S to sponsor Gloria and Maria. 

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
~1 Timothy 4:12~

Visit Compassion International for more information:
http://www.compassion.com/
If you have any more questions about sponsorship, please feel free to contact me or Compassion!

*What is S4S ~ Youtube Video*

Check out the new video on the S4S youtube channel, it includes information about the mission of S4S, how and when it was started, how it works, and future plans/hopes. (Plus pictures/video of my scarves and such) 

If you have any questions, please feel free to check out the links below and contact information...

Contact: emily.clairelarsen@hotmail.com

Learn more- Social media:

S4S Website: http://emilyclairelarsen.wix.com/scarvesforservice

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EmilysMissionTripFunding

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Scarves4Service

Hume Lake Christian Camps: http://www.humelake.org/

God bless, and thank you for all your love and support!

God is good! ~Jeremiah 29:11~ 1 Timothy 4:12~

Christmas in Cambodia

I’ll never be able to truly express in words how much my experiences in Cambodia have shaped me and led me to where I am today. In short, it has helped me grow closer to the Lord and experience such a joy and peace that is only from Him.

We arrived in Cambodia late at night and although I was exhausted, I couldn’t wait to wake up the next morning to get started and meet the kids! I didn’t really know what to expect, but I knew that the Lord had great things planned for the week!

The next day we set off to take a tour of the S21 concentration camps where the victims of the Khmer rouge were imprisoned, tortured and often killed. Although it was an extremely sad experience, it was also very humbling and showed me how far Cambodia had come since that dark time, how the people had such joy going forward despite all they and their ancestors had gone through.

After this, we took our first hour-long bus ride to the village we would be serving, with many more to come throughout the week. We traveled through the busy city of Phnom Penh and onto the dirt roads where various smaller villages were located, until we arrived to “Glory International School,” which serves the children of one of these small and poor, yet deserving communities.

Once there, we began to play with the kids inside the church building, and the more we got to know them, the more I began to sweat! I was suffocating in the Cambodian heat and humidity that the kids are so used to, but regardless, I was having the time of my life! I would do anything to be back there on that day, chasing those kids around as they ran up to tickle me from all sides, giggling and grinning from ear to ear. I was amazed at how joyous they were, how they were not afraid to hug and hold me tight even though we had only known each other for a matter of a couple hours. I knew that this love, so pure and true, was only possible through Christ, and this love that I experienced taught me more than any other worldly, materialistic, or romantic love ever could.

Throughout the week, we built two houses with the help of some Cambodian workers who built the base of the house and taught us how to hammer, saw, and construct. We spent most of the time we weren’t working playing games with the kids and just lovin' on them. Although I knew only a couple basic words in Khmer, the Cambodian language, I felt so connected to these children through the love of the Lord that it didn’t even matter. We communicated through hugs, kisses, smiles, and laughter. The minute my hands set down that hammer, they were happily holding a child’s hand, or carrying a baby. My arms were full, but my heart was even more full, in fact it was overwhelmed and overflowing.

The love of Christ is so deep, and there is no way of ever fully understanding this love on earth. However, I think that serving is just about as close as you can get. Looking into the eyes of a young child who you love so much, who you would do absolutely anything for, and then realizing the Lord loves that child 100 times more than you do; it’s unfathomable. My God is so good and gracious for allowing me to go on this trip and allow me to experience this love!

I brought back with me so many amazing memories, but one of my favorites was this: We were traversing through a Cambodian market and we came across a beautiful lady who was selling hand-painted postcards and portraits. She came up to me with a huge smile on her face and asked me if I was a Christian. I said yes, and her face lit up even more, as she explained to me that she was too. (Only about 5% of Cambodia's population is Christian, so it is very rare to come across believers.) This woman explained to me that these beautiful paintings of Cambodia's scenery and people were painted by talented artists with certain disabilities and conditions, and they earn their livings that way. As I listened to her interesting story, I couldn't help but notice the burns that scarred her face and neck. She was beautiful!! She was created by her Heavenly Father that loves her so much, regardless of her physical looks, which nevertheless were gorgeous. I learned a lot from her and her joyous personality, and now I have my wonderful portrait of Cambodia in my room. What a wonderful memory of this country and my brothers and sisters in Christ there! God is good, and His love is definitely growing in Cambodia!

I am overjoyed to say that I will be going back to Cambodia this December, the day after Christmas! We'll be staying for a little more than a week, and we'll be volunteering at the same school in the same village as last time. I am so excited, and I will be updating you guys on the planning, funding, and more on my Facebook page. Like it for more information and regular posts.

Lessons from the Lord

Throughout the course of my short life as a "teenage missionary," God has shown me many wonderful things that have allowed me to grow and become more loving, selfless, and willing to do whatever He has in store for me, no matter how challenging. Whenever I get discouraged or doubtful, the Lord whispers words of encouragement and leads me to exactly where I need to be. I am young, I don't know even a fraction of all there is to know, and I am so imperfect, but God can still use me, and these are some things that have helped me to grow and serve the Lord the way He intends me to...

*When I pray about something, it won’t always turn out the way I hope it will or expect it too. Even if I’m praying about something I know would most likely be pleasing to the Lord, sometimes, it’s not part of His perfect plan, at least not at that time.  As I pray more and grow in my faith and relationship with Christ, I understand that His will is so much better than mine, and He knows exactly what He’s doing. It gives me peace that I don’t have to worry about the future, because I know that if I lay my concerns, thoughts, and praises down at the feet of my Father, He will provide and lead the way for me. That’s what faith is all about, isn’t it? Trusting the Lord without doubting His absolute power. (It’s hard!)

*Patience! Without it, things are much more of a challenge. Christ has taught me that I need to pray and think before I make a decision, because a lot of the time, I am very hasty and I want what I want right then and there. I’ll get an idea in my head and it’s hard for me to stop and pray about it. God has shown me that patience is rewarding, and things work out better later on and with God’s guidance than they would have at the time I wanted them to.

*Honest, sincere, and pure intentions lead to success. God will stand by you and support you in whatever you are pursuing, just as long as your passion is to serve Him and not yourself. It’s easy to serve because it makes you feel like a “good person,” however the only opinion that matters is the Lord’s and He won’t be “impressed” by your good deeds if they’re selfishly executed.

Instead of getting discouraged that you can’t completely change the world and help all of the poor and struggling people, focus on what you can do. Change always starts small, but the Lord will provide and He is in control. No, you’ll never be able to feed all of the starving, provide education for all underprivileged kids, or find homes for all orphans, but with the Lord, you can do a lot. If you’re able to change even one person’s life, introduce them to the love of their Savior Jesus Christ, and love them as much as humanly possible, it’s all worth it. I often think to myself, what if everyone who is privileged sponsored a child, went on a mission trip, or reached out to someone in need? The world would be a much better place! When I think about this, the Lord reminds me that I am doing my part and that all that I can do is serve others and my God the best I can, with all my heart. God will do the rest, I have complete faith in His unimaginable power.

One of my most treasured friends from Cambodia, who God used to show me what true love is; genuine love that is selfless, pure, and grounded in Christ.