There are times in your life when "life" takes you by surprise usually in ways you never expected. My wife and I actually started laying the foundation for Sent2Serve during a trip to southern Russia. We landed in Moscow the day the U.S. invaded Iraq, from there we traveled on to the Black Sea region. This was the first time we had been out of the "bubble" of the United States. About a year and a half after that I was invited to Ghana in Africa by Burning Bush Ministries to teach in the city of Tema and then into the central region for two days.
It was during this time spent in the central region that life surprised me. It was in the morning and I was sitting at a dirty, broken plastic table on a plastic chair that was just as dirty and just as broken. Under my feet were a chicken and a small goat both looking for an early morning breakfast. I was pouring over some notes I had prepared for a teaching at a pastors conference later that morning I was one of three men invited to speak. As I sat there a small girl took a seat in the chair opposite me at the table. She placed her elbows on the table resting her chin in her hands. There she sat quietly, staring and watching my every move. I peaked over the top of my glasses and attempted to stare back as long as I could but finally had to admit defeat. I really don't think it was a staring contest for her, it was just who she was, a little girl looking for something to do, and I was it.
"Hello", I said, and she responded with a very soft and deliberate, "Hello".
"My name is Ken, what's your name?"
"My name, is Cecilia Wilson"
"It's nice to meet you Cecilia."
"Thank you"
I have to tell you she was the cutest little girl you would ever want to meet.
Cecilia and I talked for awhile both verbally and with pen and paper. I found by drawing stick figures that she was the youngest of five children and that she was twelve years old. She lived down along the beach in one of the woven huts I had walked past the day before. I had met several other children there as well. Cecilia had never been to school and as was the case for many children in that area her chances of ever attending school were pretty much non existent. To make a long story short I went and spoke at that pastors conference but I really can't tell you what I shared and I can't remember the name of a single person who attended it, but I do remember Cecilia Wilson and the life changing conversation I shared with her at that table. Life didn't surprise me at a conference but life DID surprise me through a little girl who pretty much captured my heart.
This is the point. Numerous people could have had the same conversation with Cecilia that I did and each one could come away with a different reaction to it. Some would return home and have a nice little story to tell about a little girl they met one morning in Africa. And that's ALL.
But I'm NOT that kind of person, I'm the kind of person who walks away from such an experience, returns home and says, "I have to do something about that!".
See, Cecilia Wilson isn't some person who becomes the topic of interesting table conversation, to me she's a REAL person, in a REAL situation, with a REAL life that continues to remain the same long after I've become re-immersed in HDTV, iPODS, and double shot venti latte, extra hot with soy no cream, handed to me in my SUV through the drive up window. I'm NOT the kind of person who can walk away and forget.
If you're one of those people who can, that's okay.
I'M NOT.
For Sent2Serve and what we're called to do, I'm asking you, "Who are you? What are you like? What moves you and how do you respond to the needs of the world as they are brought to your attention?"
We're looking for these kind of people, to serve with us and support us in efforts that can make a lasting difference in people's lives around the world.
People who can't just WALK AWAY are people who eventually impact the world. Truly.
If this is who you are then contact us and share with us how you can support us in making a lasting difference in people's lives around the world. YOU will never be the same.

Sincerely,
Ken Perkins
Executive Director: Sent2Serve