Speaking at Chapel!

When I was first asked to speak at chapel, I told Sydney she was insane. Me? What do I have to offer? All I do is crack annoyingly funny sarcastic comments with the occasional, "I love you" in between... Why do I need to be the one to speak at chapel? I didn't want to speak to the WHOLE school (total of only 166 kids hahaha but still...). I reluctantly agreed but as usual, complained the whole way. As I was asked to come up on stage I didn't know how to start. At first I thought I was going to just up-chuck in front of the whole school and completely embarrass myself, then I thought as I looked into the crowd, "wait a minute... I can name each and every person here..." Then it hit me. I knew all the people in the crowd. At some point during my 3 years at VCS, I had spoken to each and every one of them at least once. Then something else hit me; Did I really care what other people thought about me? So there I was, scared to death and literally shaking, when Syd handed me the mic.

As I began to speak I realized that some of my comments made them laugh and I became more and more comfortable. I began to explain how God has spoken to me during the Sanctus Real concert and how the fact that the man preaching had the exact same name and managed to speak in the third person the whole time! I could really feel God tugging at my heart to get something going and just like the night at the concert, my heart ached for people to understand the extensiveness of this genocide occurring just a continent away. So, I spoke from my heart, I said anything and everything that came to mind and I not only encouraged my peers but also managed to somehow encourage myself.

Turns out , everyone loved the video and wanted to help in one way or another. It was so encouraging to see my friends get so involved in something that started out so small. Ever since then, we have been gaining recognition and really been putting forth an effort to really make a difference in the lives of those in Africa. Not to mention the fact that I get to do this while having two of my best friends at my side. I keep hearing people encourage me by saying, "You're making a difference in the lives of people you don't even know."When all I really want to say back is, "Well, look at the difference they've made in me."

God Bless!
~Sammie R.