Emily's Update - We Got Married in Kenya!

Hey family and friends!

  I’m currently back in Senegal, in the same little, hot, roof-top room I started my extension in, but with a new roommate--my husband! Woohoo! The last 2 months were full of life changes, to say the least. :) We are so excited to be back in Senegal as a married couple to see what God has in store for us in the next 3 months and beyond!

 

One way God has already been working in us together as a couple is by laying the same word on our hearts that we believe God has given us for the year 2021—and that’s the word favor. Throughout scripture God seems to delight in pouring his favor out on those He loves. As his children, we want to believe and live as though God is desiring to pour his favor on us because that’s the kind of God he is—a loving Father! But what does it mean to be favored by God? The more I look into scripture, the less I’m convinced it means having an easy life full of fluff and ease and all the sweet potatoes and vegetables I could ask for (one of my definitions of luxury and delight).

 

On the contrary, I’ve been noticing how God often asks those He favors to step out in faith and do difficult, and often absurd, things. Think of Abraham leading his long-awaited son Isaac to the altar, Moses leading His people out slavery, Hosea marrying a prostitute, and Mary bearing the very Son of God as a virgin. These stories are honestly insane! And what God called them to do was not full of ease, fluff, and.. definitely not sweet potatoes. Hm. The word favor can start to sound a little less glamorous. BUT...

Two great things stand out to me in these crazy stories: Willing hearts and God’s faithfulness.. It seems to me like God proclaimed his favor on these heroes of faith even before they necessarily step forward in obedience. He did not only express his favor for them because they did great things for Him… He favored them because He saw they had willing, humble hearts—the kind of hearts God wants to equip with His Spirit to do His kingdom work. It seems like the favor comes before the great acts of faith! For a striver like myself, it's good news that there's nothing I can do to earn God's favor--I can only receive it as the incredible gift that it is.

 

What’s also great news is that God comes through every time in these stories. He is faithful. He blesses those who are obedient to Him. He is with us as we receive His commands. He will complete the work He calls us to do, especially when we do it with willing, obedient hearts.

 

So that’s our prayer for 2021—that we would have willing hearts that are ready to receive the favor of God and participate in His kingdom work—whatever that looks like.

 

If you want to be incredibly blessed and wowed and encouraged, continue past the pictures below to read a crazy good passage of scripture full of beautiful promises for God’s favored ones.

 

 Pictures speak a thousand words, so instead of try and describe the joy of our wedding, our time in Kijabe, and our honeymoon, I’ll simply share a few of our favorite pictures for you all to enjoy! To sum it up, though, the two months in Kenya were so DELIGHTFUL. We got married in the Masai Mara with immediate family, spent Christmas in Kijabe with my family, and then honeymooned in a cottage near home, as well as a at the Kenyan coast! God is good.

 

The Kijabe views never get old <3 

Had some good twin time while in Kijabe <3 

lots of sunsets with the fam

couldn't have asked for a better venue! :) keep scrolling for some favorite pics!

Honeymoon Part 1: Drinking some
sweet potato smoothies by a cozy fire

Honeymoon Part 2: Drinking coconuts at the beach!
It was SO good to be warm again after cold Kijabe.

Hawken's brother, Josiah, came out to Senegal to visit!

 Weekend in Dakar! We had to take him to see some surfing :)

Thanks for your time, support and prayers!

-Please pray Isaiah 61 over us as we begin our lives as a unified team--that we would be proclaimers of freedom, joy, good news, praise and restoration!

-Pray for a good re-entry to Senegal and the community at BeerSheba.

-Pray for vision for the next 3 months as we redefine goals and seek to use our time wisely.

-Pray for rich relationship-building with Beer-Sheba staff.

-Please pray for us as we look ahead beyond Senegal to what God has in store next.

With Christ,

Emily Sawyer

  

Isaiah 61: The Year of the Lord’s Favor

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim freedom for the captives

    and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]

 

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

    and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

 

    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

    instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

    instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

    instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord

    for the display of his splendor.

 

They will rebuild the ancient ruins

    and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

    that have been devastated for generations.

 

Strangers will shepherd your flocks;

    foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

 

And you will be called priests of the Lord,

    you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations,

    and in their riches you will boast.

Instead of your shame

    you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

    you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,

    and everlasting joy will be yours.

 

“For I, the Lord, love justice;

    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

    and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants will be known among the nations

    and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

    that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

 

I delight greatly in the Lord;

    my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

 

For as the soil makes the sprout come up

    and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness

    and praise spring up before all nations.