by MATTHEW NASH
Sequim Gazette
Like many Sequimites, 2008 Sequim High grad Sarah Moores, 21, has an open heart for victims of the January 2010 Haiti earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands people and left more than a million homeless.
The standout swimmer and basketball player is planning a mission/relief trip March 25-April 3, as one of 12 students at Simpson University in Redding, Calif.
Moores said she saw videos of the disaster and felt a calling to go.
“I have a heart to go to the poverty-stricken areas,” Moores said. “Right now, if you look at research, things are a lot better than it’s been in the past. But seeing how much more help they need and the amount of devastation, there’s a lot of help that needs to be done to restore what’s been lost.”
Her team, with help from Delta International, Missions Door Ministries and two local missionaries, plans to rebuild a collapsed church and part of a tent city and lead a vacation Bible school for children ages 4-14 in Port Au Prince, Haiti.
“We have an opportunity to rebuild Haiti in the way that it has needed all along,” Moores wrote in a support letter. “Haiti has been so reliant on international aid, that if in this time of crisis it can be equipped to rebuild its infrastructure, it can have a fighting chance at being competitive in a growing international community.”
Humanitarian work isn’t new for Moores. She enrolled in her college’s Army ROTC and through it signed on for a three-week internship in Tanzania last summer.
Volunteer program Cross-Cultural Solutions brought her and other ROTC cadets to teach English and math to children ages 4-14.
Moores said she loved the program and would go back in a heartbeat if she could.
“After spending a month in Tanzania this past summer, I realized where my heart truly lies and that is with the poor,” Moores wrote. “I want nothing more than to travel the world, experience and learn about cultures while loving on and helping people in any way I can.”
She got her first missions experience as a high school senior when she went to Mexico with Sequim Community Church’s youth group to work with an orphanage.
Currently, Moores is majoring in psychology with a focus on military leadership. Once she graduates, she’s committed to eight years in the Army, where she’d like to explore military intelligence, police or a medical career.
In order for Moores to go to Haiti, she needs $2,000, which includes airfare and transport for food, water and medical aid. She has $500.
Her support letter asks mostly for prayer but those who wish to help Moores on her mission can do so in one of several ways. To financially support this team, donate online at www.simpsonu.edu/missions and click “Haiti Team.” Mail letters of support and/or checks payable to Simpson University with “HAT11-SJM” in the memo to Simpson University, Attn: Student Missions, 2211 College View Drive, Redding, Calif. 96003.
Each gift to Simpson University is tax deductible.
West Coast Sea Glass Company in Sequim is helping raise funds for Moores, too, at www.westcoastseaglass.com/special_events.html.
Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
