Sarah Wensley ...

Here are some highlights some of the contributions Sarah has made in our home, at her school, workplace, church, community and work.

 AT HOME

 Sarah is the second of seven children, and is currently 17 years of age. She has always been a keen learner! At the age of 3, Sarah grabbed my legs and begged for me to teach her to read, as I was starting the home school year with Stephen, who was 6 years old. At the age of 4, we began more formal schooling with Sarah, since I was quite occupied with the birth of her younger sister at the start of Stephen's grade 1 year. Very quickly, Sarah learned how to read, and by the age of 5, she was reading unabridged classics, such as "Heidi", on her own! She very quickly went from book to book in our library, and we could scarcely keep up with her desire to learn. She sat in on many of her older brother's school lessons, eager to learn more!

I have vivid memories of Sarah very quickly multiplying 19 X 5 in her head, and giving the answer, as I was drilling her older brother on math facts! "Hey," he said, "How did she do that so fast?!" (She had been sitting in on his lesson, and had very quickly learned the short cuts in multiplying 5s quickly!)

As a consequence of her keenness in learning, she skipped from Kindergarten to second grade and continued on as a strong student. Her extra-curricular interests, included swimming lessons, skiing in the mountains, playing flute in the home school band, art competitions and piano lessons, to name a few!

 All through her years of home schooling and living at home, Sarah has stood by me, with helping hands. She helped in changing diapers, preparing meals, keeping babies quiet, doing housework. Recently she showed her abilities at home decorating, by selecting the colors and by painting her own bedroom!

 AT SCHOOL

 At the age 10, she began formal schooling at the Springbank Middle School (SMS) in grade 5. Sarah joined the Art Club, and very soon discovered her talents there! She entered the Calgary Youth Science Fair, as the youngest competitor in grade 5, and finished 1st place with a Gold Medal, as well as a $50.00 cheque! Sarah continued her lessons in piano theory and technique, and also joined the Springbank Middle School Band, as a flute player. She remained on the Honor Roll during her two years at SMS.

In grade 7, Sarah began her studies at Glenmore Christian Academy (GCA), and graduated in grade 9 with honors. She continued playing her flute while attending GCA, and enjoyed extra-curricular art lessons through Heather Nelson, the art teacher. Sarah was selected as the Top Grade 9 Art Student at graduation in grade 9. Along with her grade 9 classmates, she traveled to Mexico, to build homes for needy families, at the year-end.

Sarah continued her studies at Bishop Carroll High School, Sarah participated in Track & Field, X-Country and Field Hockey, during her studies there. She was selected as "Most Valuable Player" (MVP) for the Field Hockey team. She also worked on the high school yearbook, as well as the H.I.P. Program, going into community schools and assisting other students. Her studies in piano continued throughout her high school years, and she played piano at numerous recitals. She completed her Bronze Medallion in swimming during her grade 12 year, which she finished with honors. She qualified for many Dean Scholarships at several universities she had applied for, and received the Alberta Alexander Rutherford Scholarship , as a reward for her efforts in high school. This scholarship was received during her 1st year of Pre-Med studies at Bob Jones University (BJU) in Greenville, South Carolina.

 While studying at BJU, she competed in the 5 km Annual Turkey Bowl X-Country Race, finishing 1st place overall, for the female university students. Approximately 175 students competed altogether, so this was quite an accomplishment! Both men and women ran together during this race. Sarah has continued her X-Country training, swimming and running, while attending BJU. Her ultimate goal is to pursue a career as a medical missionary. (http://www.bju.edu )

CHURCH

 Church attendance has always been a big part of Sarah's life. She has always shown a keen interest in Bible stories, in attending Sunday School and in keeping personal devotions. Bible study and memory work, as well as reading about famous missionaries traveling to remote places, has always inspired her!

Upon our return to Calgary, after living in Africa for over two years, Sarah declared that she would return to Africa some day, to work as a medical missionary. She was only seven years old at the time, but has not changed her goal, over the past ten years. Sarah saw the poverty and spiritual hunger among the people we saw.

Sarah participated in the Pioneer Clubs while younger, and assisted in Sunday School, while attending First Alliance Church in Calgary during her teen years. She has also assisted with piano playing at Women's Aglow in Calgary.

COMMUNITY

 Sarah could always been counted on as a babysitter, for families in our community and church. With her years of experience in helping at home, she provided many hours of assistance to others in our community. The neighbors responded with keen support and interest in her fund-raising efforts for her Mexico Trip in her grade 9 year. Sarah spent many hours doing housekeeping for a senior citizen needing extra assistance before and after surgery. She has helped young moms with their new babies, and has always been willing to step in and help out, when called upon.

 WORK

 Sarah saw the need to raise finances for her post-secondary education, at an early age. Besides babysitting and house cleaning, she sold Regal products door to door. She began saving up for her studies at university, at an early age.

In the summers, Sarah worked at Calaway Park, in the Gift Shop as well as the Candy Shop. She received a Top Employee Award ("IT PAYS TO SMILE") for her efforts in working in her various departments. This was quite an honor, since there were numerous students competing for this annual award.

 Many weekends and summer evenings, were spent working at the Calgary Danish Club, downtown as a banquet server. Sarah worked many hours, serving food to guests at weddings and various celebrations. Her many hours of assisting in the kitchen at home, clearing and setting tables, helped her to excel at this job. She is currently competing to receive the Danish Club Scholarship, for her post-secondary studies.

CONCLUSION

 All I can say, is, "WOW, WHAT A LADY!!!" Sarah has shone in all that she has done! Whatever she does, it has always been to the best of her ability. When exhausted and tired, she always seemed to find the energy to get up and keep on going! At the 3 km point of her 5 km X-Country race, she told us that she felt like lying on the ground and going to sleep, but she kept on going! That is typical Sarah! She keeps on keeping on! Sarah is one determined lady, with a goal in mind. She would like to become a medical doctor, serving others in the mission field. She is eager to share her faith and beliefs with those who are hungering for answers in life. Sarah has always put others first in her life. She has sacrificially given hours of her time in helping others with their needs. She shows a very unselfish and humble nature, living out I Peter 5:5:

 "Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble,"

 All I can say, is, "Sarah, we love you, support you, and are praying for you!" In all humility and respect for you, we can also say we are PROUD of you! May God bless you!!!

This is Tak. Here is what I know about Sarah from the university setting. I tried to explain about her as precisely as possible. I hope this would be a help for you.

Sarah is a girl of consistency. Once she decides to do something, she is very consistent about doing it. We have a Wednesday Missionary prayer night on campus, which we get together and pray for the missionaries all over the world. Sarah attends this prayer meeting every week no matter how busy she is. She told me that "She wants to be a missionary in the future. How can I even have the desire to become a missionary, if I don't pray for the other missionaries." She is consistent in other things as well: attending prayer meetings, memorizing one verse a day, reading through the bible in one year, serving others, and etc.

Sarah is a girl of dependence. She is always dependant on God. I have never heard her say anything about doing things by her own strength. She always says "I cannot do anything by myself. I need God to help me." She said this before she does anything. She says it when she takes a test, before she run for the marathon, before she goes on extension, and even before having fun. She always relies on God in the smallest things she does. This is why she does so well on everything that she does. She told me that she doesn't want anything materialistic for herself, so that she will be more dependent on God and rely on Him one hundred percent.

Sarah is a girl of humbleness. I have never met a girl that is so humble. I have never heard Sarah boast about herself. She doesn't talk about herself, and she is always conscious about others. I didn't know a lot about Sarah until her mother e-mailed me about her, because she is so humble and never talks about herself. It was two weeks ago that I knew more about Sarah from her mother. I didn't know that Sarah was so good at field hockey or skiing, she played the piano and flute, was so good at drawing and painting, and was so good at swimming, and how amazing of a girl she was serving other people back in Canada. She is such an humble girl.

Sarah is a girl of love. Sarah resembles Christ's love to everybody that is around her. She is always joyful and happy. I am always encouraged by Sarah. She brings joy to everybody's heart. Most important of all, she loves God so much. I have not met anybody with such a loving heart. She wants to serve God with all her heart. She always talks to me about her dream to go to Africa for missions. She has such a love towards the people in Africa that I have never heard before. God is definitely doing a great work in her life. I am always encouraged by her lifestyle to serve God and her Christ like Character.

This is little that I know about Sarah from being around her only for one semester. There are still so much that I do not know about Sarah. However, I can say that it has been such a blessing to be around Sarah for the past several months. Sarah has influenced many people that are around her and definitely influenced me in many good ways also. She is like a sun shine to everybody that is around her. Everybody that is around her would say the same thing about her. I hope this was a help for you to tell what kind of a person Sarah is. I apologize if I had some mistakes in my grammar. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to mention about what I know about Sarah. This was such a blessing for me to see how wonderful of a girl Sarah is. Thank you very much.

Tak