August 21, 2024

UPDATE: Tomorrow, I leave for Nepal. Sophia is not coming with me, but my long-time soul sister, Kathleen Vigil is! We land in Kathmandu on August 24, which means we get THREE bonus days in Nepal that were not part of the “OG” plan. So SO good!  (See below for more details, including the itinerary for our time in India and Nepal.) Stories to come upon our return.

The “Treasure Hunt” (also referenced below) continues. Due to a series of rejected visas to travel to India and join our team for the 1st leg of this highly anticipated mission-trip to India, my original plans were redirected. After multiple application attempts, and weeks of waiting in between, the door closed for traveling to India this time.

The weight of waiting was not easy. But so, so good.

Quite surprisingly – and dare I say, miraculously – I experienced a season that was rich, deep, and expansive … full-to-the-brim with invitations to surrender and BE transformed. In it all, a spacious and often quiet journey with God, with others, and in my own soul. Such a surprising gift.

And, YES, I had ample nudges to take PoPs – Places of Pause. Instead of being stressed about how it was all going to play out, I was graced by the invitation and strength to let go of trying to control outcomes and hold a death-grip on my plan(s). As I let go – and let go, and let go :) – I became more rooted in the ever-surrounding presence of God, the support of my family and community, and the fruits of PEACE, HOPE and LOVE began to pop up within and around me.

Wow. What a gift.

You are loved. We belong to each other.

Let’s standTALL, together, and light UP the world!

xo, -Sarah DT

August 6, 2024

Pinch me. I can hardly believe it! One week from today, my daughter, Sophia, and I will be boarding a plane on a service-mission-adventure to India. (Hence the low-resolution throw-back photo of myself above in India when I was 17 years old, circa 1989.)

I wrote a story about the ways in which that journey in ’89 was a part of setting the trajectory of my life in the chapter, “Treasure Hunt”, in Soulfully Ablaze (excerpt below):

Treasure Hunt

Trees whisper. A breeze blows. I am six years old. My Aunt Deby and I are having an outdoor tea party. We wear floppy hats, sip tea, and imagine we are in England, at the palace with the queen. Her pretend British accent lilts and tickles my ears. It is the first memory I have of an accent, and right then and there, I am captivated.

As I grew, so did my curiosity and passion to surround myself with people from all around the world. I posted National Geographic pictures and world maps on my walls in my childhood bedroom. They hung from my ceiling and covered my door. These images were of distant lands and communities—of food, homes, and villages I’d not yet seen. I would go to sleep and wake up thinking about these people and places. Even then—in my early days of life—I dreamt that I would see, visit, eat with, and get to know these strangers in distant lands.

Years later, as a teenager, I was offered the extraordinary opportunity to go to India.

I basked in the sounds of new languages and blaring horns I heard as I got off the plane in Calcutta, the wave of hot air that hit my skin as I exited the airport, the sensation of wearing saris, the mode of traveling around the city in rickshaws, the smells of aromatic spices coming from the street food vendors at every corner, and the deLIGHT to my senses of steaming, sweet, spicy, and milky chai.

From the very start, I felt at home. Back then, it was a bit of a mystery. I found myself thinking, How can it be, that a place so unfamiliar, so different, feels like home? But, now, I know why. I understand. This bewildering familiarity and joy were clues point- ing to my purpose.

I see how that passion was being sparked and stoked years earlier, in my first memory of an accent with Aunt Deby … as I ripped out magazine pages and wallpapered my room with people and life from all over the world … when I got on a plane bound for India as a teenager. Such simple, EVERYday, and important clues for the treasure hunt of my life.

Step by step,
year by year,
the sparks would be set more ablaze,
the distance would lessen,
and these faraway people and I would connect
and
claim
one
another
as
family.

This bewildering familiarity and joy were clues pointing to my purpose.

Read more: PDF with a “PoP” – Place of Pause from Soulfully Ablaze or an extended chapter (also a PDF) from Live Ablaze.

And so the treasure hunt of life continues. Just this morning, in fact, I was reminded of this excerpt of one of T.S. Eliot’s masterpieces of poetry:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

This is at the heart of how I am entering into this journey.

I expect I’ll send some manner of stories upon my return. I’ve been intrigued and grateFULL (and at times, resistant!) at the nudge to let go of my LOVE of sharing stories, photos and videos – to bring you with me, real time, to India and Nepal. Ultimately, I sense an invitation to BE soulFULLY simple – in expectation, gear, and agenda.

And, so, that’s what I’ll do – enter into this journey with a lighter backpack (no computer), little to no commitment to post, engage, and connect (no social media and only essential text communications), a deep desire to BE present to whoever is right before me at a given moment (ahh!), and a wide-open heart of quiet trust that there are some mysterious – yet certain! – seeds that will be planted in this element of spaciousness in the days ahead.

At a glance, here is the itinerary of what’s cookin’ in the mission-adventure ahead with Momentum Global … some of my favorite people on earth:

INDIA

  • August 14 | Depart for India
  • August 16-19 | Kolkata
    • Spend time with Asha girls (“Asha” means “Hope” in Hindi). Cannot wait to spend time with and learn from these young women – many of whom are vulnerable to being trafficked – as we share stories, dance with, and do what we can to fuel their unique and one-of-a-kind gifts in the world. (Teaser: Asha Girls is the focus of our next Seeds Fundraising Partnership!)
    • Explore some of Mother Teresa’s first mission locations; Build community as a team; Support the change-making mission of our friends at Momentum Global however and whenever we can.
  • August 20-21 | Pratappur (village 3 hours outside of Kolkata)
    • Build a classroom at the Momentum Global school; Serve at a medical camp; Listen to, share stories, eat and dance with community members in the village.
  • August 22-23 | Darjeeling
    • Take a PoP (Place of Pause) at this iconic “hill-station”, where we will (of course!) sip chai (tea)
  • August 24-26 | Kolkata
    • Podcast recording with our friend, Deb, of How We Change the World (stay tuned for a way to listen to THIS convo!)
    • Spend a morning with our long-time sisters of Her Future Coalition; More community-building, exploring, and service alongside the Momentum Global team.

NEPAL

  • August 27 | Sarah & 4 team members head to Nepal; Sophia DT & the rest of the team returns to USA
  • August 27-Sept 1 | 5 days in Kathmandu, with 5 “F’s”: Faith, Family, Food, Fun, & Foundation
    • Hold 1 retreat for our soul-sister, Hannah Badi and her team, and a 2nd retreat for 50 young women who recently graduated from 10th grade. Our intention for each retreat is to create a place to BE and connect within, with one other, and with God; to allow healing to FLOW (these sisters have gone through some very hard things as of late); and, to BE enCOURAGED and IGNITED for the days ahead.
    • Business training and soulFULLY strategic planning for Hannah and her Our Home Nepal team in their commitment to fight for freedom and justice – largely with and for those who are marginalized, trafficked, vulnerable, hungry, and in great need.
    • Each day will begin with exercise, quiet time with God, soulFULL conversations with each other – and will end with a spacious evening for food, fun (probably dancing and music!), and family hang time.

INVITATION
Here is a list for those of you who want a list of how to pray, send blessings, and keep us in your hearts:

  • “The regulars” (but ohhh so important!): Health (water, food, sickness); Travel safety (on the road, buses, rickshaws, planes; Logistics of luggage and gear
  • Relationships: What a dream to go on this mission-journey with my girl (now 19 years old), Sophia! And, some of my oldest and brand new beloved friends are on this team, along with a few I’ve not yet met … in it all: May we BE LOVE(d), CULTIVATE GRACE, EXPERIENCE DEEP(er) JOY and QUIET TRUST, BE STILL(ed) and BE SET ABLAZE for our next season of life.
  • Light & Love & Life. We will spend time with sisters and brothers who are suffering, low on hope, recently rescued from brothels, hungry and thirsty. We want to bring Light to dark places, Love where hope is at a flicker, and Life where dreams seem distant, or dead.

OK, that’s a wrap for now. More to come in the days to come.

Thank YOU for your companionship in LIFE. What a gift to go through life, together.

You are loved.
You belong. We belong to each other.
Let’s standTALL, together, and light up the world!

xo, -Sarah Davison-Tracy, founder – Seeds of Exchange