My name is Sarah Bailey. Having been raised in a Christian home, I eventually made the decision to be baptized and I began my life of service to God. I then spent my teenage years being molded by the gentle and guiding hands of many Christian mentors. In addition to the guidance I received from my family, my home congregation began equipping me at a young age with skills that would serve me in a healthy Christian life. I was taught early on to teach others about the Bible and about Christ, something that quickly became a passion and a joy. My earliest personal experience with Missions was a Mission Vacation Bible School that my congregation did every summer. However, I had grown up hearing the Mission reports from a missionary family that my congregation supported in Africa and so I developed a heart for Missions at a fairly early age.

This, combined with several other things, led me to choose Missions as my focus of study at university. Not only did I have a desire to serve God in this way, but I was already passionate about learning other languages and very curious about understanding other cultures.

While at university, I went on two Mission Internships to West Africa. I truly believed that I wanted to and was called to go to West Africa as a long-term missionary. I explored the possibility of doing a two-year apprenticeship in Africa after graduation to get some concrete experience. At the time, things were not working out the way I had planned and I began to wonder if I had heard the call right. I earnestly sought God's guidance and he quickly responded. I soon found myself packing my bags for Italy, a place about which I knew little and to which I had never really thought of going.

I moved to Italy at the end of August 2001, having joined a two-year apprenticeship program in Florence called Avanti Italia. Participants in this program teach English using the Bible as the "textbook." I spent the next two years learning Italian, teaching the Bible, building friendships, getting involved with the Florence congregation, and learning to use the gifts God gave me. When I finally became proficient in Italian, I was even able to teach Bible courses in Italian and I was able to involve myself more and more in the congregation and in the community.

By the end of my two-year commitment, I had decided to stay in Italy and to continue to work with the Florence congregation. After a year of learning to live on my own in a foreign culture and experiencing the molding and guiding hand of God in my life and ministry, the Florence congregation and I came to an agreement: I would stay in Florence and work with the church long-term. I returned to Italy in January 2005, after taking a four-month break, and I am happy to be here still serving the Lord in whatever task he finds for me to do.