By Kent Peterson
Sophie Wysocki didn’t know what to do after she finished college. Her passions were not quite lining up with her training and education as a teacher. As she was finishing up her junior year at William Jessup University, her future was a big blank page.
That all changed during the summer of 2013 when she travelled to Cambodia with a team from her church. As she encountered the Cambodian people while working at Rahab’s House in Svay Pak, along with serving in small villages near Siem Reap, she knew what she wanted to do with her life.
“I was able to step in and teach the children in the villages at Siem Reap. No time to prep or anything. It was an amazing experience and I was finally able to do something that I could see myself doing the rest of my life,” recalls Sophie.
Sophie will graduate May 2014 from WJU with a degree in Liberal Studies and a California Teaching Credential. But her true passion is in missions and justice work.
“My dream job would be to be a teacher for a non-profit organization somewhere,” she explains. “I know that America needs good teachers, but I just don’t see myself being a teacher here. I know that God has placed a different passion in me for a reason.”
It was when she had a conversation with Don Brewster as they were finishing their service project with Agape International Missions (AIM) last summer that it all fell into place. Knowing she would love to be able to work with AIM, she asked Don, “What does AIM need?”
“We need teachers,” replied Don.
“That’s when I knew. God made it crystal clear that I am called to come and work with AIM as a teacher.”
[pullquote_l]God made it crystal clear that I am called to come and work with AIM as a teacher.[/pullquote_l]Sophie was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, and was introduced to the issue of human trafficking and sex slavery in high school. It wasn’t until her sophomore year in college that she actually did something about the issue. She organized and ran a benefit concert in Denver which raised over $22,000 for Love 146, an abolitionist movement that works in the Philippines. The experience solidified Sophie’s passion for being involved in helping victims of sex trafficking.
After moving to California to finish her college at William Jessup University, she became involved at Bayside Church in Granite Bay. It was there that she found out about AIM and the work they are doing in Cambodia. Sophie worked with The Bridge, Bayside’s high school ministry, and heard about AIM from some of the students. One student in particular told her, “You HAVE to go!” She went the following summer and God made it clear that she needs to go back long term.
[button url=”https://aimfree.org/volunteer/” color=”turquoise” liquid=”no” target=”new”]Want to Work for AIM?[/button]Sophie will be moving to Cambodia in August to serve as a teacher for AIM. Her main function will be to train and mentor the Cambodian teachers there, as well as developing curriculum and doing administration for the school outreach.
“Rahab’s House is a free community outreach that offers schooling to the families. I love that they have Cambodians do the teaching. It will be my job to train them and make sure they have what they need to be great teachers,” explains Sophie. “The goal is for the school to grow, and to do that they need more trained teachers. I may need to have my own class eventually, but our goal is for the children all to be taught by competent Cambodian teachers from their own community.”
Sophie will be a great addition to the staff of AIM in Cambodia. She is a very courageous and passionate person who is leaving the comforts of home to live in a place a world apart that desperately needs the love, hope, and transforming power of Jesus.
As with any mission work, Sophie’s work with AIM needs to be 100% funded through monthly support. She is partnering with International Outreach Ministries, a 501(c)(3) organization, to raise all of her funds. If you are interested in supporting Sophie and her ministry in Cambodia, please click on the link and specify your donation “For the Ministry of Sophie Wysocki.”
http://www.internationaloutreachministries.org/support.html