Sara Mercier, a founding Board member of Metanoia, developed a strong work ethic growing up on a dairy farm in Colby, Wisconsin. She now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she continues to thrive in her career and leadership roles.
Sara is passionate about serving others. In addition to her role with Metanoia, she enjoys spending time helping Isaiah 117 House Davidson County, an organization that provides physical and emotional support for children awaiting foster care. Sara also volunteers with BELL Garden, a community garden focused on building healthier and deeper connected communities through garden based service, education, volunteerism and food distribution to those in need. Her passion for helping the homeless community is found in her time spent in the assembling and distribution of blessing bags people can hand out to those who are needing help.
Her favorite Bible verse is Galatians 6:9:
Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.
“This verse has been a reminder in my life that even if things don’t seem to move forward, things are at work we can’t see – don’t give up,” said Sara.
Sara’s first mission experience was in middle school when students from her church drove to Champaign, Illinois to volunteer for a week. “I don’t remember much about it, but it was an experience that first opened my eyes to missions.” she said. In 2021, she went on her first international mission trip to Jamaica, serving with Jamaica Deaf Village. “I fell in love with the people, the culture, and what the organization does to help those in need. It was fun watching our team as perspectives were shifted and eyes were opened to issues around the world and realizing what we could do to help, both as a group and as individuals,” she said. “In 2022, I went on another mission to Nicaragua, and it was a completely different experience! Once again, I fell in love with the people, culture, and organization there and was excited to continue building and helping where I could.”
Prior to Sara’s more recent mission opportunities, she participated in setting up and leading large-scale service projects in Mexico with Southwestern Advantage. “Those projects fueled my desire to go on a week-long mission trip. Seeing some of the issues or help that was needed tugged on my heartstrings and I wanted to do something about it. At the time, I just didn’t necessarily know what to do on my own.”
Sara was initially drawn to missions because of the travel aspect while being able to serve others and do some good in the world. She said, “I’m way more convicted in the power of missions now that I’m working with Metanoia because we focus on building and fostering relationships on a long-term basis.” She notes how serving through her position with Metanoia has been a wonderful opportunity to use her gifts and skills for something greater than herself.
While sitting on a bus returning from a service project in Mexico near Puerto Vallarta, Sara experienced a change in her thinking. While traveling through an area of extreme poverty, Sara noticed the conditions and despair on people’s faces. She turned to Trey (another cofounder of Metanoia) and told him how she wished she could help. She said, “Most of us are fortunate to grow up having our basic needs met and then some. I’ve been very fortunate and don’t need everything I have. Donating more and using my time volunteering allows me to be more productive with my time and resources.”
Her relationship with Jesus and her faith have grown quite a bit since working on the service projects and being involved with international missions. It’s continued to open her eyes to issues, perspectives, and people around the world. She says she appreciates how missions often lead you to unplug and unwind, step back and shift your perspective a bit, and open your eyes and heart to what’s around you. It’s allowed her to watch others believe and see God’s work in action.
Sara knows having a relationship with Jesus means having someone there in her corner, whether she thinks she needs anyone there or not; having a support system to lean on through everything in life; having faith in people; having grace for others; and letting Him lead her where He sees fit (not always where she sees fit).
Sara has been exposed to things on missions God has wanted her to see. “Some things we are exposed to can be hard to see or hear, but remembering that God has a plan for everyone and with the fact that we’re partnering with an organization on the ground who is there long-term, we can provide support in many ways – whether it be financial, emotional, etc. When we experience hard things on mission trips and it tugs on our hearts, it’s a little nudge from God to do something about it and help out if we can.”