Sara Groves
Stepping Out

By Rachel Ryan

There are a lot of exciting things going on in the life of Sara Groves right now. Besides selling nearly half a million records and being nominated for Dove Awards in 2002, 2003 and 2005 she is enjoying her role as wife and mother to her two young sons. But that’s just the beginning of how Sara is reaching out to those around her.

Sara recently experienced an “identity shift.” In the months leading up to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Sara began reading Terrify No More by International Justice Mission’s President Gary Haugen. Days before Katrina hit the Gulf of Mexico, she read at the end of the book, “In times of the crushing of the innocent and great despair, I used to ask, ‘Where is God?’ but my plea has changed. I no longer ask, ‘Where is God?’ I’ve begun to ask, ‘Where are God’s people?’” Up until this point, Sara found herself helping in times of crisis by giving money to send the “professionals.”

“My identity had been to not respond with my own hands and feet,” explains Sara. But as she watched the impact of Hurricane Katrina on television — so many people left with nothing in Louisiana and Mississippi — something changed. “I sat on the couch and realized my identity had changed because God was calling me to [go]. Not from a place of guilt but from a place of great joy.”

And go she did, to Slidell, Louisiana. With the support of their home church and a local radio station, Sara and her husband, Troy, collected enough donations to load their tour bus top-to-bottom and also fill a trailer they pulled behind the bus. When they arrived, Sara worked side-by-side with other volunteers helping and encouraging everyone she came in contact with. Moved from a person of inaction to a person of faith in action, Sara says that she has learned that helping isn’t a burden. “It’s added a whole new dimension of joy to my life.”

And although she has long since returned home from her trip to Louisiana, Sara remains committed to helping the world around her for the glory of God, through her music, her partnership with organizations like MOPS and the International Justice Mission or wherever God leads.

Plan now to attend the 2007 MOPS International Convention to hear Sara Groves live in concert!*

^{*Convention artists are subject to change.}