Sadler Challenges Students to Serve the Vulnerable During GO Week Chapel Sept. 17

Raleigh Sadler, founder and executive director of Let My People Go, delivered the message during the final chapel of GO Week. The service took place Sept. 17 in Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium.

Sadler has served in Christian ministry since 2001. His organization, Let My People Go, empowers the local church to fight human trafficking by loving those most vulnerable. The organization is dedicated to building a network of well-equipped churches capable of identifying and reaching the most vulnerable in their communities. He has worked with churches, universities and other collaborative organizations around the country to love those who are at risk of exploitation. His book, “Vulnerable: Rethinking Human Trafficking,” makes the case that anyone can fight human trafficking by focusing on those who are most often targeted. It invites the reader to understand their role in the problem of human trafficking, but more importantly, their role in the solution.

For his chapel message, Sadler taught from Psalm 41, focusing on caring for the vulnerable. In this passage, David is speaking on how the Lord blesses the weak. 

Sadler recounted the story of an elderly Christian homeless man he encountered named Rick and how Rick shared a story of how he had gotten into a severe accident at work while on heroin, slipping while using a nail gun and embedding a nail into his brain. When he woke up in an emergency room, the doctor asked if he believed in God. When Rick answered, “No,” the doctor said he should because he shouldn’t be alive right now.

“I don’t have much,” Rick said to Sadler, “but I do have a story and I try to tell that story as much as I can to help other people.”

As we seek to bless the vulnerable, Sadler said that our first step should be to cry out to God. He also explained that we can experience joy for we know that as we care for vulnerable people, we are very close to the heart of God. He highlighted this truth through a passage in Matthew 25 with the parable of the sheep and the goats. Specifically, Sadler focused on verse 40, where it says, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Sadler then posed a few challenging questions for the chapel attendees.

“Who is most vulnerable in Shawnee? Who is most vulnerable on this campus? As I am speaking, who comes to mind?”

He then discussed God’s sufficient grace, found in 2 Corinthians 12:9, saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” He added, “It’s in our weakness that we find our strength.”

Sadler encouraged the students that they may find their own ministry in their personal messiness, and that in their own pain, they may find their purpose. He encouraged them that weakness is the path to ministry, not a hindrance from it. He closed by encouraging them to seek out the vulnerable to share the love of God through our weaknesses.

Students, faculty and staff interested in spring break and summer 2022 GO trips should apply now, as the application deadline is Oct. 21 and priority is given to early applications.

View the dates and locations of spring and summer 2022 GO trips.