Hello friends! Welcome to my official World Race blog! I am stoked to have the privilege of sharing with you my journey for the next year and a half. I would like to begin where it all started; how I heard about the World Race up to my final decision to make the commitment to go. So here we go:
I first stumbled upon the World Race back in September of last year. I was no doubt wasting precious time on Facebook, that I should have been spending doing my homework, when I came across a post that someone was going on a trip called the World Race. I clicked on the link and instantly found myself intrigued by the stories of racers on the field and inspired by the idea of spending months pouring into 'the least of these'.
For those of you who know me, you know that I have been heavily involved in missions since my late elementary/early middle school days. I took my first international missions trip to Honduras with a group from my church the summer before my freshman year of high school. Ever since that trip, I have had a heart for serving in international missions. I knew from the moment that I stepped back on US soil back in 2006 that God was calling me to be involved in missions in an international context. I have been blessed to have been able to travel back to Honduras 3 more times, take a trip to Turkey my freshman year of college and a trip to the Philippines last summer. Each country provided me with a fuller understanding of God's love for his people and his desire for me to play a part in telling of the hope and joy that he offers.
Move forward a few months to December. I had been thinking about the World Race a lot. I could not get it out of my head. I was constantly reading up on new blogs and anxiously waiting for the January 2014 routes to be announced. At this point, after many prayers, I decided I would talk to my parents about it and let them know of my intentions to join the race. After speaking to them, to my disappointment, I was made aware of one major barrier to my ability to join the race: student loans. =( Any of you post-grads know what I'm talking about. With this major cloud hanging over my head, I decided it would probably be best to just give up the dream for now and wait until I was in a better position to be able to go.
By February I had finally come to grips with the fact that I would be staying at home for the next few years. The January routes had finally been announced and I was finally acceptant of my situation. By the time March had rolled around, I incidentally came across an old classmate from elementary school who just happened to be going on the World Race. After talking to him about the race, I again could not get it out of my head. I felt God pushing me to pursue the race. It was at this point that I discovered the option to defer loans for a period of time. After learning this information, I again went back to present the idea to my parents. While my parents weren't completely supportive of the whole thing, they were at least open to the possibility.
March 13th I applied. I interviewed the following week. And on the 27th I was ACCEPTED. I could not be more thrilled to have the opportunity to go. I have taken the initial step of faith and I trust that God will help me every step along the way.
