It may have seemed like I dropped off the face of the Earth but I haven’t! I’ve been back home in America for two months now and so much has happened since my last blog post. I really took that time to process what has happened in the last year of my life now. I just want to thank all of my supporters out there for providing me with what I needed to go and do the Lord’s work during the World Race.
During the World Race I:
- Met my new best friends
- Taught English
- Built a house
- Worked at orphanages
- Hosted a soccer (football) tournament for the youth of Guatemala (We played and got our butts kicked)
- Showed Jesus to so many new friends I made
- Learned a lot about myself
- Provided healthcare and vaccines to Zambians
- Painted a school
- Volunteered at a Cerebral Palsy hospital
- Constructed a play park for kids
- Shared Jesus with villagers in the Zambian Bush
- Help fight sex trafficking in Chiang Mai
- Ministered to Widows
- AND SO MUCH MORE!!!! SO MUCH!
These are just some of the quantifiable things I did on the Race. There were so many wonderful things that happened on the race that I have trouble putting into words because words just can’t contain all the Love, Joy, Peace, Freedom, and Happiness I felt in the 9-months I was over there. I got to live with the same 42 people 24/7 that eventually became my best friends. There was never a dull moment. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN! Our only job was to be Christ to people. Are only job was to love everybody everywhere we went. To love them with an extraordinary love that only came from the over pour of the love we received from the Father, the over pour of the love that Jesus showed us. People tell me they are proud of what I did and ask me how I could do such a hard thing. How could I leave everything I know and live with a bunch of random people? To be honest it was a lot easier than I expected.
There were definitely hard times, no doubt. There were times where I was sick of it and wanted to come home. There were tears and sadness. But looking back at it now, the whole experience was beautiful. Beautiful. To look back on the last 9-months of my life and know in my heart that the Lord was there the whole time directing my every move, watching over me every second, comforting me in every hard time (and there were plenty), that’s beautiful. It was hard to believe in a God that I couldn’t see or hear. It was hard when I thought that maybe there was a possibility that all of this was for nothing. What if there is no God? Everyone has doubts about God. It’s only natural when I can’t see or hear him physically, but that is what faith is. I learned a lot about faith during the World Race. When I didn’t have all of the comforts of being home in America I had to see if Jesus was really all that I needed. Not just material comforts but my friends and family. I had just been thrown into a group of people I knew nothing about, except for the fact that we were all crazy enough to sign up for this 9-month mission trip.
I met God on the World Race, not physically but spiritually. If there really was a God I had 9-months alone with no distractions to ponder that thought. No distractions from home, my past, or the Internet and phone. God was there in my sin. God was there when I screwed up and had feelings of guilt and shame. God was there and He knew what I had to go through. He knew that change is hard and to be changed is painful. To see how much God has changed me and shaped me is beautiful. He’s shown me how much He loves me and how much He loves all the people he’s created. He’s shown me that there is good in the world. There is a light in the darkness. He has not abandoned us and he will never leave us. He has not abandoned that homeless person begging for food, or that prostitute trying to provide for her kids. He showed me that there is a God that has a love so vast and unconditional, a love that is unfathomable. That it really is true that every good and perfect gift is from God.
It’s not about being a Christian it’s about living for Jesus. It’s about picking up your cross and following Jesus. Christians need to understand that picking up your cross means to pick up your tool of death and follow Jesus. To follow Jesus means you have to die to yourself, to selfish gain and ambition. Pick up your electric chair, your firing squad, and your euthanasia and FOLLOW JESUS. Die to yourself and let Christ live in you. Being a Christian is to live a life of abandonment. We’re not tied down to anything in this world; Heaven is our Home. It’s not about hiding in a building every Sunday it’s about going out to the world and changing the culture. It’s about bringing life into every place you go. It’s about bringing light into the darkest of places. It’s about breaking the chains off the oppressed and helpless. God cares for His people. We are not tied down to our mistakes and failures, we are not tied down to the world and it’s expectations, we are SET FREE. God has given us this freedom, it’s our choice to choose it and walk it out and live it out day by day.
During the World Race I realized how much I love and care for people too. I desire to help people that can’t help themselves. I want to go to people that are oppressed and hurting and break the chains off them. I want to be the one that stands up for them. I know God wants that. I want to show them that they are better than what the world or their circumstances tell them. I want to SHOW them that the Heavenly Father loves them so much that I simply couldn’t tell them how much He does, but I had to come all this way to SHOW them he does. Because that’s what he did for us.
A lot of people have been asking me what I’m going to do in the fall now that I’m back in America. Now I know. I know what I want to do and that is to fight for the widow and orphan. To help the very least of the people on earth. I want to be an advocate for social justice, to fight sex slavery and child labor and human trafficking. I want to help people that are stuck in their circumstances. I want to stand up for the people that can’t stand up for themselves. I want to help people break free from their depression and addictions. AND I want to be the one that goes and does it. It’s not about quantity for me it’s about authenticity. I want to go show that one person the Love of God. Really show them and let them know He is looking out for them. Each one of those broken and hurting people are different and how can I love them if I don’t know anything about them? I want to become their best friend and show them that I’m here for the fight.
Some people have given me advice about my decision to move to Spain and get ready to go be an advocate for social justice. Some people think that I should have stayed in college and went after I graduated. They think I’ve made the wrong decision. I think I made the right decision because I know at a very young age what I want to do: Stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Some people aren’t sure what they are passionate about until later in life. I think I got lucky and found my passion early and I’m going to straight towards it and the next step is G42.
I applied for G42 Leadership Academy in Mijas Spain. G42 is a discipleship school and missionary network. It’s a 6-month internship where I will learn and live with some amazing people. More importantly, it’s the first 6-months of actually starting my ministry of being an advocate of social justice. G42 is big on the concept of the “kitchen table” they want to teach you how to live like Jesus and they don’t tell you they show you. Students are encouraged to “do life” with their professor. There are classes 4 days a week and can range from Non profit administration and church planting to listening prayer and classes on the Holy Spirit. Most of the time is spent with the professors and staff even outside of class. After this 6-month program I plan to go and start fighting for social justice wherever God would call me to go in the world. It’s a network of missionaries so I’m hoping to get some contacts while I’m there. I know I could always go back to my friends in Guatemala, Thailand, or Zambia.
Thanks for helping me get through the World Race friends now its time to go to G42 and get things going for the kingdom, for Jesus, and all the oppressed that need someone to pull their hand up.
If you would like to support me going to G42, to support me to go help orphans, to help the people that couldn’t help themselves. Please email me or call/text me at [email protected] or 6368666499. Also I will cut grass, house/dog sit, babysit, any random job I will do for a donation! Just call me.We can get coffee and talk about it some more. There is a $300 deadline that I need to pay for by the end of this week. I’m going to do everything I can to get it and I have 7 days. So let’s see how the Lord will provide because I know he will.
Here is the World Race video I made!
