It’s always a little weird to have to write the “Who am I” statement. Well lets just rip the band aid right off (arm hair and all) and get down to it.
My full name is Annalisa Monserrat Romero, my dad choose my first name after hearing it at work one day and my mom chose to give me her first name as my middle. In all that, Anna works just fine with me. I am a baby 21 year old (having turned 21 in sept) and currently reside in the bustling city of Yucaipa Ca. For those who don’t where that is, you’re not alone. I usually tell people that it is somewhere in between LA and Palm Springs, that should give you a 100-150 mile spectrum as to where my city is. I have been working in a care facility for developmentally disabled adults for the past three years and am currently enrolled in “Harvard on the Hill”, the local community college. THREE random facts about myself:
1) I love to dance to 80″s music, especially while running.
2) My car’s name is Enid, I can’t remember where I heard it from but I fell in love with the name as soon as I heard it.
3) I have recently switched from a “Twizzlers girl” to a “Kazoozzles girl”.
I fell in love with Jesus when I was a junior in high school. It was during a time in my life where I finally said that I couldn’t do it by myself anymore and just surrendered. Thinking back on it now, my relationship with Jesus has been the only thing in my life where I didn’t care what would or could happen, where I didn’t get into it without having thought of an escape plan first, I just let go and jumped. Katie Davis- a missionary in Uganda- said, ” Jesus wrecked my life, shattered it to pieces, and put it back together more beautifully”. I totally believe that that is what He did for my life and what He does to everyone that jumps into a relationship with Him. I am madly in love with my creator.
I first found AIM through a google search after my youth pastor -at the time- suggested that I look into domestic and foreign missionary organizations. Immediately I was drawn to The World Race simply because of the length of the trip, in all honesty I just wanted to get to out of the city where I grew up in. Over the past three years it has been in the back of my mind and would pray about it every now and again. As 21 got closer, I started to really pray about it, asking God if this is something that he wanted me to do or could use for his glory. In the last few months, my perceptive on my faith changed. I had been serving in youth ministries for three years, and there were times when it almost felt like too much, I enjoyed it, but anything else it and it would become “too much”. But then it changed to where it wasn’t feeding me enough. No matter how much I read or prayed or served, I couldn’t get enough. I had become an “thirsty Israelite”. The day I turned 21 I applied and a few weeks later I got accepted and now I am writing the awkward “Who am I” statement.
At this point all I can say is that I beyond stoked for The World Race, 11 countries in 11 months: South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. Im excited for God to use me during the time up to my actual departure (July 2015) and to be continued throughout the 11 months on the field. Simply asking at this point is a “drowning” of prayer. This trip will require financial support, but not nearly as much as prayer.
Thanks for reading, getting to know me. I will continue to write and blog throughout the next 20ish months, updating on my process, and the race as it comes to happen.
