Alright folks. I suppose it's time to tell you about the crazy adventure I've committed to! Ready…. Here I go…
In September 2013 I will be leaving my comfortable life of a job, a car, and a family that has blessed me with everything I could ever need. I'll be stepping into a world of abandonment and sacrifice and learning what it means to truely live my life for Christ while serving the 'least of these' at the same time.
In September of 2013 I'll be leaving the United States with 60 strangers for 11 months and serving in 11 different countries. I'll be living out of backpack for 11 months while I travel the world and spread the message of Jesus and serving in organizations that are working to restore the lives of the broken. The organization is called Adventures in Missions. I'll be apart of a team called The World Race. I will be spending a month in each country working in different minstries. There will be 60 of us that travel the world together, while then splitting into teams of 7 that spend each month together. This is probably all sounding so crazy to you all right now. Right? I'm having hard time typing this and explaining it myself… because I believe i'm crazy too! So stay with me… I'll try to explain.
First of all… where am I going? Heres the list:
China
Thailand
Cambodia
Philippines
Kenya
Uganda
Rwanda
India
Nepal
Ukraine
Romania
Why?
Have you ever wondered if there's something more out there? If there's more to life than empty traditions, routines, and working 9-5 everyday to achieve the impossiblity of the American Dream?
It's because there is.
I've realized that I've become apart of a generation of radicals whose heartbeat is to see a changed world. We are a generation that's dissatisfied with the status quo and is actively rising to the challenge of seeing the world transformed through tangible expressions of God's love. I'll be apart of a group called the World Race. I will be a World Racer. World Racers are seeing lives changed in nations all over the world.
I'm being called out of my comfort zone and getting the opportunity to be exposed to what God is doing in the world before I commit to the American Dream. Because it's not about me, it's about the Kingdom.
Visit www.theworldrace.org to learn about this organization that I'll be traveling with for the next year.
Stil confused? Stay with me! I'll keep explaining.
Here is what I know:
I will be living out of a backpack for an entire year. (one of those big camping packs)
But God will show me step-by-step what it means to sacrifice my comfort and live a life of abandonment.
I will be living in a tent and my bed will be a sleeping pad. My team and I may be sleeping on the floors of gas stations, with homeless people in certain countires, numerous airports, and in every form of transportation possible.
But God will give me rest and I will be grateful that I typically have a bed to call my own.
I will be spending 24/7 with my team of 7. I probably won't go to the bathroom by myself… ever.
But God will push me in these moments, and he will challenge me through my teammates.
I probably won't depend on clean bathrooms. I've been told by other world racers that they wish they could count how many times they had to step over poop and plug their nose, while trying to balance themselves in a squatty position.
But God will give me Compassion for the people who live in garbage dumps and children who walk barefoot through sewage daily on their way to school.
I won't be looking like a fashion icon. Afterall, I'll be wearing the same clothes that I put in my backpack to last me the entire year. I'm sure I'll get creative.
But God will teach me that I don't need a man to romance me, becaue there is a divine romance already at work.
We won't always have hospitals nearby. When the local clinic fails us, the next best option will be to pull out a book called 'where there is no doctor'
But God will find dependence on prayer, and my team and I will see the healing power of God over things we used to depend on medications for.
I won't always be clean and smelling nice. I may go an entire month with only one quick bath in a muddy creek.
But God will give me a new picture of what it means to be beautiful.
Now I know you think I'm REALLY crazy! It's ok… I am 🙂 BUT….. I will form relationships while God takes me on an adventure of love, service, abandonment, and surrender. I will never be the same.
This journey WILL be hard. I'll probably cry alot. I'll probably get really homesick. I will really miss my friends and family… so much to the point that I'll wish I could come home… but I won't.
I ask you friends and family to begin this jouney with me. Follow me, pray for me, and support me. I'll have many more details to come…. with answers to questions you probably have right at this moment. But for now, just soak this in with me…… and be excited with me!
I will be blogging WEEKLY through my entire year of travel. I'll be intentionally making you all apart of my journey. My prayer is that you would commit to praying for me and following me. We can go through this together……. just in different parts of the world.
By the way…. I have to raise $15,000 to live off of while I'm gone…….But we will talk about that later 😉
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” -Isaiah 6:8
