Sometimes I look back at my life and I am in awe. I think about how God has had His hand over my life from the very beginning, even if I didn’t grow up in the church. I think about the lengths He went to lead me to Him and the continual things He does to reveal Himself to me each and every day. I mean, He waited 21 years, and for me to go and live in Africa to then send 65 missionaries to come and show me what Jesus’ love looked like.
As I look back on these past 4 years I’ve been walking with the Lord, one thing that has been a constant part of that journey is The World Race. I first came in contact with The World Race November 2010 with first generation P squad when they came to stay at the hostel I was working at in Malawi, Africa. After a month of talking with them, watching how they lived, how they loved God and loved ME, I gave my life to the Lord and have never looked back!!
After I accepted Christ, I thought that my journey with The World Race was over. My time with P squad was amazing, but God wouldn’t let ME do the World Race too! Wrong!! 6 months after accepting Christ I was right back into it!! Heading out with my own squad on my own World Race.
In that year I learned so much about myself, the world, but most importantly God and how important it is to have a relationship with Him. It changed my life once again. After finishing The World Race, I stayed in Africa for 6 more months to do ministry. In that time I came in contact with many squads from The World Race that were still on the field and a few Passport trips as well. I loved meeting new people who were going on the same life changing journey I had gone on. It was always so encouraging to see more of my generation take a leap of faith and want to make a difference in the world in Jesus’ name!!
After I returned to America, I still craved that World Race community. I loved how encouraging, happy, energetic and life giving it is! Throughout the summer of 2012, I traveled back and forth to GA where the World Race training camps were held to get back into that community, see some of my friends and volunteer at the camp to help prepare the next groups of World Racers to go out into the field. At first I helped cook food and stayed in the background, but the past few camps I was a trainer and had a more active role in one of the squads at camp. Only God could take a hostel employee and raise him up to eventually help prepare 18 World Race squads, roughly 900 young adults to go out into the nations to spread the Gospel.
At a few of the camps one of my jobs was to go to the airport and pick up the participants to bring them back to camp. And every time I have a humbling moment going to the airport. I think to myself, “I am sitting in a white mini bus, with a big ‘Adventures In Missions’ Christian Missions organization logo on the side of it, with 8 other radical Christians singing, worshiping and praying all the way to the airport, about to pick up 200 MORE Christians and bring them back to a Christian summer camp where I am one of the staff members.” I think to myself, “How did I get here? Is this really my life?!” Yes, yes it is, AND I LOVE IT!!
As I think about it, He IS with me, always has been, always will be. And He HAS prepared me with everything I need, because HE is all I need. These past 4 years, He has been teaching me, molding me and preparing me for THIS, for RIGHT NOW.
What He has also been doing is preparing me for what’s ahead. I called this blog circles because I love how God creates circles in our lives. He starts something, then does all these little things to add onto it, and finishes it out with something great which in turn comes right back to the beginning. For me, one of my circles has been the World Race. I lived 21 years not believing there was a God, to radically being saved in Africa by seeing a group of World Race missionaries love me like Jesus, to then go on my own World Race to learn what I like to call ‘Christianity 101’ for me. To then have the World Race and Adventures in Missions be a constant part of my life since. Then to step into a role of leadership and lead a Passport trip, to now prepare me for this…..
This September, God will complete a beautiful circle in my life by leading me into the role of a World Race alumni squad leader. Which means I will be going out with a new World Race squad to lead them for the first 5 months of their race until we raise up new leaders from with-in the squad.
To me, this is a true testimony of Gods power, redemption and amazingness!!! To go from hating Christians, to becoming a believer and learning almost everything I know from the World Race, to then growing, being molded and taught by amazing leadership of the World Race, to go out and be considered a leader myself to lead the same type of group that changed my life. All for the glory of God. Jesus you cray cray!!!
If you would like to follow my journey squad leading, please go and subscribe to this blog to receive updates.
Also if you would like to donate financially to this journey, you can also do so on the ‘support me’ tab on the left hand side. Or you can email me at [email protected]. In order to go out and lead this group of 50 people I need to raise around $6,500.
