I’ve been writing this blog in my head since January. Before getting the call that I had been accepted into the World Race, before submitting my application, and actually, before I even started the application process at all.
I found out about the World Race in December 2016. I was at a winter retreat and heard endless stories about someone I knew who was doing the 10/40 window. I met a couple that were leaving for the Race in a few days. It struck me then, this just makes sense.
Throughout the course of this week-long retreat, the pull kept getting stronger and stronger. The scratching at my heart was unavoidable. I leaned in, listening to story after story from missionaries who had traveled recently, in the past, or were currently serving another country. I heard their stories and my heart was consumed. The fire for missions had been in me a long time, but had become a smolder. Yet here was this spark, this small flame, and once again I was consumed. I would go. I had to. I needed to. It was right.
I picked a friends brain; she was a close friend of our mutual acquaintance on the 10/40 route. She was going on a mission trip herself soon and was someone I trusted to give me insight. “I can see you doing the World Race,” she said. We talked about my past experiences, passion for people, and my desire to bring change (we also discussed the lack of fear I have regarding sleeping outdoors).
More importantly is why I knew/thought/believed World Race was for me.
My Freshman year of college I found out about a mission trip to Germany that my school was taking. I would go, it was a no-brainer for me. I wasn’t sure of anything else: did I want to play sports? Join student senate? I didn’t know, but I knew I was going on this trip. I went, and will write about that experience in another blog. However, since then, I have always had that tug in my heart.
After retreat I read and watched blog after blog of World Racers. I looked up many mission opportunities, yet continuously came back to Adventures in Missions. This was the one, there was no question. I felt it. I started this post in my head, before I had even hit “apply.”
So here it is, the blog, these words which have been in the making for months. I can finally write them. I can say with eager anticipation, excitement, and certainty, I am a World Racer. Welcome to the journey.
