Twenty-five days from now, I’ll be at training camp. This is 147 days less than when I was first accepted to the Race in January; somehow half a year became less than a month in the midst of agonizing papers, long goodbyes, and packing up to move to D.C. for the summer. I’ve been reflecting on what God has done and is doing in preparation for my Race and been thoroughly amazed and thankful, so I wanted to share so you can praise God with me and be praying specifically for what’s still in progress.
As far as I can tell, my preparation started with my computer dying last year in January. When I was challenged to create an ‘impossible’ prayer list at a weekend conference with my campus ministry, I decided to include a free new slim, blue computer since my aged computer had died that morning. The speaker helped expand my confidence in coming to the Father like a child with all my needs and desires and letting Him sort out what’s best for me. When I got my free, year-old, slim, blue computer a month and a half later, I was kind of surprised that it was a netbook. My requests for “the perfect computer for me” were answered even more perfectly than I knew at the time. It’s clear that God was already preparing for a year and a half later when I’d be living out of a fifty-pound backpack on the Race.
Preparation continued later that fall close to when I first heard about the Race. For the first time since I’d been there, my church was reinstating its “Adopt a College Student” program. The family that picked my friend and I was perfect for us in so many ways; my appreciation for them and God’s foresight deepened further in the spring when I asked them to consider hosting a luncheon for me to talk about the World Race with people from our church. God specifically paired me with a couple who were mission-minded, gifted in hospitality and administration, accustomed to opening their home for ministry, and would be extremely gracious in response to my request. With them, I’ve been connected to others from my church in Tallahassee who are also mission-minded and would partner with me in prayer and finances.
The final part of my preparation that I’ll share is my spiritual and relational preparation. During the fall, I began regularly asking God to help me love people better—that I would genuinely love others with Christ’s love and know how to love them well. Somehow I wasn’t thinking about how I’d get to that point and imagined that it would all happen by itself. Instead, God continued to show me multiple things that were wrong with me! I learned though that seeing myself more clearly and loving others obviously held a very similar meaning to God. And the results really were intertwined. It was awesome how God would stop a moment in time for me, take me outside of myself, and point out the selfish or ungracious undertones of words that I would want to say or actions that I did, usually towards those closest to me. The growth that God accomplished in me is so relevant to my upcoming year as I seek to deeply love both the locals and my teammates.
During my brief time at home in Orange Park last month, I got to catch lunch with a good friend and mentor from my church. After sharing with her the ways I’ve noticed God preparing me to go, she vividly reminded me that God has also been thoroughly preparing those that I’m going to meet. Just as I can trace back ways that He has prepared me to a year and a half before I would leave, He has long been preparing people for me to meet, conversations to be had, and opportunities to love people like Christ in each country I will be in. What a powerful thought to think of God preparing others for my specific interactions with them to a year and a half ago, long before the World Race was even on my radar! It still blows my mind and humbles my heart to consider how God has chosen to use me, as unnecessary as I am, and prepare good works for me to walk in long in advance. The first verse God has given me in regards to this race is Romans 15:23, wherein Paul quotes Isaiah to describe his ministry:
“To whom He was not announced, they shall see;
And those who have not heard shall understand.”
It makes me so excited to think of God using me to bring others who've never heard the gospel to see and understand Him through Christ. Please pray with me that God will be preparing hearts and accomplish this through me.
If you would also be praying for me as I prepare physically for this trip, I would really appreciate it. Training camp marks the deadline for buying all of my gear. Thankfully I’ve gotten a good start on getting some of my bigger items—sleeping bag, backpack, tent—but the three-pages long packing guide still has a lot of uncrossed off items. Prayer for wisdom and great deals would be wonderful. Also, I’m incredibly thankful to report that I am at $7,866 in my fundraising—praise God!! To everyone that has been praying and has given financially, thank you so much for your generosity and care. I’m praying for you. Please continue to pray that God will provide the full amount, given or pledged, before I leave in September and that even the items not included in the amount (gear, immunizations, travel insurance) will get funded before then. I’m going to post a FAQ sheet soon that I’ve already made to explain about deadlines and other details later this week. Please also be praying for my squad mates who need to raise $3,500 by the July 1 deadline and haven’t yet!
Before I post the FAQ sheet, I’m aiming to post the first in a series of blogs that will contain cultural facts paired with prayer points for each country that I’ll be in. Counting this week, there are exactly 11 weeks until I leave; my hope is that each of the remaining weeks will be used to cover each month and ministry time in specific prayer. This week is for my first month, Australia. Expect a blog with details about it soon!
