Hello Blogging World!!! My name is Emma Evans and I have recently been accepted to Route 6 of Gap Year World Race through Adventures in Missions. I am 17 years old and I am from Kenosha Wisconsin. I am in the band program at my school (I play percussion) and I am also in the choir program. Both of these have been huge parts of my life lately. Because I am in the top band and choir we have been preforming non stop all around the state which has been exhausting. Music is such a huge part of my life. It is something that I can completely surround myself with and just feel everything about it. Music is used to explain the unexplainable. I also have been doing a lot of stuff with my church lately. I have my youth group on Wednesday and every Wednesday, 1 hour before we start we have a talk about LGBTQ rights and the church. I am helping to lead this talk with 1 other girl in my youth group. This is a topic that I feel very strongly about being that I have friends who associate in the LGBTQ community. I feel that we should all love an accept one another openly being that we are all children of God and that is what God puts us on this earth to do. But anyways I have lived in Kenosha my whole entire life and my childhood was probably like any other basic childhood. My mom’s name is Robin and my dad’s name is Dan. I have one sister named Lily and she is a sophomore in High school. I will probably miss her the most while I am gone along with my two dogs Fozy and Jasmine. My family has gone through some rough times. My father was diagnosed with Cancer when I was in 8th grade. I was absolutely furious with my mom and dad and with God of course. I felt as though he had forsaken me and my family (though I know now that not to be the case). My father is now cancer free and I could not be happier. That time was very difficult for me and my family and now I know that God doesn’t put things in out life that we can’t handle which is how I am trying to look at this trip. I do a lot of different things in my free time like l enjoy drawing. But not freehand because I suck at that kind of stuff so I guess the correct verb to use would be coloring. I like coloring those adult coloring books. I also love to sing. I like to think that I am a good singer but I am pretty sure that’s just how we all think when we are belting out lungs out in the shower. I love being with my friends and family. This activity brings me the most joy. I can be the most weird, crazy, annoying version of myself and not even feel the least bit bas about it because I know at the end of the day these people are still going to love me. I have grown up going to church and I have always believed in Jesus. I have my doubts like a normal Christian but I don’t let them effect me from trying to show people how love one another. I was apart of a church for 13 years. This place had become my home. I had met my best friend though there and it was through this place I went on my first mission trip to Onancock, Virginia. We left this church for some very upsetting reasons which effect to this day. My family’s relationship with the church has been changed forever as has mine. My relationship with God has been changed as well but for the better in the end. I don’t think that I would have been as inclined to do world race if it wasn’t for all of the happenings at my old church. I have since then found a new church home with new people to love and accept me for who I am which I couldn’t be more thankful for. I choose World Race Because 1. I wasn’t completely sure of what I wanted to do net year. From the moment I went on my first mission trip I knew I wanted to serve people but not in what way. I am hopping to get some insight into how I can serve others around me from this trip. I also felt that this is something I was being called to do ever since I was in 8th grade. I have went on mission trips before but always on such a smaller scale. I am so scared that I am not going to reach my fundraising goals. I am such a procrastinator and always think that I can do things at the last moment, but raising 15,000 dollars is something that you can’t do last minute. I hope to find strength in the year to come that will allow me not to lose hope and to persevere against all odds. I hope to find who I am outside of my friends and family. This will be a huge learning experience for me and I can’t wait to learn and to grow. Please pray that I get everything done that I need to get done. I will be praying for all my fellow racers that they fulfill all that they need to get done as well.
