“Spirit lead me where your trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters- wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander- and my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior” –Hillsong
The first time I heard the lyrics to the song Oceans, was in January, going into my senior year. I was so grateful the chorus is repeated several times because it took many times for the words to penetrate my heart.
“Spirit lead me where your trust is without borders…wherever You would call me…” There were so many thoughts going through my head- “God, if I got out of the boat, like Peter, I would totally freak out… God, if you’re going to lead me, please lead me to a place with no snakes…God, you know I’m afraid of the dark…” But there was still an urgency to make this chorus my prayer. So I did.
And let me testify to this, when you ask the Holy Spirit to lead and to guide- He does! I had no idea in January what I would be lead to or what the next phase of my journey would be, but I knew it was no longer in my hands.
It was a mentor from Susquehanna Valley Pregnancy Center, where I did my senior internship, who introduced me to the World Race. On the website, words like: ‘go’, ‘to the least of these’, ‘out of your comfort zone’, ‘discipleship’ and ‘faith’ jumped off the page. I fell in love! I knew that this would be the next leg of my journey within seconds. I prayed for weeks. Then, one morning at 2, I could wait no longer. I clicked, ‘submit application’ and once again the control was out of my hands. (As a person who really likes control, this process has taught me so much about submitting to God!)
I suppose an afterthought was- “I still hate snakes. I’m still afraid of the dark.” Ha! So God continues to guide me as my feet fail. “ I can’t do this trip. I hate snakes. I hate the dark.” There are so so SO many things that cause me to fear. But here’s the thing: this isn’t about me.
“It’s not about me; it’s about serving a greater One!” –Sight & Sound, Joseph
He has called me out on the waters and into the great unknown so that I can bring glory to Him. My life, including this trip, is an offering- to bring Him my all so that His strength can be made perfect in my weakness, so that His grace can be reflected through the way I live my life and so that the lost are found through His gospel message.
“Take my life and let it be always only all for thee.”
The World Race is a part of an organization called Adventures in Missions. The World Race is a missionary journey to 11 different countries in 11 months:
Philippines > Thailand > Cambodia > Vietnam > Malawi > Zambia > Zimbabwe > Ireland > Bulgaria > Moldova > Romania
I will be traveling on a squad with about 40 other racers on the January Route 2 trip. There I will be living in the raw, authentic communities of these 11 cultures. Sometimes building, sometimes teaching, other times serving and always loving.
“When He puts something in your heart to do, He goes to work behind the scenes to ensure that it happens.” –Andy Stanley
…And that’s a fact. I have no idea how this trip will be fully funded or who will even support me financially but I believe that God’s hand is already at work in paving the way.
Andy Stanley’s book, Visioneering, goes on to say, “You are not responsible for figuring out how to pull off God’s vision for your life. You are responsible to do what you know how to do, what you can do. And then you must wait.”
I cannot do this World Race on my own by any means. Please join me in prayer.
-for team unity
-for health
-for the hearts of the people we will encounter
-for eyes to be open and ears to hear
-for grace and attitudes of Christ.like.ness
-for money to be provided ($16,242.60 – to be exact)
Please join me in financial support. (No matter how awkward it can be to ask people for money, I believe that every penny will be provided for!) If God is leading you towards that, you can click the ‘support me’ button to the left!
So, with all of that said- Thanks for reading! I’ll be blogging through the trip and you can click ‘subscribe’ if you’d like to continue following.
Oh, and if you have yet to hear the song, Oceans by Hillsong please have a listen:
Blessings
