For those of you who don’t know me very well, my name is Molly Brandenburgh. I am 22 years old and a recent graduate of Georgia Southern University (Go Eagles!!) I got my degree in Early Childhood Education. I am currently living with my folks in Columbus, GA.
I would not be able to be experience The World Race without the support of my loving family and friends. My family, which consists of my mom, dad, and brother have supported me and continue to support me as I walk through this journey. I love my family for instilling such amazing morals and values in my life. They are some of the most kind-hearted, generous, and loving people you will meet! Family game nights are among one of my absolute favorite activities!
My friends have shared with me in the joy of being able to travel around the world to share the Word. I can’t believe that I have had so many people share genuine excitement when I tell them about the journey God is taking me on. I am truly blessed by such a great community of believers! God has placed friendships in my life that I know will last for a lifetime. These people have helped shaped who I am and are constantly encouraging me in my walk with the Lord! I could never say enough great things about them…it would take me years!
My journey of faith began when I was 15 years old. I have believed in God my whole life, but was introduced to God in a new way my sophomore year of high school. I went on a retreat my sophomore year of high school with a ministry called Teen Advisors. I was suddenly surrounded by people who worshiped, loved, and expressed themselves in ways that I had never seen before. As I got home from that retreat I felt an emptiness inside that I couldn’t explain. I ended up crying in my bathroom the night I got home, but I noticed something different. I was crying out to God for help. He began tugging on my heart and placed people in my life that would help guide me into the most loving, gracious, and faithful relationship of my life. As I have grown in my walk, God has never failed, never given up, and never let me down. There have been so many ups and downs in the last 7 years of knowing Christ, but His grace has been so overwhelming. I don’t deserve any bit of it, but God has given it to me despite my many flaws!
I had the opportunity while I was in college to visit several different countries; Greece, West Africa, and Haiti. Each place was unique and I learned something different in each place. Haiti instantly grabbed my heart when I was able to serve there last July. I was amazed at the devastation that was caused by the earthquake. The one thing that took hold of me most was worshiping with the believers one Sunday morning. We were packed in like sardines with 50 or so people in a hot, humid, 20 x 40 concrete room. Yet, it was the most beautiful and uplifting experience of my life. Never did it cross my mind about why they didn’t have comfortable chairs, an enclosed air conditioned building, or words to the songs we were singing on a projector screen. We were one body, speaking different languages, worshiping the SAME God, and He understood EVERY word! I don’t desire to worship any other way. I am thankful to have those things in America, but worshiping with those precious Haitian believers showed me that those things aren’t necessary for people to come together and worship the true, living God.
I desire to see the lost found, the broken made whole, and neglected and forgotten feel loved. I have never felt a strong call to full time foreign missions. God has not called me to be a career missionary (yet), but I know that The World Race is the path that God has laid out for me for the next year. I am ready to be stretched beyond my limits, and challenged in ways that I never knew I could be challenged in. I am ready to live out of a backpack for a year, wearing the same 5-7 outfits every week, and living on as little as possible and giving all of my heart to those in need. I want to be completely exhausted at the end of each day knowing that I gave all that I had to someone that day.
So i invite you to join me on this 11-month journey, through this blog. Whether you are one of my closest friends or you are just getting to know me through this new chapter in my life, I hope you are encouraged by what God is doing around the globe. My one request is that you pray. Pray for my team and i to follow in the Lord's leading each and every day.
