Last summer, I had one of the most amazing things happen to me. I met this beautiful, young girl who was falling madly in love with Jesus on a trip to South Carolina to go skydiving. We spent the entire week together and grew very close. We got together quite often after coming back from our trip. She became a younger sister in Christ to me and God deepened my love and care for her as time continued to pass.
In March or April of this year, we were talking about life and the World Race came up. She knew it was something she eventually wanted to do but did not meet the age requirement before and thought it would be something that came later on down the road. She was kinda at a stand still with what was going to be next in her life and I mentioned that maybe she should just go ahead and pray about going now and if it was the right time, maybe they would consider her, even though she was still just 20 instead of 21. She started to pray and soon enough, she called and let me know that she was going to go for it. She applied and the rest is history.
She leaves tomorrow morning from South Carolina to Chicago to begin her launch training for the September 2012 route. She will be beginning her journey in Malaysia and continuing on throughout Asia, Africa and finishing in Eastern Europe. She has been diligently raising support and working fundraiser after fundraiser while working a full-time job and even sold her car to put all the money towards this trip around the world for Jesus! She needed a grand total of $15,500.00 for this 11 month journey and she has raised around $11,000.00 of that total including the money from her car being sold. She still needs around $4,500.00 to successfully complete this journey. I am asking you to prayerfully consider supporting her financially by donating to her blog page at:
I know that most of you have followed me, supported me financially and prayerfully throughout my journey around the world as well as the trips God has called me to since being back home. Your support is appreciated more than words could ever possibly express and the impact you have made on both my life and the people around the world is far beyond anything you could ever possibly imagine. I am forever grateful for your love and support. And I know Ashley will be as well as God calls her to further the Kingdom for His glory in the upcoming year.
Ashley is such a beautiful soul. She has such a joyful, upbeat spirit and she has touched our lives here by just being present. I cannot even begin to imagine the impact she will make to others simply by being present and loving them well with just a smile. She has such a willingness to help out and serve at any capacity and she is open to anything that seems to come her way.
I look back at my time on the race and I could not be more thankful for such a powerful, life altering experience with Jesus. You all showered me with such amazing love and support. I was 26 years old when I left for the race and if it was not for that love, it would have been a lot harder to leave. It was a scary experience walking into the unknown with Jesus and truly surrendering everything I had, trusting that He would be carrying me through on the next part of my life. And Ashley? Well, she is still just 20 years old!!!! I think about how brave she is at such a young age just fully trusting Jesus to supply all of her needs and carry her through a journey worth fighting for. I could not be more proud of the life she is leading for Jesus. It has been such a great honor and privilege to walk alongside of her as she has prepared to leave, which is why I am asking the people that have fully walked by my side to prayerfully consider walking beside her as well.
Thank you again for all you do!! I love each and every one of you. Please contact me with any questions or concerns. I will also still be selling t-shirts (pictured above) for her while she is away. The cost of the shirts are $15.00 each and $20.00 with shipping included. E-mail me if you are interested!
