I have a couple of exciting updates that I wanted to post on my blog for all my supporters!
Logistics
My squad (the huge group people I’ll be traveling with to 11 countries) recently were notified of two changes to our route in the past week. We will not be going to Greece anymore, we will be going to Albania. And instead of going to Botswana, we will be going to Zimbabwe! The Lord is definitely doing something with this route, and its exciting! We don’t know the logistical reasoning behind the changes, but changes like this happen a lot on the World Race, so we should get used to being flexible! Although a lot of my squad and I are disappointed we won’t be going to Greece and working with refugees (at least that’s what we assumed), we know that the Lord has big things for us in Albania and Zimbabwe! We all are now getting excited about these new countries on our route. Watch the video at the bottom of this blog post to see what king of ministry past World Racers have been a part of in Albania; it brought a tear to my eye and got me super pumped!
We were also notified within the past week that our launch date will either be January 7th or 8th! Launch is when we go to Atlanta, Georgia, for a couple days before we leave America. Launch includes trainings for us, as well as sessions for our parents to go to, to learn more and to get them pumped about the next year, so when we board the plane, they won’t be a weeping, fretting puddle on the floor. I’m praying that if my parents go, they will see more clearly my heart behind this crazy uprooting of my life for “something more.” And that they will be fully onboard and even excited for this Kingdom Journey! Now that I have an official date I can write down in my (digital) calendar, it feels a WHOLE lot more real! Only FIVE months away!
Support Raising
I’ve been blown away left AND right by God’s love for me and how He’s been showing it lately. Last week when I was serving at a youth conference on Cape Cod, I looked under my fundraising tab when I saw that my fundraising bar (that turquoise color bar on the top of this page) had jumped significantly and I saw that someone had donated $1,000!!! What?! I couldn’t even believe it was real. And then I woke up today and checked and someone had donated $500!! I haven’t even sent out support letters yet and God is just telling me NOW that He WILL provide no matter what I do! I was thinking about it while driving in my car today: how I didn’t do anything to initiate those generous donations. I can compel people to donate a little bit here or there, which is what has been happening. But only the Holy Spirit can call someone to donate $300, $500, $1,000… I don’t have that power over people and I wouldn’t want to do that anyways because that would be manipulative and wrong. I am not here to pressure anyone into giving. But I know that the Holy Spirit will call people who are in tune with Him to do so.
One of my favorite verses, that is displayed on my computer desktop, says: “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20) He has been doing just that! I continue to thank God that He has been showing His faithfulness to me in this way. Thank you to those who have felt led to donate. Thank you for believing in the work that the Lord has chosen US to do. Its not just me that He has called to the ends of the earth. It’s all of us.
Support Raising Update: I am now at 63% of my first deadline of $5,000 that is due on September 23rd! Out of the $17,017 I have to raise altogether, I am now 18% funded! Praise God!
