I still can not believe it. Its still a bit surreal. Well here it is..
IM GOING ON THE WORLD RACE!!!!!!
What is the World Race? For those of you who have not checked out the website yet it is an 11 month, 11 Country missionary where I will go and help people around the world. This unique missions trip is a challenging adventure for young adults to abandon worldly possessions and a traditional lifestyle in exchange for an understanding that it’s not about you; it’s about the Kingdom. On the race you do a bit of everything; including but not limited to partnering with local ministries, missionaries, churches, organizations, schools, and more. You spend a month in each country helping the communities in any way possible. Building homes, volunteering at orphanages, planting churches, preaching, teaching English, working with at-risk youth, ministering to prostitutes in the red light districts, doing preventative, outreach, and after-care with human trafficking victims, and plenty of more things to help out.
You know that quote “Be the Change you Wish to See in the World” by Gandhi? Well this is my chance to do just that. The make a difference where it is needed.
In September 2015 I will be embarking on this journey that will take me to 11 different countries
Uganda
Rwanda
Ethiopia
India
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Nepal
Malaysia
Thailand
Cambodia
Why would I do something like this? Well let me explain something. My family has lost many member to medical issues over the years; heart, lungs, Alzheimer’s… But a little over 2 years ago my mom was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Something needed to be done or her heart would not last. I remember getting that phone call, because at that time I was already living in Florida while my mom and the rest of my family lives in New York. Not good news at all, especially when I lived 1500 miles away from them. After a few months the doctors convinced my mom and family that her best option for survival was to start the process to get the LVAD heart pump. The LVAD is a mechanical pump that’s used to support heart function and blood flow in people who have weakened hearts.The device takes blood from a lower chamber of the heart and helps pump it to the body and vital organs, just as a healthy heart would. However, This pump runs off of batteries or a wall unit, without it the pump would stop thus stopping my moms “Heart”. My mom was bionic for a little bit =). Unfortunately what was supposed to sustain my mom for up to 5 years while she waited on the heart transplant list, failed her after only a month and the whole surgery needed to be redone. Then it failed again a few months later, and things just kept going wrong. My mom spent most of the 7 months after that initial LVAD surgery in the hospital.
Around October my family was informed that mom needed to redo the LVAD surgery for a third time or she needed to be bumped up on the transplant list and soon. I had already purchased my flight to go home for Thanksgiving but become worried at that point. “What if I need to go home sooner or if she does not get the Transplant by then? I should hold off that flight because I want to be there for her surgery.” ACT OF KINDNESS NUMBER 1; my coworkers put together a fund to buy me an extra ticket so I did not have to miss Thanksgiving, or worry about paying for a flight for her transplant. THANK YOU GOD FOR PUTTING THESE AMAZING PEOPLE IN MY LIFE!!!!
Skip ahead to Thanksgiving – Mom is now second on the heart transplant list, two potential hearts came in but were both denied because of incompatibility. I flew home, spent all of Thanksgiving day in the hospital with my mom, my sister, and my niece. Spent most of that weekend with my mom. Leaving that Saturday night was one of the hardest things I had to do, because I knew the next time I would see her wouldn’t be until her surgery. She needed a heart and quick. Her kidneys were failing, her blood work was looking bad. “God I trust you, but how much more suffering does she have to go through?” “How much more worrying does my family have to feel?”
On my flight back to Florida, I prayed, and prayed, and prayed. I had a morning flight on December 1, 2013. I walked into my door in Florida at 10 am that morning. At 10:10 I received a facetime MY MOM IS GETTING A NEW HEART!!!!!!! The scramble began to get myself back to New York in time. Emotions flowing through me; joy, nerves, excitement, stress, worry. Oh man, This means someone had to lose their life in order for my mom to sustain hers. “GOD, I pray for that family, for this is a time of loss and great pain for them. I pray that you will be with them and that one day they understand that although they lost someone near and dear to their heart, they know that a piece of them stills lives. That they are looking down from heaven and smiling at the last act of kindness they were able to do in this life. I pray that one day we will be able to thank them because although they have lost, their loved one has become my mothers angel.” I got the ONLY SEAT left on a flight to NY for the day. My friend comes to pick me up so I do not have to drive. If everything is timed perfectly then I can hop on a train from Long Island, NY where my flight lands to get in New York City and take a taxi in the city to get the the hospital where my mom was having her surgery. I MIGHT make it in time to even see her before she is taken in. My hands were shaking from the worry…. That’s when God told me to slow down and stop worrying about getting there, because He was there with her and thats what really mattered. Be Patient, and Have Faith. My flight was delayed, there was no way I would make it in time to see her before her surgery. I would miss the train by minutes and have to wait 2 more hours after landing in NY if i was going to be able to get a train into the city. My whole family was already in the city at the hospital and I knew none of them should be driving (too many emotions). My flight had wifi on it, so I sent out an SOS. “Please, any of my friends on Long Island, I have to get into the city, and I know its late (I was landing at 11pm) but I need your help!” ACT OF KINDNESS NUMBER 2- My best friend from childhood immediately responds and says she will be at the airport when I land and she will drive me the hour into the city.
I made it to the hospital by Midnight. My mom was already in surgery for an hour, but I was there, with her, and with my family. 8 Hours later the surgeon comes out to tell us that the surgery was successful and that we would be able to see her soon. THANK YOU GOD, you sent my mom an angel, and have blessed my family with a new beginning. You have given us the strength and the love to get through these trying times. THANK YOU, Thank you.
So there you have it. My story, or my families story really. But the truth is, We were blessed, we were giving the hope and the light to lead us into a new life. Yes, there is still stress and some worry, but a major weight has been lifted. He chose that time to really lighten up my life. Now I want to go out into the world and make a difference. I want to give others the hope and the joy, similar to that of which I felt on December 2, 2013. I want to make a difference in lives where few people have gone to do so. I want to bring a smile to children who feel they do not have much to smile about, I want to let people know that there are others out in this world who care about them and who want to help them.
You probably did not expect to be reading this much right now. and I do not want to take up much more of you time, but I need to ask for an ACT OF KINDNESS NUMBER 3 – Help me raise the funds for the World Race. I cannot do this by myself. First, pray for me!! Pray for my journey before, that I will be able to raise the funds, Pray for me while I am on the World Race, that I stay safe and can have the impact that I am aiming for. Second, Please, Please, Please support me. There is a link on my main page that allows you to help support me. You can make a one time donation or you can make monthly ones. ANYTHING/EVERYTHING will help!!! and I will appreciate it more then you know!! If you decided to make monthly donations then adventures.org/dynapay will NOT charge a processing fee. You are all wonderful and I only hope you have it in your heart to help me out as much as you can.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for listening to my story and for any support you may give. I will keep you all updated on my progress.
