Every nerve ending in my mind flew in a million directions. “I can’t do this, God. You’ve told me to write a book. How would I write a book on the mission field? What about teaching? I have a passion for teaching – shouldn’t I be starting my professional career? I can’t ask people for that much money, but I can’t afford this. What about moving to Dallas? This can’t be right, God. Are you serious? It just doesn’t make sense.”
All the emotions that had been stored somewhere down inside of me for months suddenly burst forth in one torrential explosion of truth that contradicted everything I thought was my reality. In a way I can barely describe, in one cataclysmic moment, amidst all of my excuses and all of my questions, I knew exactly what God wanted me to do.
It’s that moment of glorious revelation when the Spirit affirms something in your heart that you didn’t even know He had placed there. It’s when everything that was a mess before suddenly becomes clear, even though the circumstances and the logic don’t make sense. You just know. And that moment came for me while researching an organization online instead of studying for my midterm.
My heart started beating faster, my mind started racing, and before I knew it, tears of conviction and passion streamed down my face as I tried to grasp the most confusing plot twist of my life. The little white screen in front of me that had only minutes before displayed an explanation of a simple nonprofit had suddenly turned into God’s magic crystal ball showing me what the next year of my life would look like. At that moment, I knew what God was telling me. He was telling me to go on the World Race.
And I was utterly terrified.
This blog post is my official announcement that I am going on the World Race in August of 2016!!! It also my official invitation for you to join me on this journey!
Who am I?
For those of you who don’t know me, I am a 22-year-old from Round Rock, Texas. I double majored in Spanish and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Arkansas and will graduate from Texas A&M University with my Master’s of Education in May. I swam for both universities as a Division I student-athlete in the SEC, as well. I have had a rotting (necrotic) bicep and three shoulder surgeries, and my testimony is that I am alive because of God’s voice in my life. The biggest dream God has given me is to be a speaker and an author, and I am currently writing a book.
My greatest desire is to know my God and be faithful to Him until the day I cross the finish line into His arms. I am in love with the Maker of the universe, and I would follow Him to the ends of the earth. So because He’s asked me, that’s exactly what I’m doing.
If you are unfamiliar with my story, you can catch a glimpse of it in this essay I wrote about myself for the John Wooden Citizenship Cup application.
What is the World Race?
The World Race is the craziest mission trip I have ever heard of. Traveling to 11 countries in 11 months, the World Race is designed to serve “the least of these” while living in raw community. The organization started in 2006 as a giant leap of faith with a few people traveling door to door in countries, sharing the gospel as they went. Today, the World Race is a full-fledged organization that sends out over 20 teams each year, all on different “race” routes.
I will be traveling in a team of around 30 people, split up into smaller groups of 5 to 8 people. For the first few months, we will be accompanied by World Race leaders who have been on the World Race before. We also will have a training camp a month before the trip for 10 days to learn about our host countries, bond with our team, learn how to live life out of a tent and two backpacks, how to bathe with water in a bucket, and all the glamorous stuff necessary for us to be mindful missionaries.
Why am I going?
I am going because I believe that God has told me to go. It’s that simple, but that’s how I try to live my life. It’s just one blind step at a time doing exactly what He tells me. I’ve learned that anything I try to do on my own generally falls apart anyway, so I may as well let the Author of the universe be the Author of my life. It’s much harder, it comes with a lot more adrenaline, it’s a lot more daunting, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything the world has to offer.
Where am I going?
God certainly has a way of putting you where He wants you, as long as you surrender to Him. I originally applied for a route that took me through West Africa, Asia, and Central America. After my phone interview, a member of the World Race staff called me back and asked me if I had ever heard of the Expedition route. “The Expedition route is more physically and spiritually demanding than the others, and after hearing your story, it seems like you could be a good fit,” she told me.
“How can it get more spiritually demanding than 11 countries in 11 months?!” I thought. Well, because, like its name implies, this trip is an expedition. That means that the World Race is not established in 6 of the 12 countries we will go to. The World Race has contacts in the countries, but my team and I will be making connections with local churches, planting churches, and paving the way for future racers to come in and minister to these people.
One of my friends later told me, “Tera, if they were to write a trip specifically for you and the gifts you have to serve the church, I feel like this would be it.”
Why? Because the South American Expedition route is 12 countries (plus one territory) in 11 months, encompassing the entire continent of South America. Almost all of the countries are Spanish-speaking. One of my undergrad degrees is Spanish, I studied in Spain, and before God wrecked my life with this idea, I was planning on becoming a Spanish teacher.
In addition, I have spent my whole life training three to five grueling hours a day, and this trip is limited to a select group of people because of its physical demands. Sometimes we will be hiking as many as 18 miles in two days, we will navigate the Amazon River by boat for several weeks, and we will engage in many other physically demanding activities.
What will I be doing?
As for what we will literally be doing, it depends on the country. Most of the time we will be working with local ministries and churches, doing whatever they need. That could include serving through hard labor and construction, sharing the gospel with unreached people groups in the Amazon, planting churches, ministering in orphanages in the city, working with backpacking, sports, hostel, children’s, or coffee ministries, doing street evangelism, and much more! Overall, we want to show Christ’s love in tangible ways. I will know more specifics about the work we will be doing in each country after I attend Training Camp.
To see a basic overview of the work I will be doing in each country, click here.
Why am I telling you?
God has always planted a little seed in my heart that life is about more than what goes on within the borders of the continental US. He has now brought that little seed forth into a meek plant, barely breaking the surface of the soil. For me, the hardest part of this whole idea is that now I must ask all of you to help this plant grow into a tree. Like the mustard seed in the Bible, I dream of this trip and the experiences I have on it becoming a tree in which others can land, take refuge in, and grow their own faith through its branches.
Prayer
I can’t do this alone, and I need the body of Christ to back me up in this! I am a huge believer in the power of prayer. I believe that prayer is the most powerful activity we get to engage in on this side of heaven. Prayer connects the almighty, limitless God of the universe with His limited, broken children on earth. So I am looking for people to radically change my life and the lives of those I will meet on this trip by covering us in prayer!
My hope is that I can get 44 people to commit to praying for a specific week of my trip, that way someone is praying for us throughout the whole 11 months.
If you would like to sign up to pray for a week of my trip, please click here.
Financial Support
My initial instinct was to think of different jobs I could do and ways I could make money to finance this trip myself. But God has shown me that to try to do this myself is to rob others of the joy of taking this journey with me. There is power in the body of Christ coming together to support each other and change the world together. I think there is humility in admitting my need for all of you.
So…I need you! My total trip cost is $16,500, and that’s not including vaccinations or flights to training camp in Georgia or the flight to the first destination in the US. I believe God is going to show up in ways we could never fathom, and I am inviting you to be a part of this incredible journey with me. Please consider donating to my cause and seeing the gospel advance to the nations throughout South America!
To partner with me financially, please click the “support me” button on the left side of this page.
If anyone has any connections to an outdoor goods company, a sponsor for my traveling gear and tent equipment would be a tremendous blessing, as well!
Learn More
If you want to hear more about how God told me to go on the World Race, what I will be doing on the Race, or anything relating to the Race, please contact me! I would love to share what God is doing in my life.
Thank you for taking the time to read about what God is doing in my life. Thank you for loving me and supporting me with an unconditional love that I can barely comprehend. I pray He blesses your life with the truth and love that only He can give.
Tera
