We were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip.
Here is my story:
The first opportunity I had to go on a mission trip was the summer
after my senior year of High School. I went to Calico Rock Arkansas
with 7 teens and 3 adults. This was my first experience serving others
instead of myself. It was the best thing I had ever done in my life. Three
years went by before I went on another mission trip. This time I was a
chaperon to San Antonio Texas. I had an amazing time on this trip serving alongside forty teenagers and ten adults. This was when God started to stir something in me to do something different with my life. 
After graduating from college I felt God calling me to move to North Carolina and pursue a career in Youth Ministry. So I followed Gods call and moved 1800 miles away from my family. A few months after I arrived the pastor at the church I worked at asked me to go to Guatemala the next summer. I told him there was no way I could do something like that. I gave every excuse I could. I don’t have enough money to do that. I don’t have time to do that. I cant take the time off to do that. He stopped pushing and I didn’t think about it again. Then one day he told me I could get scholarships to cover the costs of the trip and my full time boss had already told him I could have the time off. I thought and prayed about it and talked with some close friends. They asked why I really didn’t want to go and do this.I told them that I was afraid that once I experienced international missions that I would never want to stop doing them. They laughed at me and I immediately knew I needed to go to Guatemala and then start looking for some type of long term international mission. I have always had a desire to go to Africa and work with orphans there but never thought I had the capability of doing that. So I started looking and quickly found The World Race. I thought, “Man that sounds like an awesome thing” and left it at that. That same day I had lunch with my pastor and told him about The World Race. He asked me when I was leaving. Wow…he asked me to put action into my thoughts and that kind of scared me. I always think about doing things but rarely put action into them. That same day I started my application and now am leaving in four short months. I have a strong desire to hold orphans in Africa, pray with widows in the Caribbean, share Christ’s love with lepers in Thailand and look into the eyes of humans everywhere and tell them they are loved by the Most High God. God has called each of us for greatness in different areas of ministry. I believe mine is in international ministries. I am humbled and honored that God has chosen me to spread His message to the World. I can’t wait to see what He has in store for me!
