I don’t think I could have ever planned for this to happen the way that it has happened for me. I heard about the World Race in 2012 when I was 16 and a sophomore in high school through a Facebook friend of a friend. I was an art student, and a baby Christian and I had a heart to see the world change. Throughout the course of high school, that knowledge birthed in me the desire to see the world, and to experience it.
Fast forward, and the 16 year old girl who once wanted to give the world art, found herself in a prayer closet, and I found the Lord calling me somewhere else. Somewhere completely different. Somewhere greater. Upon graduation, I decided to get my degree in communications, which then led to a specialization in Journalism, which has continued to open up many doors for me.
The summer before I started college, I was able to help start a ministry that would reach out to the homeless in the most rag-tag/creative way I knew how. We called it Unbox Hope and through that ministry, I was able to make friends with the homeless men and women in my community. They shared with me how they got to such a hard place in their lives. How they wanted to get out. How they were grateful to be seen as human again. And throughout my first year in college, I felt God call me into what is commonly known as the mission field. To me, its just choosing life that gives and serves, and loves, just as Christ has called us to love, outside of the four walls of a church.
Last May, with the help of many people reading this, I was able to go to India. It wasn’t how I had envisioned it, but God was able to show me so much more through that process. I traveled with two other girls my age, and got to experience life together with a group of people who had never met me, and yet welcomed me in. I experienced a touch of the global church. It was around this time that I started thinking about and praying about The World Race again, and I felt God’s answers shift from “not yet” to “soon.”
Through some miracles, I was able to meet four World Race alumni who all were gracious as I asked questions and pried into their lives. While at a conference called Passion 2016, I met a random girl in the hotel hallway, and my sister and I were able to ride with them every day to the arena where I would be able to sit and be a part of a ministry far away from my hometown of Florida, but who loved my sister and I wholeheartedly. I knew I had to apply.
And to my surprise (I think his favorite thing is to surprise me) God knew exactly what I needed. I was accepted into the World Race: Gap Year, and within a few weeks the application, recommendation, and interview process was completed.
I am currently in the process of finalizing the details of my fundraising plan, and will soon be posting how you can help support me. I am so unbelievably excited to welcome you all into this journey.
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I will be raising $13,800 to cover the cost for this trip. If God lays it on your heart to help send me out by supporting me financially, click “Support Me” on the left to make a tax-deductible donation. Or, cut out the small online processing fee by mailing a check to:
Adventures in Missions
PO Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
Checks should be made out to “Adventures in Missions”.
***Put “CASTRO TIFFANY” in the info line of the check!!!!!***
