World Race Preparation
Lately, I feel like I’ve been hiding my struggles from others or only telling a few people about them because I feel defeated admitting them, and I don’t want others to see my struggles as reasons for why I’m not capable of going on the World Race. The truth is, not one of us is “qualified” to go to 11 countries in 11 months with all the cultural, language, and spiritual training we would need for a mission trip of this magnitude. We are not going because we are qualified, we are going because we are called. Being called doesn’t mean you have the best background or qualifications that make you perfect for the job. It means that God thinks you can do it, and He asked you to go, so as a follower of Jesus, you decide to say yes. All Christians are called to be missionaries. Whether here in the United States or in a different country, we are all meant to go and make disciples of all nations.
Jesus doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. So what have I been doing? Preparing. As you may have guessed, there are a lot of aspects that go into preparing for the World Race. Most of our official training will be at Training Camp in June, a few days before Launch in August, and we will continue to be discipled and grow in our faith while on the World Race. Think about that as the tip of the iceberg, the part that people see. What God is doing with us and in us in our lives leading up to the Race and during the Race, is the rest of the iceberg, the part that people don’t always see.
To future World Racers, this isn’t a list of guidelines for what you should be doing leading up to your World Race, because God prepares each of us differently. But some of these things may be helpful to you since each World Racer will be preparing spiritually, physically, and financially for the Race.
Spiritually: God’s been preparing me by teaching me new things during this time leading up to the World Race. A lot of it has to do with trusting Him as weird situations come up in my life, trusting Him as He’s put new and old friends back into my life so I can reconnect and practice evangelizing, and trusting in His provision financially, because I definitely can’t make this fundraising goal on my own. I’ve personally been trying to set aside time to read my Bible more, praying for different aspects of my mission trip, reading Christian books to build me up spiritually and prepare me for different evangelizing scenarios, fellowshipping with other Christians through Church and various encounters with friends, and reading books on each country to find out more about each culture.
Physically: This is definitely one of my most challenging aspects of preparing for the Race. Not because I can’t get back in shape, but because it takes willpower to constantly keep it in check each day. There is a physical requirement of the Race that we have to be able to do by June at training camp. When I first applied for the World Race, this fitness requirement was walking/hiking 2 miles in 40 mins. with my big backpack and my smaller front pack on (meaning up to around 60lbs of weight on). No sweat! I thought to myself. I can walk 2 miles in 40 mins. easy. I will just have to train with my big pack full of stuff when I get a big pack. A few weeks ago the fitness requirement showed up on our team blog. It would no longer be walking 2 miles in 40 mins., but walking/hiking 3 miles in 50 mins. That scared me a little, so I tried to get my big pack as soon as possible to start practicing. Yesterday I did my first hike with my big pack on, and I hiked for 50mins through the trails near my house with my big pack full of 18.2lbs of stuff. This would be about half weight of what I might be carrying on my back for the Race and I didn’t practice with my daypack because I don’t have one yet. I made it through my first practice hike alright, though I have a long way to go.
Above: My first practice hike with my pack!
Above: Shark River Park in February
Financially: This has been absolutely the most difficult aspect of preparing for the World Race so far. As you can see by my support bar, I’ve been doing pretty well with my fundraising and starting to reach out to more people about supporting me. I have also gotten my biggest pieces of gear so far: my tent, my backpack, my sleeping pad, and my sleeping bag, as well as some things (like my rain jacket) I just ordered online from a sale. I have also started getting my shots for the trip. So far I’ve gotten my first dose of Hepatitis A, and a booster for Meningitis, Polio, and Tetanus. These are the shots that are covered by my insurance, and so far that isn’t even half of the shots I will need for my trip. God has really showed up by covering this many for me by insurance. The rest I have been praying about that God will show up with cash donations or check donations to me so that I can cover the rest of my shots and gear by June.
I have also been praying that God will provide me with a job to help cover these, but so far I have been interviewed by a company in Florida and I have yet to hear back whether I got the job. It’s been difficult for me considering taking this job. On one hand, there’s security in knowing that I will have a paycheck every week for a few months, but on the other hand, I would have to leave my biggest support-raising system in New Jersey, where I know I still have several churches I have yet to reach out to where I could speak to the congregation and make new connections with prayer partners and supporters. I still have no doubt that God will work out these kinks in my life with my greater support need I have to raise than I initially thought, but sometimes it can be disheartening to see that I am making so much progress, and yet I am so far from where I want to be.
Currently, my personal goal for raising all my support before I leave the country is to raise about $2,333 a month from now until late July. Right now, February’s total of donations is $595 on my support account. I’ve also raised $221 in cash donations this month, which I’ve put towards gear and vaccinations. So that leaves $1,517 that I’m trying to raise by the end of February, or $7,754 total in my support portal with 8 days left! I know that God doesn’t work linearly, and He could easily choose for me to raise less support in one month and then raise triple that amount the next, but I want to challenge anyone who’s reading this and who has said that they have wanted to support me in the past but still hasn’t, or if God is touching your heart right now to give, please click the orange “support me” button on the top of this page to donate. Any amount, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated!
Before you tune me out because I’m expressing my financial need again for this mission trip, there is another way you can help me out!! If you feel so led, please join me in praying for the last 8 days of February that others would feel led to give and that God can prepare the hearts of my teammates, my squadmates, the countries we will be serving in, and myself for everything He is calling us to do now in our lives and everything we will be doing on the Race. Feel free to share this link with others, whether friends, family, or on social media to help get the word out! I can only reach out to so many people myself, but with your help and God on our side, anything is possible!
Also, I will let you in on a little secret. My mobilizer Lindsey has told our squad that due to maintenance of the financial database, any donations made from Feb. 17th thru Feb. 23rd will go into the system normally, but will not show up on our portals right away until the database is updated. I have been praying during these days that while the database is down, God will be touching people’s hearts to donate, pray for my World Race mission trip, and show their support in other ways. I would love for you to become part of my support team and pray with me that after the portal is updated and the donations are submitted manually, the amount of support I have raised will jump considerably and that God’s glory is shown. Please help send me to make Jesus’ name known to people in countries who have never heard his name!
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Thank you to everyone who has supported me already in any way, financially, prayerfully, in friendship and in guidance! I’m praying for you all as well!
