But this is my heart and soul poured out in a blog.
So if you can make it through, I appreciate you more than you know.
I’ve felt for the last few days that I really need to share why this trip is so important to me.
I mean REALLY why.
Yeah. It’s exciting. 11 countries in a year. Awesome. Seeing the world. Riding elephants. Holding tigers. Jumping off waterfalls. Getting tattoos. And it sounds really impressive that I’m going to live in a tent with only what I can carry on my back.
Sweet.
But that’s not it.
That’s not even close.
And I’m afraid I’m cheapening what the purpose of this next year is by letting people just be excited for me.
I want you to understand.
I want you to know not why I want to do this, but why I MUST do this.
And this blog has been SO hard for me to write.
[The hardest one yet.]
Because there is this ache inside of me that I can’t figure out how to express in words.
This tugging on my heart that is screaming for me to understand.
I wish I could take out my heart and give it to you so you can feel what I do.
Then I wouldn’t need no stinkin’ words.
[Poor Boyfriend is sitting next to me watching me freak out and delete and cry about how I hate technology because I don’t have any papers to crumple up and throw across the room.]
Have you ever felt stuck?
Like your life is good…you’re getting by…but what you’re doing isn’t right…isn’t enough?
I have.
4 years ago I stumbled across The World Race on a random Google search. And I knew that’s what my life was intended for.
Traveling around the world to help people.
I have been given so much just because I happened to be born in the right place.
Running water. Climate controlled rooms. Screen doors. Toilets. Chai lattes. Grocery stores. Target. Shoes. Microwaves. Refrigerators. Paved roads. Beds.
Things I use daily and don’t think twice about.
But things most of the people on this planet consider luxuries.
Or have never even experienced.
GAHHHH.
[That’s what it sounds like when my heart breaks and I’m at a loss of what to do to make things better.]
It was clear to me that my life’s purpose was to share what I had with others who didn’t have.
To make them feel loved and appreciated.
To meet their physical needs and fill them with hope any way that I could.
And for four years, I was too chicken to apply.
Then one day I was asked:
“You are holding Fear and Pride in two coffee cups. Put them down. Now what do you dream?”
The World Race.
My fear and pride got in the way for too long.
It’s time to GO.
I applied once this past October.
Then I let voices of those around me talk me out of it.
Once again, I let people tell me I CAN’T DO IT.
[btw…don’t EVER let ANYONE tell you that.]
But I finally had enough of that. Nothing felt right.
I was Stuck. Stagnant. Complacent. Bored. Restless.
So I applied again. For real this time.
And nothing has ever felt so right.
I finally felt a sense of direction that my life hasn’t had in years.
I finally felt like I was working toward something that mattered.
I spend every day teaching students to reach for their dreams.
Never let anyone tell them they can’t.
Follow their passions.
But I wasn’t following mine.
And once I did…once I listened to the call that God placed on my heart years ago…everything fell into place and once again my life had a sense of meaning.
On my route, here are some specifics of what I get to do and how my team will be meeting the needs of those in the countries we are serving.
- Mozambique: Serve widows and orphans living in extreme poverty
- Malawi: Same thing 🙂
- Zambia: This is a country at the bottom of the UN’s Human Development Index, with people suffering from poverty, malnourishment, short life expectancy, lack of clean water, and AIDS. These are the people I get to live with for a month.
- Philippines: Here we get to work with more orphans and people living in poverty
- Thailand: There are about 600,000 with HIV/AIDS in Thailand. We’ll be working with them, more orphans, and the 2 million people who have been forced into prostitution through sex trafficking/tourism.
- Cambodia: Another country that is a source, transit point, and destination for human trafficking.
- Colombia: We’ll be working with thousands of street children and in rehabilitation facilities here.
- Ecuador: More than half of this country lives at or below the poverty line. We’ll probably be working with kids here too.
- Peru: We’ll be living in Iquitos, a city only accessible by air or boat because it is surrounded by jungle on all sides, and will serve through construction and traveling to meet remote tribes along the river.
- Chile: We’ll be working with the local churches to build up hope within the congregations.
- Argentina: We will travel through Patagonia, one of the most remote areas on the earth to the southernmost city in the world ministering through extreme sports and to the youth.
I hope this sheds some light on why I MUST go.
I also included some pictures and a video.
Because they speak to my heart.
And explain things so much better than my words can.
If you made it this far…Thanks.
It’s not easy for me to share my heart, but I appreciate you listening.
