After graduating high school I knew that there was more. There was more than graduating from college with a four year degree and starting a 9-5 job somewhere. School has never really been my thing- I am one of those people that has to study for hours just to get a B or C. Serving others however is something I am good at, and I find joy in. I took a semester off of school to go on a couple of mission trips this past year to serve others and grow in my faith. The things I learned in three shorts weeks was more than I could have ever hoped for! In June I went to Haiti with some young adults and although Haiti is so broken- they have so much hope. Growing up in America I have had everything I have ever wanted. But yet I still felt like I needed more things, until I went to Haiti. Although they have nothing, they have hope and smiles on their faces. Their smiles do not come from money or possessions, which was hard for me to comprehend at first. My mind first went to all the things these people need like a good job, better clothes, better food to eat. But the realization came to me that these people do not need any of these things, and it is not a matter of what they need, it is a matter of who they need, and that person is Jesus. If they are lucky enough to have a job it is usually hours away from where they live, and to think that I have to drag myself out of bed to show up for work but they will walk hours for theirs. Haiti was hard. Haiti was hard because the realization had finally came true to me, there was more. Because witch craft is still accepted there if a child is born with a disability- they are hidden from the world. Their parents are ashamed of them and a lot of kids end up in orphanages or die before they are five years old. Haiti was HARD.
After getting back from Haiti, I went to Antigua to help build a new church building. While there I met Myway! He was one of our drivers that took us to and from the job site, helped out on site, and took us to the beach if we had free time. He took a week off of work just to help us out! He made sure when he was getting gas or on his way home to make opportunities to tell people about what we were doing. “I’m dirty because I am helping build a new church building! Our first service is going to be in three weeks, would you like to come?” Myway was a true servant of the Lord. To see someone so excited about the gospel that he would tell anyone on the island about Jesus if they would listen was eye opening. I am not the person to go around telling people about Jesus anywhere I go, and it makes me wonder how many opportunities I have missed by doing so. I definitely learned to use the opportunities that I am given as well as well as to go out of my way to share with people about the good news of Jesus.
Later in the year I went to Thailand for a sports ministry/ human trafficking prevention trip. I was most excited about the sport ministry because that is right up my ally. We ended up doing one day of sport ministry out of the seven that we were there, which was fine by me! We spent a lot of our time going door to door telling people about Jesus and sharing the priceless cube. So what that means is that for at least 5 hours a day we were prayer walking, and going into people’s homes sharing Jesus with them! It was something that I had never done before but was grateful we spent a lot of time doing. I never saw myself as a person who would be comfortable with walking up to a strangers home and telling them about Jesus, but that is what these trips specialize in, getting out of your comfort zone and letting you realize you are capable of more than you ever thought possible through Jesus. You see in Thailand, if you are born a girl, in a poor family a lot of people believe that you did something horrible in your past life so you have to start working at a very young age to pay for your past mistakes. There is not a ton of work that a seven year old can do. Some parents even sell their daughters into the sex industry. It broke my heart! I could not fathom my father selling me into sex slavery. When I think about my personal situations I realize how blessed I truly am . I thought Haiti was hurting, Thailand is too.
After going to these three places I was reminded how broken our world is and how much we need Jesus, starting with where I live. I started wanting more for my life than just going to work for 40 hours a week and hanging out with friends. I wanted more, I prayed for more- God answered that prayer when He showed me the World Race.
I’m at the perfect stage in life to spend 11 months going to different countries serving people, making heaven more crowded. I finally have nothing holding me back! I know this journey will not be easy and some days I wonder if I qualified enough but then I remember that God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called, and I believe I am called to preach God’s word to people know need and want to know more. People who know there is something more than this life out there but have not had someone willing enough to take the risk yet, well I am that someone.
I am chasing after more.
I have hope for our world.
