Hello all!
I thought I’d write a post just to let everyone know what I will be up to for the next year. No, I am not going to college next year. And yes I am okay with that! For 9 months I will be traveling around the world loving on God’s people and spreading Jesus to as many people as I can. I will be in the Philippines, Botswana, South Africa, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti!
Why?
Entering junior year of high school, I felt a lot of pressure from teachers to have my plan in place. To have my college of choice picked out, major decided, and future job chosen. I had none of those things in my mind. I had just gotten back from an incredibly humbling mission trip where God really smacked me in the face with some God truth. On that trip God broke me. My heart was broken for the community I was working in and the people I was working for. At that point in my life, missions had become something that a majority of my thoughts revolved around. I was struggling to sit through classes and be present in my daily life. Looking at college was not my favorite idea. I didn’t want to spend four years at school again when I could be out in the world living for God.
And that is when the World Race came into my life.
I was scrolling through Twitter and the World Race kept popping up as a ‘recommended’ account. It had been popping up as a recommended page for a couple of weeks and I had been continually ignoring it. At this point in time I had also begun searching for different “gap year” options, but none of them really fit my vision. I jokingly say that the Lord gave my the World Race through my Twitter. But, that is actually what happened. After doing some research (and watching every video on the Internet about the World Race) I started praying. And prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And through a few very conveniently timed sermons and songs on the radio (thanks God ;)) I had made my decision.
A year later and the Lord has continued to affirm my decision to spend a year out of my life living solely for Him. I applied in October and was officially accepted into the World Race in November. From that point until now, I have had my doubts and fears. The holidays have been a bit rough as I come to the realization that I will be away from the comforts of home at this time next year. It can be a bit of a daunting task, but if it were easy we wouldn’t need God.
Please join me in prayer for my team and the countries I will be serving in. Pray for their hearts and journeys, that they would be filled with His love through the good and the bad. And please pray for me, that I would continually be reminded that if it wasn’t challenging me, it wouldn’t be changing me. And that I cannot do it on my own.
Much love, Emma
“See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:19
