When the Lord put taking a gap year for him and later the World Race on my heart, I applied without a second thought. The second thought came when I realized this gap year journey would cost just about $15,000. That is A LOT of money and I don’t know how, but somehow the Lord gave me a peace about it. I just knew that if this is really what he wanted for me, he would make it happen.
When I got accepted, we put down the deposit and my fundraising journey began. I made t-shirts, sent support letters out, and prayed a whole lot. God took care of the rest. My first deadline came and went, I was well over the $5,000 I was supposed to have raised. Then, the second deadline came and I barely hit it. I remember being about $160 short and finding out the day of the deadline that someone had donated $250 putting me over my goal.
Before I left, I had a fundraiser dinner and auction which was a lot of work, but so great. Not only did it get to serve as a fundraiser, but also as an opportunity to truly let people into my journey. This put me closer to my goal, but I left for this nine month journey without being fully funded. I DID NOT want this to be the case, so it created a little bit of stress, but I still knew God would provide.
Since being here, fundraising has come up a lot. It is hard and stressful to think about fundraising while being on the other side of the world without much access to and time to get on the internet. The other night I had walked by a little coffee stand I was connected to the internet at and my phone received some notifications, email included. When I got back to the house, I was checking it only to find that I got a donation. I opened the email to find out that one person had donated what I needed to be completely funded! You read that right, IM FULLY FUNDED!!!! The Lord always provides, always.
Through this fundraising journey, the Lord has been so present. He brought a peace over me about it which I know could have only been him because well, have you met me? I’m so detailed oriented and me having so much peace about such a big detail had to have been God. He provided when I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen for me. He walked me through the uphill and downhill battles of it all. He gave me the strength and boldness to keep working towards my goal. Most importantly, he remained so faithful. He gave me what I needed when I needed it and so much more.
Who knew that something as simple as fundraising could bring you closer to the Lord? Humbling yourself before the Lord and putting something so big in hands takes a lot of trust and faith in his greatness and he more than came through. He is big enough to tackle anything, just have faith in his power and knowledge in what he wants for you.
Thank you to each and every person who supported me through prayer, financial donations, time, sharing my things on Facebook, being role models in my life to get me to this point, etc. Each and every person has played a role in getting me to where I am and words can’t thank you enough.
Sidenote, while I am fully funded, I still have two teammates who aren’t quite there. If you were wanted to donate to me, but didn’t get the chance, I encourage you to donate to them! Their names are Drew Doyle (drewdoyle.theworldrace.org) and Lexi Grisanti (lexigrisanti.theworldrace.org) and they are beautiful, servant hearted women who have become sisters to me. Please prayerfully consider donating to them, it would mean so much!
Thank you so so so much again!! Words can’t express how amazing this fundraising journey has been. Thank you for all your continued love and support. It means the world! Sending love all the way from Cambodia!
