How did I decide to “take a year off” and do the World Race? First off, I don’t like saying that I’m taking a year off, because I know these eleven months being His hands and feet will be anything but a “year off.” I will be challenged in ways I cannot even imagine as I’m sitting in my (mostly) cozy dorm room. And even though I hate saying that I’m taking a “year off,” I still find myself using it to describe what I’m doing when people ask me what I’m doing after graduation. Because, I mean how else am I supposed to explain that instead of immediately starting a “real” job once I graduate I’ll be going to 11 countries in 11 months? Oh well…that’s all besides the point, so back to the question: How did I decide to do the World Race?
Deciding to do the World Race is something that I have been struggling with and questioning since sophomore year of college. Seriously. Missions is something I have been passionate about since my freshman year of high school when I went on my first mission trip to Appalachia. I loved it so much I kept going back year after year. Then after my freshman year of college, I got to go on my first international mission trip to Belize and I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I loved getting to experience a different culture and seeing the world from a completely different perspective. I was able to take God out of the little box I had unknowingly put him in.
Flash-forward to my sophomore year of college, my school was hosting a missions fair. I decided to go because I could get a chapel credit (just being honest lol). As I was walking around I came to the “Adventures in Missions” table. I stopped to talk to the girl working the table and as soon as she said “11 countries in 11 months” I immediately wanted to do it. Being the human being that I am, I went back to my dorm and googled “world race.” I soon realized you have to be 21 to go and I was newly 19. Darn. I kept clicking around on their website and realized they had summer trips for college aged students. How perfect! On a whim, I decided to apply for the one month India trip. I got accepted a few weeks later and I called my mom to tell her I was going to India. I think she thought I was joking…but I wasn’t, so to India I went!
That month in India was when it really clicked how much I love international missions. Even though I was miles and miles from my “home” in Greenville, I felt like I was at home in India. I changed in ways I can’t really explain. I learned the importance of community, how to love people, how truly blessed I am, how BIG God is, and SO MUCH MORE. Towards the end of my trip I told my roommate (shoutout to Michala) that I was going to do the world race once I graduated from college. Of course I kept saying, “I don’t know if things will change, but as of now – I am going to go on the world race after I graduate.”
So now you’re probably wondering how I struggled to decide on the World Race like I mentioned earlier, because so far it really hasn’t sounded like a struggle, but the struggle was real, very real.
At this point, I’m in the middle of my junior year of college and I knew that I wanted to go on the World Race, but how could I be sure that the World Race was something God wanted for me? I was praying just about every night asking God to speak to me and somehow let me know that I should go on the World Race if He wanted me to go. After a few months I had not heard from him or seen any signs and I was conflicted. Ultimately, I knew the World Race would be something that would glorify God, but I wanted to know if He was calling me to go or stay in SC and start my teaching career right after graduation.
(Side note, if you haven’t picked up on it yet..I like to plan for things way in advance…hence why I was desperately trying to figure out what I was doing after graduation two years early and a year before I could even apply for the WR lol)
Then one day I stumbled upon a blog from a former world racer. She was able to put into words what I had been feeling, but wasn’t able to understand. She pretty much explained that sometimes we can get stuck waiting to hear our “calling” directly from God, when we have already received our calling in the scriptures. God has commanded us to go into all of the nations and to make disciples, to love others, and to declare His glory. So there it was. I have already received my calling to make disciples. Now the choice was mine. Should I stay where I am and make disciples or go out into the nations and make disciples? Both are equally important, but I’ve know for a while that my calling was international missions.
And just like that I found peace. I decided to apply for the WR as soon as I could, and if I got accepted, I would go. So now, it’s the summer between the end of my junior year and the start of my senior year. I filled out a general application for the WR in June, went through the interview process, and got accepted. Next I had to wait until August for the August 2018 route reveal! This was probably the worst part for me haha! Then this past week they announced the three routes for August of 2018. I ultimately decided on the first route because the three countries that had been on my heart were all on the route!
So when August 2018 comes around I will be departing on my WR to Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia!
So now you know the story of how I ended up deciding to take the plunge and do the WR! I am so excited to see what God will do in me and through me on this fundraising journey and throughout my eleven months being His hand and feet to the least of these!
Please be praying for me (senior year + fundraising = a little overwhelming) and my teammates!
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