Greetings!! Welcome to my blog! So I’ve never done this whole blogging thing before, but this is going to be fantastic…so please, stay tuned. I have some exciting news. God willing, in October of 2018, with your love and support, I will embark on the World Race, a journey that will involve traveling to 11 countries in 11 months and serving in different ministries in each country. Here is a video that describes the trip a bit more.
HOW COOL IS THAT?! Let me tell you how I got here…
I am currently living in Ligonier, PA and interning at a high school youth ministry called Valley Youth Network. I absolutely LOVE my internship, and have learned so much about what working in ministry involves. My internship will be over in June, and at the beginning of this school year I began praying about what’s next for me and this life o’ mine. Back in high school I heard about this real cool missions thing called the World Race. I think it might have popped up on my Instagram feed or something, but I researched it a bit, and tucked it away in the back of my mind as something that looked cool. That same day, I was lifeguarding at the good ole YMCA and one of the lifeguards informed me that she would be leaving soon to go on a year long missions trip. Something clicked in my brain and I was like, “It’s not called the World Race is it?!” She informed me that indeed it was. Since then, I have had several other friends embark on this journey.
I have felt a call to missions for quite some time, and when praying about where to go next, the Lord kept putting the World Race on my heart. When talking with family and friends, whenever I mentioned that I was in the process of applying to the World Race, it was always met with “YES” or “FINALLY!”. I believe that the Lord has been preparing my heart for this adventure, and I am so excited to “FINALLY” take the leap and go!
Something that I am super passionate about is helping victims of human trafficking. During my senior year of college, I was able to intern at an aftercare facility for women who had been trafficked within the U.S. It was heartbreaking, but I learned so much, not only about human trafficking, but also about myself. One of the things that really drew me to the World Race was that throughout the race, my team will be serving at different ministries that help victims of human trafficking. I am anxious to see how human trafficking manifests itself in different countries and cultures, and learn how to care for its victims.
All in all, I firmly believe that this is where Christ is leading me, and it is so refreshing to just follow the Lord. I look forward to growing in intimacy with Him. I know I will be challenged spiritually, emotionally, and physically throughout the 11 months, and I pray that I draw close to the Lord in the midst of it all. Please, join this journey with me! Please lift me up in your prayers. Please leave comments after my blogs. I love you all and am so incredibly humbled and thankful to have you for family and friends. 🙂 Please stay tuned for my next blog post about what countries I will be traveling to!
Peace,
Katie
Random Katie Thoughts:
1. I am thoroughly enjoying Thanksgiving…the food, family, and friends. It’s hard knowing that I will not be here this time next year!
2. During the trip I will be packing ALL of my belongings for a year (tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, etc.) in a backpack…there will probably be a blog post about how the heck I plan on accomplishing that! haha
3. While I am super excited about the trip there are lots of things I am nervous about like what living and traveling with a group of people that I don’t already know will be like, and not seeing friends and family for a year. It’s going to be so weird not being able to just pick up my phone and call or text a friend to keep in touch!
