Adventure. This is my word for 2018. Adventure is defined as an unusual and exciting or daring experience. About a year and a half ago, God put on my heart missions. I followed that prompt and in the fall of 2016 I went to Cambodia and it rocked my world. Through that experience, I realized God was calling me to something that would pull me out of my comfort zone to draw me closer to Him. I knew He was calling me to go overseas for missions, but I was hesitant and scared. I went back and forth with the idea but each time the urgency to move forward became greater and greater. There was no denying that this was what I needed to do. After much prayer and research I stepped forward by applying for the World Race.
The World Race is an 11-month mission trip to 11 different countries, sharing the love of Jesus and serving others around the world. I completed the application and soon after I was contacted for a phone interview. During this interview I was asked to share my story and what God has done in my life. I was so nervous and I didn’t know anything about the person on the other end of the phone. I was about to share some of the darkest times of my life. After 1 hour, I felt accomplished and relieved yet overwhelmingly exposed. I shared my struggles with anxiety and depression. I talked about the effects of being bullied as a 12 year old: my hair fell out and I began to emotionally eat. I walked through my journey in counseling to discover how I wasn’t able to feeling any emotions because of years of stuffing them down. I couldn’t believe how vulnerable I had just been with a complete stranger. In that moment, God showed me a vision of me lying on an operating table, with my chest cut wide open and my heart exposed. He was performing open-heart surgery. Open-heart surgery is an operation to repair a fault or damage to the heart. My heart clearly looked sick, but as He placed His hands over my heart, every damaged valve and artery was repaired. I had a new heart; it was healthy and beating strong again. God showed me that while the things of my past were painful and traumatizing, I was no longer a slave to them. His blood had covered those things and from this day forward I was to walk in my identity. I am a child of God, saved, loved, beautiful, and healed. I declare that I am a new creation through Jesus Christ and I will tell my story with confidence and with boldness. Wow, God is so good!
After a couple of weeks had passed, I was filled with so much peace as I waited to see if I would be accepted. On October 12th, I received a call that I had been accepted to go on the World Race! This is really happening! I am about to take a year of my life and learn to live in full surrender. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified, but with that comes so much excitement. I’m so excited to journey with Him and see what all He is going to do over this next year. Beginning on August 1st, I will set out on this 11-month adventure to 11 different countries. The countries I will be visiting are: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. I’m excited to commit my year to taking more risks, being more flexible, facing some of my biggest fears, and growth. I have no expectations for what I think the race should look like, but I know one thing: I am ready for this adventure. As always, thank you so much for your endless prayers and support as I prepare to launch in this new season. Please subscribe above to get updates from me while I’m still preparing and while I’m out in the field.
With love,
Kayla Burgess
