Okay so let me start with saying that I am new to blogs and I am still getting the hang of this, so I thought I would try it. I’ll start with introducing myself and what I will be doing on my trip. For those of you who do not know me my name is Taylor Craig and I live in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I have always had a passion for missions and have been on 2 mission trips with my dad. My very first mission trip with my dad was in 2013 to Uganda, Africa. My dad and I loved it and had the best time of our lives. His prayer was someday to come back and bring the whole family so they could experience what we both went through. That prayer was answered and we went back to Uganda with my whole family in 2015. With all being said, I began to realize that this maybe was my calling to go serve in another country and love on the people and children there.
When I was completing my college applications for some reason it wasn’t feeling right. I was thinking to myself okay why is this not right, I have to go to college. I have always dreamed of college, being all on my own, not having to be told what to do all the time and to have the freedom I have always wanted. But for some reason I was not feeling that excitement, it was way more stressful than exciting. No school really felt like the one or was calling my name to further my education. I did not know what I wanted my major to be, so that’s another thing that stressed me out. All the stress of college applications consumed my mind and led me to think more that this is not what I am wanting yet. It wasn’t until I started talking to my grandma about other options than college and asking her what her opinion was on it. After we started talking we immediately went on the computer and started searching other options about missions because I knew I wanted to do something in the mission field. I had a friend go on the world race and she told me all about the 11 months in 11 different countries and I thought that would be something amazing to experience. Eventually we found out that the World Race had a Gap Year program and immediately this seemed to click to me that this is something I wanted to do.
I thought to myself about the World Race. I went home so excited to talk to my parents about what I was looking into. It took endless nights of not sleeping and worrying about “is this something I really would like to do”. Finally one night it just clicked and I knew. I got out my computer and began to research everything about this trip and what it involves. It wasn’t long until I started to complete the application process and to hit the send button. I had the best feeling in the world and that was when I knew this is what is right. I have never thought about a mission trip this long, nine months away from home had always seemed to long for me, but I thought to myself, “ God has a plan in store for me”. He is going to show me what is best for me and will lead me the right way. The application process was finished and a couple days went by before I had my phone interview, but when the phone rang, I answered it super excited and nervous at the same time to talk to them. A day later went by and I answered the phone with the words, “Congratulations, you have been accepted into the World Race Gap Year program” .This excitement overwhelmed me and I ran downstairs to tell all my siblings.
My launch begins in September of 2018 where my team and I will begin our nine month mission trip. Our route will begin with three months in Costa Rica, followed by three months in South Africa, two months in Thailand and one month in Myanmar. Although my trip is not for a couple months my preparation begins. As I take this next step into my future I ask for your prayers and support. I will need not only financial support to reach my fundraising goal, most importantly I will need prayers for safe travel and to prepare myself for how God will use me to further his kingdom. I am excited to see what God has in store for me and I am asking you to follow me on this journey. I am excited to keep you guys updated with my blogs as I prepare for launch in the mission field.
