Every time I left the grocery store when I was little I would tell the clerk at check out “Thank you, have a blessed day!” This may not seem like a big deal but I was 4 and nobody taught me to say that, it was just something I said. I have always had a servant’s heart, meaning ever since I was a little girl I had a willingness in me to serve and to bless others in any way that I could. My parents have told me a story about when I was 6 and went to a sleepover at a neighbor’s house to celebrate a birthday. We had fun, ate cake, and when it was time to eat dinner I told everyone it was time to pray, so we grabbed hands and I started praying. I thanked God for sending Jesus to die on the cross for us and I thanked Him for my friend and her birthday, of course I don’t remember what I said but this prayer is what this family needed to hear. After that, while everyone played, I sat at the dinner table with this family and answered their questions about Jesus and the bible. The next day they called my parents over and talked with them about my prayer and that allowed for my parents to witness to them. A few months ago, I ran into a family member that was there when I prayed for them, years ago. She reminded me of how I introduced her to Jesus and she told me that I led her to Him. God has always had a place in my heart and has had a way of showing Himself through me.
I have naturally found myself in leadership roles in church and school. Before attending Dickinson High School, I prayed that God would use me, and specifically, that I would be a light to others. I wanted to be known for my friendliness and love for Jesus. I would often give rides to my peers, anonymously write notes of encouragement, and I started to learn how to be intentional in my friendships. I began serving in our children’s ministry at the age of 16, teaching the gospel to children, just as the gospel was taught to me as a child.
This desire to teach the gospel and to be a light stirred another desire in me. The desire to “Go”. To spread the love of Jesus outside of my community just as we are commissioned in Matthew 28:19. In 2014 I went on a mission trip to Tegucigalpa, Honduras with my parents and a team from Clear Creek Community Church. Throughout our week we spent time in local schools tutoring English and hosting women’s bible studies. When we went out into the village, we handed out rice and beans and went door to door spreading the gospel and praying over families’ physical and spiritual brokenness. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I would arrive in Honduras, but when I got there, I knew nothing could have prepared me for it. There was so much hurt and suffering, but when you took a step closer you saw hope and you saw life. To share a moment of joy with the children of Tegucigalpa, Honduras who have never seen a dentist and only own the clothes on their back was such a pure, rare and cherished moment. To tutor them English and watch their smiles creep across their faces while they laughed at my poor Spanish was so special. To share just a moment with these amazingly strong people, who had such a small number of things and so much faith, hope, and love, was unforgettable. My favorite moment from this trip is when we were doing door to door ministry and an older lady invited me into her home so she could pray for me. She held me close and whispered sweet prayers in my ear and kissed me on the cheek. We laughed, cried, and hugged each other good bye. It was in moments like these that I could feel the presence of God and it was this mission trip that rooted the seed in me to go.
I wanted to continue to be used by God in this way, so the following summer, I went on another mission trip to Haiti with my church youth group. Having seen poverty before, I wondered what this week would be like. How it would be different than Honduras. Our time in Haiti held a lot of strategic village time, meaning we would be sperated into groups with translators and going door to door in our groups learning the needs of each village. We documented their needs such as clean drinking water, access to a medical nurse, shoes, food, and other basic needs. But ultimately, we were there to learn the condition of their heart. We would ask them “Do you go to church? Do you know Jesus? Do you have a bible?”. Our conversations would last from 15 minutes to sometimes an hour. During our door to door ministry, we met a man named Jon that knew Jesus and spoke English very well. He got out his bible, and began reading his favorite passages to us while a friend and I sat on their porch washing their dishes, and his wife made sandwiches to sell. In that moment, I was in a foreign country, that some would call the murder capital of the world, with the most inviting family I have ever met, together sharing our love of Jesus.
On these mission trips my eyes were open to cultures and the reality of Christ in ways I never imagined. They conditioned my heart to pay even more attention to the hurting around me when I returned back home to normalcy. After graduating high school in 2016 I began taking courses at College of The Mainland, perusing a degree in Education. Within the past year and a half, I have been asking God where he would send me because this desire to go never really left. I began praying and trusting in God more with my life. I thought maybe I would spend my summer serving in Haiti and that seemed perfect to me. I had been to Haiti before and it was only a few months (right outside my comfort zone). But however, God was calling me to do more.
I had heard of World race before but always doubted that this was something God was calling ME to. Leaving my family, friends and all of my comforts for 11 months was just too big for me so I pushed that thought away. But God kept the World Race on my mind. I started thinking about it a couple days a week, then very quickly a couple times a day. I finally started praying specifically for the World Race and asking God with confidence if this is where He would send me. During this time of prayer and asking, I didn’t really mention to anyone that I was considering it a lot so when one of my close friends mentioned it to me, it became very clear that this was God’s plan for me. My friend told me out of the blue “You should apply for the World race, it seems like it would suite you.” I immediately felt joy and peace. It seemed like God was shouting at me to stop doubting myself and to finally apply for the dang World Race. So that’s what I did! By the following week, I submitted my application and a week later learned that I was accepted into this amazing organization.
So, what is the World Race? World Race is a program with Adventures and Missions that will take me on a journey to 11 countries in 11 months. I am going on a route that begins in the Philippines then goes to Thailand, Malaysia, Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. God will not only use this trip to strengthen me but to most importantly, reach others. My team and I will be teaching English to children in local schools, assisting in foster homes, doing construction work, ministering to victims of sex trafficking and partnering with churches to fill whatever needs that God has in store for us. I know this mission trip will be a great challenge but I look forward to embracing everything that it holds. I hope that by having a blog you will be able to get to know me more and understand the joy that I have in my salvation and calling to missions. Thank you for taking the time to read this! Please feel free to comment and subscribe in order to follow me along on this journey.
