Hi all,
April is flying by and May is around the corner. Warmer weather came for about 48 hours here in NY and then quickly left us for cold and rain. Hopefully in May we will have more consistent warm weather. I know I have some new subscribers, so welcome!
Here is a quick recap and support raising update.
Q: What is The World Race?
A: The World Race is an 11-month missions trip to 11 countries through an organization called Adventures in Missions. Participants go through an extensive application and interview process for a specific route. My route trains in August and launches in October. I will return home September 2019. I will then return to Georgia, USA approximately 1 month after The World Race for an additional debrief session.
My route is: Asia (Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia) Africa (Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa) Central/South America (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador)
Q: Why are you raising $18,200? Why so much? Where does the money go?
A: The $18,200 covers all costs of travel and living abroad. This includes everything from visas, airplane tickets, food, missionary health insurance, and ministry costs. The funds raised go directly to Adventures in Missions. I do not handle any of the money. It is processed through AIM headquarters in Georgia. Any additional money raised over my assigned amount, does not go to me, but a general fund for AIM. Therefore, I will notify all supporters when I am FULLY FUNDED. I am encouraged to fundraise the entire amount, rather than contribute my own funds. This is known as support raising. My supporters are ministry partners. This mission is a partnership. I am your representative of our community, the Church, and Jesus. I take this call to missions seriously.
I am currently saving personal money (from my job) for unforeseen, emergency situations, small gifts for family/friends/hosts, and occasional soul-care adventures during my time-off. This money DOES NOT come from any donations received. Other personal expenses that are out-of-pocket and not from donations are: plane tickets to and from Georgia for training camp and launch, gear (backpacks, tent, sleeping bag, compression packs…), vaccinations, eye contacts, etc. This will come from my personal financial contribution toward the mission.
IMPORTATANT DEADLINES:
7/20……….$5,000
9/21……….$10,000
10/1………..Launch
11/30……..$13,000
1/31……….$18,200 (I must be fully funded by this date in order to stay on the field)
Q: Who are you staying with?
A: We will stay with local ministry hosts, called contacts. We join the work of the local church through these contacts. If our contact does not speak English, we will have access to an interpreter. Our contact teaches us about their country and cultural expectations. Most times, we will pay our contacts upon arrival for boarding arrangements. (However, there are times when we stay in our tents for the month and do our own grocery shopping via team budget!) We will not know much about our contacts until launch, and even then, we are given limited information. This information is subject-to-change (AND OFTEN DOES!), so AIM leadership prepares Racers to not maintain ANY expectations. Many of you have asked specifics about province/state/city/village… simply, I do not know. I will likely not know until I arrive in that country.
PSA: Another reason to SUBSCRIBE FOR UPDATES… so I can tell you where in the world we are and what kind of work we are doing.
Q: What will you do in each country? Is short-term missions work even effective?
A: We will join in God’s work, often through our contacts. We will participate in many service-oriented projects (manual labor, construction, farming, hiking into villages, cutting grass with machetes), build relationships with contacts and locals through encouragement and love, teach, and even preach.
I’ve talked with many World Race alumni as well as other missionaries, and their response is yes. Short-term missionary work is effective. For some places, the local ministries look forward to short-term missionaries coming, so that they have extra pairs of hands to fulfill various projects that often lay dormant due to lack of “manpower”. Also, in many places where we will be staying, the ministry is a long-term AIM contact that we as World Racers will be staying with for short-term (1 month). Either way, the work we will be doing is important, effective, and God-ordained.
Q: Will you have any time off from ministry work?
A: Yes, we will have some “time-off” to engage, explore, reflect, and refresh. I’ve been told by World Race Alum that weeks usually consist of 5 full-force work days, 1 adventure day, and then 1 rest day.
I hope this post was helpful. I welcome any questions and comments. Please post them in a comment below and I will do my best to answer. If I don’t know the answer, I will find out and post.
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Now for a support raising update!
We (you my supporters and I) are now over 10% and I am so close to $2000. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I cannot fulfill this call to missions without your support. Please, please, please continue to get the word out to your family, friends, and friends of friends to support with any amount. Please also consider a monthly donation.
Also here is an Adopt a Box update- (see the Adopt a Box post for more info).
Please consider a 3-dollar donation today (4/18/18) which would complete row 1!!!
In courageous faith and for His glory alone,
Sharon
