HEY PALS!!
I cannot believe that I am writing my first blog! This really is a gift from Jesus and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to go on World Race Gap Year.
I remember the day that I heard the Lord call me to missions very vividly. I was sitting in the back of the classroom during Bible class at school, and we had a substitute for that hour. She introduced herself and then said she was going to share about her time as a missionary in Africa. That’s when my ears perked up and I thought “What in the world is a missionary?”
She went on to talk about graduating high school early, moving to Africa, the struggles and the triumphs. As I sat there I found myself totally zoned in to every word she said, it’s like she was there just for me. I heard Jesus for the first time so clearly that day. He said “Someday, that will be you sitting there telling your testimony of missions.” It still makes me tear up thinking about the goodness and generosity of Jesus in that moment, and still to this day.
That day when she spoke to my Bible class in the seventh grade, I heard Jesus for the first time, He started a flame and desire in my very being to never want anything but Him forever.
That was six years ago. In the short 17 years that I have lived on this earth, I can testify to the truthfulness in the statement that delay is NOT denial. At times I lived my life for the desires of the flesh, and I chose not to pursue Jesus. Choosing to live apart from Jesus is the most unrewarding thing you can do. It leaves you lonely and feeling empty. But God. But because God loves us, He still chooses us. No matter how far I ran, he followed me into my lowest of seasons to be with me (in the loving, protective kind of way haha).
He lifted me up and out of the darkness, and He saw the beauty that He placed inside of me despite what I chose to define myself with. He is making His grace so evident in my life daily, and I’m so grateful that He’ll love me forever.
He’s my protector, and He’s my dad. The best.
So what is The World Race Gap Year????? Well since you asked, WRGY is a 9 month, 4 country mission trip. The route I chose will take to Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica!!! My team and I will get to serve along side a ministry that is already established in the community or surrounding area. I will be able to share what ministry on the race will look like at a later time, but I know, 100%, that God is already working in the places & people we’ll get to serve!
This is just a glimmer of what Jesus has placed in my heart and I pray that leading up to/on the Race I can put into words, to the best of my ability, how Jesus is workin’ in and through my life! Please keep my team, leaders, and I in your prayers as we prepare our hearts for this journey.
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Incredible amounts of love,
Shelby
