The questions began last November after receiving my acceptance call from The World Race: “How are you going to raise $18,100 in time?” The question came from parents, friends, church members, aunts and uncles, and even strangers who I told about this awesome adventure God was sending me on.
The only real answer I could think of was having faith in God. I was sure He had set this path before me and I knew He was going to provide, even if it didn’t make sense to the practical mind. Now, here I am in month two of this incredible journey and I am fully funded! Here is a little bit about that journey and a big thanks to all who helped.
When I was accepted to The World Race, I had no jobs. I had spent many mornings and nights asking God how He wanted to use me. The answer had clearly become the missions field, and so I had no desire to rush into a job and my heart began to desire my faith as my job. I decided to depend upon God’s timing to provide whatever jobs He wanted for me. This wasn’t a time of being idle: it was a time of active prayer and seeking out ways to fund my trip. Faith, I knew, was the first and foremost way to provide. God was leading me to do things I never thought I’d do.
After a few months I eventually had 3 jobs I was working: substitute teaching, being a tour guide at the local museum, and retail at a pop culture/video game store. I spent time loving on emotionally impaired kids, breaking up more than a few fist fights, learning how to hew logs and shave shingles like it was 1867, and hanging out with guys that love the Avengers movies just as much as I do. Many people asked me about my life, which opened up the opportunity to share about my trip and my faith. I remember having a couple cool conversations with the guys from my retail job.
Not only did the Race open up opportunities for me to share with my co-workers, but also with many of my friends and churches. I found myself speaking in front of our churches men’s group and our youth group (thanks to both for letting me!). I traveled to a few friends churches and spoke in front of them (thanks to South Scipio UB and to Tecumseh Church of Christ) and even gave a sermon in front of one of them!
Now I’ve had some awesome experiences in Chile as well as Peru. I prayed with a few young Chilean soldiers, talked about God with a man who offered me weed in a skate park, taught English and religion to kids in a school in Chile while loving on them, visited one of the Wonders of the World, thrown all my toilet paper into a trash can (that’s what you do in South America), and made friends with a blind man sitting in the plaza of Arequipa Peru. These are just to name a few of the experiences I never thought I’d be doing. I give thanks to a God who is able to do far more and far greater things than we can ever imagine.
Here are a few special thank you’s:
Vince & Michelle Gonzales: Thanks for being my mentors and eating Klavons all the time. Your friendship and love are invaluable to me and you two set an example for how I wanted to deal with hardship. Tell the church I say hi!
My Family: For supporting me through it all up to now. Thanks for the hard work you put in to helping me brainstorm and fundraise. Thank you dad for the unique ideas and helping to organize bibs and donations as well as helping me make my silly intro video.
All my supporters: In prayer and in donations, you all made this possible. The first deadline was $5,000 and by that time I had $6,000 raised. The second deadline was $10,000 and by that time I had nearly $12,000 raised. Now I’m at $18,100 with 3 months to spare, wow! Each deadline I originally thought “There’s no way I’ll make it” but each time we were past the deadline and you guys played a big part in showing me God’s goodness and faithfulness.
For any future racers that read this and might think the idea of raising so much money is daunting, I hope it serves to inspire you. Don’t be discouraged by the number, you can do it because you have an awesome God who is capable of anything!
THANKS!
