I’ve been getting a lot of questions about what my plan is for after my college graduation this December, and for the last year I thought I had it all planned out and boy was I wrong.
I apologize in advance if you already read my “about” section, this is going to be similar just a bit more in depth.
Back in 2017 I accepted a position for my final internship in Aspen, CO and I had every intention to do everything I could to make this become my first “Adult Job” and just as I had hoped this past summer and fall was absolutely unbelievable! I enjoyed work, the area I lived in, the people I was around and had managed to find a job for the winter, so I wouldn’t have to move my life with the seasons like many golf pros do. However, I still felt something was missing. To understand where I’m going with this you need a brief history of my faith journey. One day I’ll put my full testimony on this page but for now the quick overview.
I grew up in a Christian home with two parents and a younger sister. My sister and I were involved in most things like church on Sundays, Awana, VBS, summer church camps etc. God always played a role in my life growing up. I remember being so confident in who I was and what God wanted me to be and then came college. Like many stories I have heard before as soon as I got that little bit of freedom I ran with it. I started making decisions that didn’t reflect how I was raised or the man that I wanted to become.
My “ah-ha” moment came when one of my friends from high school said to me “So I guess you gave up on the Christian thing huh?”. Talk about a slap to the face and a wake-up call. After that conversation I realized just how lost I was and how alone I felt. The kid who grew up in the church seemed long gone and I didn’t know where to turn.
Again, this is the cliff notes version of my testimony so hang with me.
Although I wasn’t making the greatest decisions and I really felt alone. God had placed some very good people in my life that had been praying for me and were there for me even when I didn’t realize it. The first time I realized this was on the back of a pickup truck in the middle of nowhere in Guatemala when someone said “Hey, I’ve been praying for you.” That was the beginning of a great friendship that helped me find a great support system. My support system were the ones I could turn to when I had questions, could be open with about where I was, and they would also hold me accountable. Those relationships really helped me get back into my faith and helped me strengthen my relationship with the Lord.
So back to that missing feeling. I was talking with one of my friends over the summer basically saying, “Is this all life is?”. Now don’t get me wrong I absolutely loved where I was and what I was doing but I felt very spiritually empty. As a golf pro most of our off days happen during the week because most others play their golf on the weekend. This made getting involved with a church or connecting with those who went very difficult. When I was explaining this, my friend mentioned The World Race. The World Race is an 11-month mission trip to 11 different countries. The ministries vary from month to month depending upon what is needed to be done at that particular time.
Missions work has been important to me since my first mission trip to Sutton, Alaska with my church the summer between high school and college. There is where I saw how God could use a group to help and also share His love. During college I continued to “scratch my itch” for missions work with 4 study abroad trips to Guatemala. Although they weren’t 100% mission trips, my favorite part of the trips was always our service projects in the local communities.
I’m excited to say that after a lot of conversations with family, friends, mentors and A LOT of prayer. In August 2019 I’ll be leaving to go on The World Race and make Jesus my full-time work! My route is going to have me serving in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. My hope for The World Race is that the Lord will allow us to help the poor, sick, hurt and make a lasting impact on those people we come in contact with in countries where they may have never heard the name of Jesus. I hope that my squad and I are able to love as Jesus loved, and all take our relationships with the Lord to a whole new level.
This is also my initial invitation for you to become part of my support team. There are 3 main ways you can support me throughout this journey. This trip does cost a substantial amount of money, $19,200. Although I plan to pay a large portion of this myself, this is something I won’t be able to do alone. I am trusting that God will provide. You can contact me about ways to donate or click the “donate” button on my blog page. I’ll also will be doing different fundraisers leading up to the trip. Stay tuned for those.
The second, is through prayer, lots and lots of prayer. Please pray for me and my squad leading up to the trip and while we are abroad. Pray that God equips us, protects us and shines through us every step of the way to those we come into contact with and serve.
Lastly, you can support me by simply subscribing to this page and following my journey as it happens. I’ll be blogging throughout my trip to keep people updated with what God is doing in our ministries, what our squad is doing, specific prayer requests and what the Lord is doing in my life personally. Depending on how things go I may even try my hand at vlogging, so you can actually see what’s going on.
I cannot wait for this journey to begin!
Thanks for reading and God Bless!
