In April 2016 I went on my first mission trip to Madrid, Spain. It opened my heart after I finally had an opportunity to serve others in need outside of the country. We are so blessed to have the resources, opportunities, and freedom that we have in the U.S. and too often it seems that we take these things for granted. As I’ve grown more mature in my faith over the past six years, I’ve realized that there is more to life than climbing the corporate ladder. God has revealed to me that serving others in need can provide greater fulfillment than achieving “success” according to our greedy and selfish culture in corporate America.
After studying Health Care Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire I entered the long-term care industry where I have been working the past seven years. Operating a Skilled Nursing Facility was incredibly rewarding but also challenging. The requirement of remaining on call 24/7 while overseeing 280 employees was demanding but I strived to take every opportunity to pour into each patient, visitor, and employee I encountered. In January of this year, God gave me the rest I wasn’t giving myself through a torn ACL while playing in a rec. soccer game (not my main sport). This led to two weeks of bed rest after having surgery in February which was the longest time I had been home since high school. At that time I began to research long-term mission trips and came across The World Race. It is an 11 month mission-trip organized by Adventures in Missions, a non-profit based in Gainseville, Georgia. Having the opportunity to partner with various ministry sites in 11 countries was incredibly appealing. My mom gave me her blessing to apply and I gave my acceptance to God, committing to go if that was His plan for me. Sure enough I had a phone interview and was accepted so began to follow God’s lead on the start of this journey. Over the next 11 months, I have the absolute fortune to serve in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador. In September I officially resigned from my job realizing that God won’t review my resume at Heaven’s door and won’t care about a gap in my resume. Instead, He is going to fill that gap as He is “able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” Ephesians 3:20.
