Hi Everyone! I am so glad you’re here.
Let me first start out by saying that this is the first blog I have ever written in my life and english was by no means my best subject in school… so we’ll just see how this goes! In all honesty though, thinking about writing this blog post and continuing to write out my thoughts, experiences, prayer requests, and the things God is teaching me throughout this journey, definitely has me feeling a little nervous. Only because it’s super outside my comfort zone. BUT along with the nerves, also comes excitement and anticipation because I fully believe that God is going to use so many different aspects of the race to stretch me and deepen my dependance upon Him!
I know that many of my friends and family know a lot about The World Race and many of us have even known people who have gone on it in the past, which is amazing! However, since I posted on social media about getting accepted to the race, I have had tons of people reach out to me who had never heard of it before! So, I want to first start by explaining what The World Race is for anyone who wants to learn a little bit more about it and what this next year will look like for me.
The World Race is an 11 month mission opportunity for people 21-35 years old. Racers leave everything behind back home to step into this crazy adventure God has called them to. Through the 11 months, racers travel to 11 different countries with their team serving in a wide variety of ways, while also being established in Christ-centered community with one another. The way that The World Race is structured is for teams to come in to countries and serve in whatever way that specific community needs. So ministry will look very different from one country to the next. Ministry can look like building deep relationships with muslims in order to be able to share your faith with them, sitting in night clubs with women whose lives have been deeply affected by the darkness of human trafficking, sharing hope and freedom with refugees who hunger for peace, serving orphans whose lives have been shattered by the affects of HIV/AIDS, teaching english and bible classes, interacting with students through sports ministry, joining in on what local churches are doing and assisting in their ministry needs, walking from village to village preaching and praying for families, and the list goes on and on.
For my route, I will be spending the first 6 months in the 10/40 window where there are still many unreached people groups. (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, and India). The remaining 5 months of the race, I will be in sub-saharan Africa where we will be serving alongside many existing church bodies. (South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Zambia).
The World Race is not something I chose to do on a whim. It’s something i have prayed about long and hard, for many many years. It’s something that was first introduced to me back in highschool from someone within my church. Ever since I first heard about it, God has continued to place it on my heart through various seasons in my life.
I went on my first international mission trip when I was 16 years old, and I knew my life would never be the same. God showed me on that trip, that He had placed not only a deep desire within me but also a true calling to international missions. Through college, the Lord continued to open up doors for which my calling could be lived out, and the biggest way was in allowing me the opportunity to spend 4 summers in Zambia working with orphans whom I have built deep and meaningful relationships with throughout the years.
The funny thing is, a few years ago, back when I was in college, I was pretty set on the world race being my “plan” for after I graduated. However, I have learned time and time again, that God often has a very different timeline than I have for myself – and His timing is WAY sweeter. The Lord shifted my desires and focus in alot of ways and opened up some very unexpected opportunities for me that I knew He wanted me to be obedient to and those doors I walked through have been full of abundant blessings and growth.
A few months ago, God began to place the world race on my heart once again. This time was different though. There was an abundance of peace around it. One that I had never experienced when thinking about it in the past. It was as if God was saying to me “this is the time, trust me.” So I did. I stepped out in faith and am trusting in His plan and in His timing for all of this. I’m looking forward to this opportunity and am hopeful that it will be full of growing, challenging myself, asking deeper questions, learning more about the gifts that The Lord has instilled within me, and ultimately growing closer to my Heavenly Father through it all.
So… here’s to The World Race! 2020 is going to be a big year for me, that’s for sure!
