Hi everyone!! I just wanted to get on here and share more about what I’ve decided to do this fall, and what God taught me through all of this.
First off, I am still going on the Race! It’s just not going to look exactly like what I thought it would when I first decided to do it. Last week, the leadership at World Race let us know that we could either decide to do the 9-month gap year program, which would now include 3 months in Georgia (more on that later!) and then a 6-month trip overseas, all with our original squad, OR a new 6-month trip to 3-4 available countries with a new squad of gap year kids who decided not to do the semester in GA.
I’ve decided that I will be going to live at AIM’s base in Gainesville, GA this fall, where my squad and I will be focused on missional training, leadership development, and discipleship. Our mornings will be filled with devotions and teaching times, and in the afternoons, we’ll be doing different types of community outreach in Gainesville and the surrounding areas. For nights and weekends, we’ll be “off”, but we’ll definitely be doing a lot of stuff together as a squad and it’s going to be a really great bonding experience as well as preparation for the mission field. Then in January, we launch on our new route! Right now, we don’t know what countries that will include, but we should find out in the next couple weeks 🙂
When I first decided to go on a gap year and do the Race, I didn’t know that any of this was going to happen. From March to May of this year, I stayed at home, finished my senior year online. I didn’t go on my senior trip with the rest of my grade, and I spent my graduation day driving through my school parking lot, only being able to wave at my teachers from afar. I’m not saying any of this to complain because in all of this, the not-knowing what’s going to happen next and what this next year will look like, God has given me peace.
Psalm 62:5 – My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
Philippians 4:7 – and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
These two verses have been on my heart a lot these past couple months as I’ve processed everything going on. And at the end of the day, we don’t know the future. We never have, but we always acted like we did. And when that “guarantee” was taken away from me, it was really hard to understand how to live in the moment. But God has always known what was going to happen. So why should I keep living my life as if I know what the future holds (and end up stressing out about it), when I could just trust Him with my plans and let go of my will?
As I made the decision to go to Georgia this fall, I wasn’t thinking about what could’ve been. God has given me a “peace that surpasses all understanding” – I don’t have to understand everything in order to be at peace with it. And that has been so freeing as I step into this new journey God has laid out for me 🙂
So, I’m super excited about the new plan, but I’m also still fundraising! I’m currently more than halfway to being fully funded (YAY!) but I still have $7,000 left to fundraise. If you want to help out, any amount helps!! You can donate by clicking the button at the top of this page, or you can Venmo me @anjali_joy.
And of course, please pray for me and my squad as we get closer to launch and the race!
– anjali 🙂
