What is World Race Semesters? You may be wondering this much as I was when I first heard about it. World Race Semesters is 1-6-month mission trips to countries around the world. My trip specifically will be going to South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho where we will be doing a variety of work including kid’s ministry, evangelizing, helping at various care points, and more.
I heard about the World Race through a friend who is going on a different Semesters trip! I am so grateful that she brought it up because I really feel like this is where God is calling me to go. For many years now, I have been saying I want to go on a mission trip to Africa. I’ve had this desire to go that I couldn’t quite put my finger on except that God put it there. However, I have been putting it off because of reasons such as fear, needing to save money, and I need to graduate college first because that is what everyone does. It’s hard to accept that God’s plan for me is different than the norm because I’ve always been a go-with-the-flow type of person. I graduated college, and guess what, I didn’t feel fulfilled, I didn’t feel like I was where I was supposed to be. I’m not saying I shouldn’t have done that, but I was missing something, and that something was God’s call on my life. When I saw the World Race Semesters trip to Africa, I looked back on the desires God had put in my heart to go to Africa and applied with no further thought. I did the interview, I was offered a spot, and I accepted all within just a couple of weeks!
As I sit here writing this, I am reminded of the thoughts that try to steal my excitement, that say- what if I can’t do it? I’m not qualified, I don’t know enough, and the list goes on. I continually have to pray and remember that I am not doing this on my own strength but with God’s, with my team, with the prayer and support of those around me. I do not have the strength on my own. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control”. God has put this call on my life for a reason and I am so excited to see how He will move in and through me and my team this Spring!
