The call to the World Race did not start as a clear cut vision for myself nor was it planned with careful provision to my future career. That may seem irresponsible and I can understand how, I definitely questioned myself a few times.
It originally began when I recognized that God was calling me to be a missionary outside of and in the United States. He did this by convicting me to go places and do things others were considering dangerous, such as taking strangers, who were without the advantages I have, where they needed to go and evangelize along the way. My original spark of love for the World Race happened around six months ago, so I prayed that if it was something the Lord wanted me to do for him to begin closing doors in Tuscaloosa that would keep me from leaving, and open doors leading to the Gap Year program. God first began working in my fathers heart towards understanding my calling in Christ along with trust for me that opened him up to the idea of my life not having the same curriculum as everyone else’s. During this time I was also finding myself incredibly passionate about evangelism and outreach in general while questioning if I was truly called to missions and full time ministry or was being a bit frivolous. The Lord pointed me first to 1 Corinthians 14:33,”God isn’t a God of disorder but a God of peace,” and this encouraged me to apply for the Gap Year program but continue to fully surrender it to the Lord.This meant I had to really step out in faith because it was late in the year, I knew I was leaving Tuscaloosa due to many closed doors, and I was truly very nervous to not have a plan.
After applying the Lord pointed me to the book of Isaiah, and I am not someone who read the Bible before being saved this year so I had no clue what this was all about. I quickly discovered Isaiah was a prophetic missionary who was chosen due to his willingness shown in Chapter 6 verse 8 when he says “Here I am! Send me.” As I continued to read through Isaiah (and still am to this day its a hefty book, ya’ll) I decided to pray that if I was not meant to go that I would be rejected from the Gap Year program. Thankfully, I was not. God knowing me better than anyone else, knew he’d have to show me some foundation in him as we started running to my purpose. I am beyond excited to start working in my calling and to be the hands that assist God’s promise to provide for his children.
