If you’re here visiting my blog for the first time, I welcome you and invite you into this season of my life which I’m beyond excited to share with you about. The World Race is a stretching journey to 11 different countries in 11 months to serve the “least of these” in a raw and authentic community. The World Race is a mission trip/ service trip where my mission is to love on the people I will be serving and ministering to. Those people include the hungry, impoverished, sick, and imprisoned. I will be working in orphanages, combating human trafficking, teaching English, leading sport camps, and completing construction projects. However, this list is not all there is. Each community I will be going to has different needs which call for actions equally met from my team. If you feel led to partner with me in my ministry or want to know more, don’t be shy to contact me. If you feel led to support me, there is a link on my blog page.
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I flew back to San Diego,CA from Atlanta, GE late Saturday evening with great memories, experiences, and friendships that left my heart singing long after I came home. For those who don’t know, I left for Atlanta, Georgia July 19th for my training camp week designed to prepare the World Racers for their mission/ service trip abroad. With a joyful and glad heart entering in to the South, I felt certain that I was embarking on a journey that could alter my life forever. Deep inside myself, I felt eager to meet my team mates that I will be spending the next 11 months with. I decided it is worth it to get out of my shell and meet my family for the next 11 months.
So I did that. I went out of my way to greet and meet my family. A few times I encountered awkwardness but I tried my best to dispel it but it ended in failure and more oddity, which I couldn’t be more grateful for. Some relationships will simply take off on an awkward beginning, whereas others will be great and wonderful! Nonetheless, I love the people I was with and I love them to death. I cannot be more happy with the friends I am traveling with 24/7 for the next 11 months! Indeed, I cannot be more thankful to God for placing the 58 souls in my life in one full swooping moment known as training camp week.
Training camp stretched me and refined me. Not only was I pitching my tent every night, fighting off mosquitos, trying to sleep in a school bus, staying up late because of listening to people’s life stories, and many other happenings but also I felt stretched daily in the seminars, sermons, and simple conversations I was having with people. I knew God put on my heart compassion for my team mates. I knew I needed to listen first and then speak. I knew I connected with God through reading and studying the Bible, sitting surrounded by nature, and contemplating my thoughts and writing them down in my time alone. I knew I needed to check my heart and spend time in prayer. I knew these people who I am getting to know will become some of my closest friends in life and I needed to love them just as much as God loves me, no matter how imperfect they are. I knew that being comfortable wasn’t the point here, but it was about stepping out and trying new things while trusting in God that I have no control over any of it. Whatever the repercussions and circumstances turn out to be, I was willing to put myself in those situations and deal with it. I am willing to not be bitter or angry at whatever comes my way, but in all things be grateful.
So I did these things. And I had a fantastic time at training camp. I had my failures but it wasn’t about getting it right or having it altogether. God was teaching me who I am according to what He said in Scripture and what He is challenging me to do. As soon as I came back to San Diego, I was wiped out. I pretty much slept for 12 hours because on average I got 4 hours of sleep every night of training camp. On Sunday evening, I listened to Pastor Matt Hammett preach. His sermon was “Kairos Moments.” Kairos moments are significant times in our lives where God is teaching us something so we can experience growth in our lives. Some examples are weddings, firstborns, birthdays, and transition to college. These are unmissable moments in our lives, yet there are moments that sneak by in our every day lives. The challenge Matt gave us is to observe those Kairos moments in our lives, reflect on them, discuss it with trusted friends, and make an action plan to carry out what God is teaching us in those moments.
P.S. HERE ARE MY TEAM MATES I GET TO SHARE LIFE WITH AND LOVE FOR THE NEXT 11 MONTHS! I am stoked! From Left to Right: Ryan, Ethan, Kayla, Grace, Jenna, and Me.
HERE ARE MY SQUAD MATES! MY FAMILY FOR THE NEXT 11 MONTHS!
