Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Alaina Norsworthy, I’m 23 years old, and I’m about to embark on an incredible adventure with the Lord, The World Race. (If you want to know more about me, you can check out the about me section of my blog.)
For those of you that don’t know what The World Race is, it is an 11 month mission trip to 11 different countries around the world. There are multiple routes that leave at various times. The 11 countries included on the route I will be going on are Haiti, the Dominican Republic, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, India, Nepal, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Starting in August of 2018, I’m going to be travelling the world and spreading the good news by sharing God’s love and word with people around the world.
Some of you may be asking “Why the world race?” and “Why now?” And so I want to share with you exactly that.
I found my current church home about 4 years ago. I still remember the first Sunday I spent there, during worship we were singing the song “Holy Spirit” (If you don’t know it, you should look it up. It may be an older song, but it will always be one of my favorites.) and I remember feeling God’s presence more fully than I ever had before. Ever since that first Sunday, worship has been a very important part of my walk with Christ. Now, just to be clear, I have absolutely no musical talent whatsoever. I can’t keep a beat to save my life, I don’t know how to play any instruments, and if you ever happen to be standing next to me during worship, you’ll probably leave wishing you had chosen a different spot. But even so, I love to worship. Worship has become a safe place for me, a place for me to connect with God deeply and completely and on a whole new level I had never experienced before.
It wasn’t long after that first Sunday, that God used another worship song to connect with me. I can’t remember what the name of the song was, but it was a song about serving and loving others. I remember feeling such a strong pull in that moment towards mission work. When I got home, I immediately started doing research and searching for a way to do just that. During this, I found the world race and I immediately felt called to it. I put my email in to receive notifications and at one point, I even started filling out an application but I never finished it.
Have you ever let fear stop you from pursuing a calling God has placed on your heart? Or even just let fear stop you from doing something you really wanted to do? If you have, you’re part of the majority of society. Fear stops us from doing things all the time. It stops us from pursuing our dreams, from living out our callings, from following the path God has laid out in front of us. And that’s exactly what it did to me. But it wasn’t just in that particular circumstance. No, fear was controlling my life. It was keeping me from finding a community of fellow believers, it was keeping me from opening my heart fully to the love of God and the love of other people. And it was keeping me from living out my calling.
So what happened between then and now? What changed? God. His love and grace and compassion filled me. He surrounded me with a community of believers that loved me so fully and fiercely, I started to see my walls crumble down before my very eyes. God pursued my heart and surround me with people who encouraged me and pushed me and loved me. And the breakthrough was amazing.
Here’s the thing, fear is not from God, it’s from the enemy. And as long as you are alive the enemy will try to use fear to control you and to create a wall between you and God and you and other Christians. But guess what? God already won! God defeated the enemy long ago! He is victorious! And because of His victory, we are victorious too! And God is bigger and greater and more powerful than any fear the enemy tries to place on your heart. Take any fear you can think of and add God to the picture… Isn’t it a lot less scary once you add Him in? Fear of the dark…God is the light! Fear of death or anything that could lead to death…God has overcome death and through Him, we will overcome it too! Fear of rejection…with God rejection is just protection from the wrong people or the wrong path! How great is our God?
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
So I have decided to stop letting fear control my life. I’ve decided to take a leap of faith. To step out in faith and follow the calling God has placed before me, and I’m so excited to see what He has planned.
The journey ahead will be long and it doesn’t start when I launch in August of 2018. It starts now. And I would love for you to join hands and take this leap of faith with me by joining my support team, however that may look for you. It could be praying for me and my squad and for the countries we will be working in. It may be making a one time donation or a monthly donation. It could be by helping with future fundraisers (either by participating in them, donating items to help, praying for them, or helping organize them). Or it could even be sharing this blog and helping me spread the word.
Whether or not you decide to join me in this endeavor, thank you so much for reading! It means so much to me! If you would like to continue to follow my journey please subscribe. I’m so looking forward to sharing this journey with you.
