The Lord has been at work on my heart since I first decided to do the World Race in April of 2017. Shortly after getting accepted, I lost my job and had to learn full dependence on the Lord through the fundraising process. He showed up in huge ways as I prepared to leave America.
Last year at training camp, He started to strip me of my pride and teach me humility when He led me into a season of following rather than leading. He started to break down walls of defensiveness and asked me to trust Him with community. He told me that I can do hard things if I trust Him for support in them.
Heading into launch, I had an incredible team and all the hope in the world. I was ready to get wrecked for the Lord and change. I wanted something deeper, more real, and impactful. I wanted to be a world changer, not for the show, but to bring Him glory. I wanted to learn a rhythm of living out the gospel and being His hands and feet.
In the first season of the Race, I learned what healthy communication and godly conflict resolution looked like. I lived alongside 5 women who loved me fiercely and taught me that I alone was enough and that I didn’t need to earn my way to be loved by them. They showed me what it means to be the church.
In the second season of the Race, I was asked to team lead, and at that point I was ready to follow forever. The Lord stretched me once again and asked me to lead an extremely diverse range of personalities. I learned a lot about dependence on the Lord and listening to His wisdom. I learned to mediate conflict and to listen in love. That season was very much one of humility and seeking the Lord.
Currently, I’m on my third and final team of the Race, and I have the privilege to lead once again. These women are pushing me to ask the hard questions, wrestle with the challenging parts of faith, and find deeper relationship with the Lord. They love me incredibly well and we share more laughs than I’ve had in a long time. We truly are a little World Race family and jokingly refer to ourselves as single sister wives.
Months ago, I began praying into what the Lord had for me after the race. He has given me a heart for missions and a passion for discipleship. My top two spiritual gifts are encouragement and shepherding, and it’s been incredible to grow in those through each different experience the Race has given me.
I had several options in front of me for the season after the Race, but after a lot of prayer, the Lord has highlighted alumni squad leading. Starting in January, I have the opportunity to return to the field with a new squad of World Racers and walk alongside them for the first 5 months of their journey.
The World Race has served as an affirmation that long term missions is somewhere in my future, and I believe squad leading is the bridge between where I am and where the Lord is leading me. I am going to be serving alongside an amazing team of leaders including my current squad mentor and two of my squad mates.
Alumni squad leaders serve the squad through leadership, discipleship, and doing life together as new racers adjust to life on the field and in community. My alumni sought me out and poured into me and invested deeply in me, and I can’t wait to do the same for Q squad. We will be going to 5 new countries for me – Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
As I prepare to start transitioning into a longer season of missions, I am building a team of supporters. This support comes through 3 main avenues – prayer, encouragement and following my journey, and financial support. Before leaving, I would like to have 10 committed prayer partners to receive detailed monthly updates on myself and the squad who will intercede on our behalf. Financially, I am raising $3,500 for my 5 months with the squad. An additional $3,000 covers two trips to visit the squad in Africa during debriefs after I depart from the field. Aside from trip costs, I am also raising money to cover the cost of flights to and from training and the field, money for additional monthly expenses like toiletries and WiFi, and the cost of student loan payments while I’m away. I am estimating another $3,000 to cover these costs. In total, I am raising $9,500 to squad lead and for all additional costs.
I’ve been reading about the Biblical perspective on fundraising, and one thing that impacted me most was that the Lord doesn’t call someone to go without also calling others to send them. If you are interested in joining my monthly support team, I invite you to pray into how you could be involved. While I am still on the field, I have somewhat limited communication, but would love to make time to talk with you and answer any questions you might have about the Race or squad leading.
