“How did you first hear about the race and why did you want to go?” is a question that I get on the daily. I usually ramble off an answer like, “Well I was sitting next to a girl on a bus on my way to the Justice Conference two years back and she just got back from the Race, and ever since then it has been on my heart!” While that is true, that’s not where my journey to the race began. In fact, I would argue that it started way, way back at the age of seven…
I grew up going to a food pantry in Albany, NY a few Saturday’s every month with my family. We learned all the interworkings of the pantry through sorting food and making bags to take to homeless and low-income families around the city. When I got a bit older, I was able to go and help deliver these bags of groceries, and that’s when my heart first broke for the needy.
When I was sixteen I went on a homeless outreach trip with my youth group to New York City. Through an organization called NYSUM, our team worked in soup kitchens and homeless outreaches by day, and hit the streets with food, clothing, and hearts willing to listen and show compassion at night. We would go out every night between the hours of midnight and 2 and simply love on those who had little. We turned our ears to listen to their sacred stories, used our lips to speak words of encouragement and truth, and used our arms to hug. At the end of our trip, I had a feeling that the Lord was calling me to continue to serve and love the least of these, but I had no idea what that meant.
A move to Utah my junior year of high school completely shook up my world. It was a rough transition, and in the beginning I felt very alone, but the Lord didn’t leave me there. I got plugged into a youth group fairly quickly and before I knew it, I found myself in Kenya on a missions trip with 50 other youth from my church! We stayed in Nakuru for roughly three weeks, daily leading bible studies, teaching hygiene classes, singing worship songs, creating art projects, and loving on kids at a local school and in a nearby slum. Although we came in with the half-truth that we would have much to share with Kenyans, we soon discovered that they had just as many things to teach us. We learned what it means to live generously and joyfully by watching them serve and graciously share with us the little that they had. We learned to live happily and hopefully by hearing them praise the Lord ceaselessly for the seemingly ‘small’ amount that He had provided to them (and for them it was enough). It was in Nakuru that I feel the Lord called me to missions. My heart had never felt so full. I didn’t know what this ‘call’ meant. Was I just having a mountaintop experience that would slowly fade as I reentered the country and became comfortable in my mundane routine? Luckily, my youth pastor encouraged me to investigate this feeling further.
The following summer I headed to Los Angeles with my youth group to spend a week doing homeless outreach. It reaffirmed my heart to serve, and got me wondering if my future of service would simply be doing homeless outreach in US cities. Continually on these outreach trips (and just in the US church in general) I would hear sermons about how a call to missions does not always mean internationally… there are plenty of people to serve RIGHT here; a true and valid point. As I continued to go on outreach trips my call to service was consistently reaffirmed. I loved serving domestically… and loved getting to hear houseless sojourners stories, but when it came right down to it, I knew that the Lord was calling me to serve GLOBALLY (both inside the US and out).
In college I am pursuing a Christian Ministries: Missions and Youth Ministry degree. Over the last few years I have learned a lot about global development, the ethics of missions, and how my own personal passions fit into God’s heart for the world. But studying missions in college is only the first step on a lifelong journey.
My sophomore year of college I went to The Justice Conference in Portland. At one point, I was sitting on a bus being shuttled to another offshoot venue of the conference. A 23 year old girl sat next to me and we got to talking (natural when you're at a conference, surrounded by people who you know have similar interests). She told me that she had just come back from this trip called The World Race. It sounded like an adventure of a lifetime. She told me a bit about her trip, where she got to go, and how it not only help shape her worldview, but taught her a lot about what it meant to live in intentional community and surrender all to God (finances, hopes for the future, security, etc.) I thought it sounded like a neat trip, but nothing that I would ever be passionate about (after all, my heart was for Africa!). Nevertheless, the Lord planted a seed.
Between my sophomore and junior year of college I actually had the opportunity to go back to Nakuru, Kenya and serve as a leader on the trip! We worked in the same school and slum, but my experience was worlds different coming from a leaders perspective (as well as it being my second time). Again, the Lord affirmed my call to missions and ministry (phew) but this time I didn’t feel like I was solely being beckoned to Africa. I wasn’t sure of what this meant.
In December of my junior year I took what one may call a pilgrimage to Urbana (a HUGE missions conference that only happens every three years) with a few other students from my college. It was an exhilarating and enriching experience being surrounded by thousands upon thousands (roughly 15,000) believers who felt the call to global service as well. The exposition hall took me a few days to go through (over 260 organizations had various booths). One day, I came upon the Adventures in Missions booth and was able to talk a bit with the representatives there. They told me a bit about their programs, and immediately made a plug for The World Race. My friend Miranda, who happened to be walking about the exposition hall with me, had been pretty interested in the Race, so we stayed for a while and asked some questions. They answered generously. Still not convinced, I sort of brushed the program aside… but the Lord had different plans (doesn't He always?). When I got home from Urbana, I could not stop thinking about the World Race. I was on the website daily, reading blogs and watching videos from on the field. I was captivated by the stories of Racers! But, it was still a distant thought (after all, I was only a junior). After months of reading, watching, listening, and praying, the July 2014 routes came out! Then it hit me that this could actually become a reality. After May 2014, college graduation, I have NOTHING holding me back. I spent the majority of the summer praying and seeking discernment from my peers, mentors, and family. I began the application process in late August and was accepted in late September. At first I was conflicted, “Lord, is this really what you want for me? I have loans, should I get a job? What about my family? What about the friendships and relationships that I’ve spent these last four years building? What am I saying no to if I leave the country for a year?"
The answer to these questions was simple, and it made me feel foolish when it came… You have already come this far trusting my plans… why not trust me now? And so, I accepted.
I am ecstatic, pee my pants scared, excited to see who I will meet, still have doubts, have so many questions, but at the end of the day, when I get right down to thinking about it, my whole journey points to this trip. I am excited to see how the Lord prepares my heart over these next few months leading up to the Race, and how the Race continues to direct my passion to serve.
