of The News-Sentinel
Andrea White of Columbia City was browsing a friend’s blog when she came across a link for the World Race and curiosity set in.
After a thorough read-through, a sense of adventure replaced her curiosity.
Now White is locked into the 11-month mission trip, along with Fort Wayne native Angie Hoeppner. The trip will take them to 11 locations around the globe, during which they will work with orphans, patients and other people in need, learning about foreign cultures while lending a hand at the same time.
The collection of missionaries will be broken into groups, and each group will travel country to country serving.
White, an Anderson University alum, has not been on a multicultural mission trip, and with the exception of an overseas trip when she was 13 and a stint as a college student teaching in Australia, this, quite literally, is foreign territory for her.
“It is exciting to think about the things we (will) see, the opportunities we’ll have and the things we’ll do, but it’s also a little anxious thinking that we’ll leave everything I know and everyone I know for a year,” White said.
Hoeppner’s mission experience is a bit more extensive; she’s been on seven or eight trips, including one to the Dominican Republic. The 11-month marathon that is the World Race, however, will be substantially longer than the two-week trips she has previously gone on.
“I’ve been on a lot of mission trips, but I expect my eyes to be opened to new things that I’ve never seen – that reality of life that I’ve never experienced before,” said Hoeppner, a Taylor University Fort Wayne graduate.
The race aspect of the World Race is the time it takes each group to travel from one country to the next. Groups can travel any way they choose, and the overall times are calculated. Think TV’s “Amazing Race,” minus the elimination for crossing in last place.
There are no losers in the World Race, as both the racers and the people they come into contact with along their journey benefit not just personally, but spiritually through their service.
White, Hoeppner and each of the other participants must raise about $13,800, which will cover all expenses for the trip, besides the airfare to the World Race training session in October in Atlanta. They’re fundraising through friends and family, churches, food sales and other efforts.
Money aside, the big concern for White and Hoeppner is trying to pack 11 months of life into a hiking pack and a carry-on. The World Race provides a tutorial and a check-list on what to take, but as White says, “I’m not sure how all of it will fit into a bag.”
You can donate to the fundraising efforts of White and Hoeppner at their personal World Race Web sites, www.andreawhite.theworldrace.org/ and www.angelahoeppner.theworldrace.org.
