Why am I going on The World Race Gap Year?
I am going because that is where God has called me. Yup, simple as that.
What is The World Race Gap Year?
The World Race Gap Year is a nine month long trip that leaves in September and goes to El Salvador, Malawi, and the Philippines. My team and I will partner with different organizations and local communities in each country to do mission work, such as planting churches, working in orphanages, and bringing restoration to the communities. The World Race is not just any missions trip though, it also is an intensive discipleship program.
How did you get to The World Race?
I started an internship at Elevation Church in January. When I began the internship, my plan was to attend Gardner Webb University in the fall to study global studies and missiology. Looking back, nothing was really working out with GWU. I was never able to decide what I really wanted to study, how I was going to pay for it, and I never had a peace with going there. I didn’t know what else I could do after graduating high school/community college, so Gardner Webb was what I set my focus on. After a few different conversations with friends and family during the internship, I came to the conclusion that Gardner Webb was not the place for me at this time. Immediately after that, I started searching for things I could do after the internship. I looked at other internships, jobs, and even graphic designing. Nothing I looked at gave me peace though.
After a long day in the office one day, I went on YouTube to watch TOMS videos. These are videos of the company TOMS going to different countries handing out shoes(one of my favorite things to watch, btw). In the suggested column of one of those videos was a World Race video. I watched it and instantly began to tear up. My heart was pounding so fast and I was smiling ear to ear; I actually felt like I was going to throw up.
Fast forward a few days, I got enough courage to fill out the application and the interview questions for The World Race. During this process, my fellow interns were supporting me like no other. They were excited for me, which made me feel like this really was a good decision. I went through the entire interview process and heard back from The World Race just a few days after completing the application/interview questions. The answer was “yes”. When I got off the phone call that told me I was accepted, I ran to a bunch of the other interns and shared the GREAT news. Almost every one of them screamed SO LOUDLY and hugged me SO TIGHTLY. It was truly a blessing to have my intern family be so excited for me and to know that they supported me in this.
I don’t get the title.
The title of this blog came from my good friend, Rob. When I first told Rob that I got accepted on The World Race, he was more excited than I was. He hugged me so tightly while screaming and I remember him saying, “The Frickin’ World Race, Bailey”. As I’m writing this, I am laughing because I remember that moment so well. Rob was a huge reason for me getting the courage to apply for this trip.
>> Thank You, Rob <<
Special Thanks for my Intern Family!
Thank you to the Spring 2015 Elevation Interns for supporting me! Thank you guys for believing in me when I didn’t even believe in myself. Thank you for celebrating with me in this huge step of faith. Thank you for being my support system and pushing me to believe in my calling. I love each and every one of you & I miss you too!
>> More posts to come <<
