If you had told me a year ago that I would be living in Athens, Georgia preparing to leave for an 11 month missions trip to 11 different countries called The World Race, I probably would have told you that you were crazy. But now, here I am.
This is my story.
10 months ago I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. 8 months ago I moved to Athens, Georgia to live with my older brother and my sister-in-law in expectation of getting a summer job and spending a few months figuring out what to do with the rest of my life before moving back to Minnesota again. When I first moved to Georgia, I had so many expectations; I expected to find a job within the first month, I expected to find a community of friends like the one I had when I was in college, I expected God to lay out His entire plan for my life at my feet so I could know exactly where to begin, and I expected it all to be easy. But I quickly realized that my expectations were not reality. The “summer” I expected to live in Georgia slowly started to instead become only the beginning of a new life in this new state that was so far out of my comfort zone. God did have a plan for me, but He had a very different path for me to get there than the one I had expected.
The first 3 months living in Georgia were some of the most challenging months of my life. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have any plans or even any idea of what my future was going to look/be like and that scared me. Everyone told me I could do whatever I wanted, but I had no idea what that even was. My friends and family felt like they were a world away still living the life that I knew, but just without me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to feel at home. I was angry that God had not given me what I had expected. But during that time when I felt like I had hit rock bottom and had nothing to look forward to, I kept feeling God simply telling me to wait. If you know me, you know that I’m not someone who is very big on waiting. I’d much rather be doing than simply waiting. But as much as I tried to ignore it, deep down I knew that was exactly what God was telling me to do. “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.” -Psalm 37:7. This verse quickly became my theme verse reminding me that my waiting was not in vain and that even though I may not have seen it at the time, God was working in my waiting.
In early November a friend from my job, where I was working at one of the local hospitals, suggested to me that I should look into a trip called The World Race. I was open to any suggestions that anyone had for me at that point, so I figured I had nothing to lose by taking a little bit of time to get on my laptop and do a quick search on what it was all about. As soon as I started to read more about it, I started to feel this sense of excitement and hope coming over me that I hadn’t felt in a really long time. I have always had a heart for missions and for sharing the gospel with the people of the world and after returning from a 2 week long missions trip in Ghana, Africa 2 years ago, I knew that God had given me a passion for sharing His love beyond just the borders of America and I dreamt of someday being able to do that again. But while you would think that I would have only been excited about this new opportunity in front of me and ready to start the application process immediately, I instead started to feel afraid of it. I began to doubt if it was what was right for me and if it was truly what God had planned for my future.
I decided to take the next couple months to spend time praying about it and asking God to show me whether or not The World Race was truly His plan for me. In less than 2 months, I felt God asking me, despite any fears or worries I had, to take that leap of faith and start the application process and leave the rest to Him. Leading up to as well as after receiving my phone call from The World Race letting me know that I had been accepted, I felt God creating a confidence in me that this is what He has been preparing me for all along. When I take time to reflect back on the past 8 months of my life, I have started to see the numerous ways that God was preparing me and my heart for this journey ahead of me that He was leading me towards. I cannot wait to see what things God will continue to do in me even in the next few months leading up to my departure date in July. Does that mean that all of those doubts I had never try to creep back into my mind, that sometimes I don’t feel crazy for deciding to leave the country with such little in between time, or that I do not sometimes fear trying to raise the $16,250 that it will take to keep me there? Of course not. I still have those fears and I still have to bring them before God every day and trust that His plan is always greater than my own and that He will provide for me. But I take daily hope in His promise in Jeremiah 29:11 which says, ““For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I am so excited to take this next leap of faith in my life and to watch as God does incredible things in my life, the lives of my team members, as well as many others leading up to, during and even after this journey of The World Race. I know with all of my heart that God has some big plans and that they will surely be much greater than any of my expectations. The departure date for The World Race is quickly approaching but until that day, I will continue to be still and wait.
Thank you for joining me on this journey!
God Bless
-Rebekah Phillips
