I’ve been reading some of my teammates blogposts and most of them are saying that the hardest part about going on TWR is leaving behind their family. That’s not the case for me. When I think about it, there is really nothing at all holding me back from going on The World Race; aside from the friends that have become more like family. 🙂
Let me explain.
(Sidenote: this is a long post, but you definitely want to read about what God has done in my life. just sayin‘ 🙂
In December 2007, I left my real family due to a domestic violence case. I had a restraining order against my mom and brother meaning I had to find somewhere to live. I stayed with my best friend Lindsey for a while before moving in with my good friend Heather Hobbs and her family permanently.
The Hobbs family was amazing to me. They took me in as if I was there own child. When I lived with them I started going to church for the first time, but I never really “got” the messages or listened to what was going on. It was one of those things that I was forced to do, but I never really cared about. Once August 2008 rolled around, I moved 4 hours away from my hometown to go to college at Trine University.
My second day on campus I went to a worship session with Christian Campus House. I loved the people there and wanted to get to know them more. Around the middle of fall semester I realized that the people in CCH looked different than me, I realized that they had the love of Jesus in their hearts. During Christmas break my freshman year I returned to the Hobbs family and dug a little deeper into this “Christian” thing. I was reading a book, Velvet Elvis, and it explained the Gospel to me in a way that I understood it. December 2008, I made the commitment to become a Christian.
I continued digging into the Word of God, meeting with my campus minister, and learning about Christ. On my first missions trip to Dungannon, Virginia during Spring Break 2009 I felt God calling me to share with others that I wanted to lay down my past and be renewed in Jesus Christ. On March 13, 2009 I was baptized!
From that moment I wanted to tell everyone about this Jesus guy who I had accepted as my savior. God had really laid Matthew 9:35-38 on my heart.“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” I wanted to be the one to go into the harvest fields. God led me to go on a summer long missions trip to Cedar Point, an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio.
During that summer in Sandusky, Ohio I found out that evangelism is not the easiest thing to do, but I knew that God was teaching me how to do it that summer. I learned vital evangelism techniques like Romans Road and the bridge diagram. Between Cedar Point and school I went back to my hometown to stay with my friend and her family. I found out that Denise, my friends’ mom, had moved out and that her and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce. Being “home” just didn’t feel like home anymore.
Once my second year of college started, God had been laying on my heart for a while that I needed to reconnect with my real mom. I didn’t know how I was going to communicate with her or what I was going to say, so I just prayed about it. Eventually, in October, God led me to write my mom a letter and send it via snail mail. I told my mom that I was sorry for everything that had happened and that I had forgiven her. I told her that I had grown so much. That I had grown independently and that I had found my identity in Christ. I told her I wanted her to be a part of my life again. I prayed over the letter before I sent it in the mail.
On October 31, 2009 I received a text from my cousin Courtney (who is the only family member I stayed in contact with during this time) and she told me that my mom had received the letter and it was the best thing she could have ever received. God knew this was the perfect time for us to reconnect. I could not have been any happier at that point. God had placed my mommy back in my life!
During Christmas break in 2009 I met with my mom again for the first time in two years. This meeting was in God’s perfect timing. It was not easy. It was one of the hardest things I have done to approach my mother, who I had not seen or talked to in two years. One of the first things she said to me is that she just wanted to move on and put the past in the past and have a relationship with me. God answered my prayers! I was so excited to just move forward and have a relationship with my mom!
During this same Christmas break chaos occurred at Denise’s house. I came back to Trine a week early because I felt unwanted and uncomfortable. In February, I was emailing Denise and the conversation ended with her telling me to have a good rest of my life and that she did not want to be a part of it. I was homeless, again!
Broken and unknowing of what God’s plan was for me, but still trusting Him, God led me to be a missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ for the summer in Wildwood, NJ. This would provide a home for me to go to during the summer, a place to grow closer to God, to share Christ’s love, and make money with a summer job. God provided. He not only provided me with a home for the summer, but He provided me with over $3,000 in support so that I could spend the summer telling others about Him. God is so awesome. Throughout the summer I was able to share Christ with my coworkers, the community, and random people I would meet on the boardwalk. During the summer God really laid on my heart that being an evangelist is what I am called to do. Telling others about Jesus comes so naturally to me and I am able to open up to anyone. I’m excited for my future missions to glorify God’s Kingdom.
God has continued growing and teaching me how to love like He does. During my Junior year at college I was able to start weekly “Prayers for Revival” meetings where we pray for intentional conversations and for Jesus to be known on campus. God has been faithfully working to answer our prayers to make Him known on campus.
In October 2010 there was a guest speaker at CCH who talked about a REACH Internship program through Christian Missionary Fellowship International. I felt God tugging at my heart to go when he was speaking. January 2011 I received a call that I had been accepted to go to Nairobi, Kenya during the summer to reach out to the urban poor in the Mathare Valley.
While in Kenya God taught me so many lessons. One key lesson is that I have never been and will never be homeless, which adds an interesting twist to everything I have been saying. God showed me that I do not have a home here on earth whether I am in Ohio, Indiana, New Jersey, or Kenya. I will never be fulfilled by a home here on earth. My home is in eternity when I will be with my creator. I was made for eternity and that is my home. Another key lesson is that I am not loved by God any more than those in Mathare. Their faith and trust in the Lord is incomparable to mine in Him. Yet, they have so much less, but feel so blessed with what they have. I may have a lot and come from a “rich” country, but God does not love me more. God worked in my heart so much while I was in Kenya showing me who He really is and how great His love for me is.
The day that I was finished with everything for my internship to Kenya, I was at a conference with others in CCH from Trine University. I went to four workshops during the first day of the conference, all four workshops being on a different subject. Every single workshop mentioned The Great Commission, but not just The Great Commission but the “going to all nations” part. During the last two workshops I was literally in tears because I felt God tugging at my heart to go on The World Race. For more reasons as to why I am going on The World Race check out my Why Go? blogpost.
The Great Commission–Matthew 28:16-20
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
My life goal — To glorify God in all I do and fulfill The Great Commission.
