How I discovered the World Race:
Fall of my sophomore year of college, I had a bad case of the travel bug.
So what do you do when you have a travel bug?
You go to Twitter and follow as many travel, nature, and adventure accounts as you possibly can.
When I was on my Twitter journey, I happened to come across a page called the World Race (WR). To be completely honest, I immediately thought that the account was a knock off of The Amazing Race. But, I clicked on it anyway and it was so much more. What I found was a mission trip that would take me all over the world to experience different cultures, serve those in need, and most importantly, share the Gospel with whom we are called.
Why I decided to go:
Right after I found the World Race on Twitter, I took to YouTube where I stumbled upon Julia Robertson’s video blog. She had just started her journey on the WR, and after watching one video I was captivated. I ended up watching all her videos and I continued to follow Julia as her mission progressed.
I became enamored with the idea of traveling the world and experiencing different cultures, but that was unfortunately all I was excited about. The travel bug had come back to bite me. It caused me to focus all of my attention on the fun “worldly” aspects of the WR, instead of the eternal work we would be doing to glorify the LORD. It was a good feeling to know that I could be taking part in a trip whose purpose was to serve Jesus, but my eyes were focused on a completely different reason.
Thankfully, the LORD stepped in and showed me my selfish desires through multiple different ways.
The first way was through IndyCC, a conference that I went to over Christmas Break of my Junior year. At this conference, I heard one of my favorite speakers, Beth Guckenberger, speak on her time in the mission field. The stories she shared were absolutely life changing. Beth spoke about an absolute reliance on God she was forced into learning day after day. She shared stories about how God provided time and time again and stories of His amazing works.
Amazingly, I was given another wake up call at IndyCC. It just so happened that one building over, John Piper was leading his youth conference, and we had the opportunity of attending one of the days. At this session I was able to hear David Platt speak about the sacrifice of being a missionary, specifically what someone needs to be willing to give up to step into mission work. This work could expose you to disease, persecution, and/or leaving family and friends. While listening to him speak, I realized that I was not willing to sacrifice these things and that my heart was not in the right place.
So, I began praying and asking God to fix my heart and to make me passionate about taking the Gospel to the nations. And He did. In one moment, I felt God seriously calling me to the World Race—when it happened, I was overwhelmed. I just started bawling in the middle of my living room. I think it was at this moment that I experienced the true joy that only the LORD can give. I knew that this was something that He was calling me to do.
And that brings me to right now. I’ve accepted this calling and I’m officially committed to the World Race. If you would like to be kept up to date with my journey feel free to subscribe to my blog! Also, if you want to know more information or talk to me about anything, please feel free to contact me.
