I am leaving for 9 months to serve in Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, and Albania in September of 2017. This has been weighing on my heart for a very long time and trust me – it was not an easy decision.
-a year and a half ago-
I had just gotten back from my second trip to Haiti and was heading into my Freshman year of college. I had tons of questions running through my head as I was preparing to move.
Is this the right decision for me?
What in the world should I study?
What if I hate it?
I ended up really enjoying school. Classes were great, I had the best roommate I could’ve asked for, and I loved the town I was living in. Despite enjoying school, I felt this pull on my heart to do something different – something other than college. After a few tear-filled conversations with my mom and a lot of prayer I came across The World Race. I was immediately drawn towards the idea of going out and serving for 9 months – it was EXACTLY what my heart had been longing for.
I brought the idea of me going on this trip up to my mom a couple of times. She was not crazy about the idea, so I tried to drop it and move on. During this time, I continued to pray that the Lord would reveal whatever He was pulling my heart towards.
This was my prayer for the next 11 months.
The World Race had continued to flood my mind over that time, but I just didn’t think it was ever going to happen for me.
Earlier this Fall I met up with a friend from High School to go to a service for college-aged students. I couldn’t tell you what the lesson was about or what songs we sang but I was just completely overwhelmed with this calling – The World Race. After the service, I rode back to my friend’s place where we ended up sitting in the car and talking about everything I had been feeling over the past year. It was late, but I texted my mom to see if she was up. To my surprise, she responded and I told her I was coming over because I needed to talk to her.
When I got to my parent’s house my mom and I sat down and I told her that this call to take a year to serve was still weighing heavily on my heart. I was expecting the conversation to be a repeat of the conversations we had a year ago, but something in my gut told me it was worth a shot – and it was. She gave me her support to pursue this calling – and that was all I needed.
I applied within a few days and was well on my way to going on The World Race.
Throughout the application and commitment process, I have questioned my decision. And with every question the Lord’s vision for this next chapter in my life has become more and more clear. Every time I have worried about taking an alternative path from what most of the people my age are doing, what everyone will think, or how I will bring in enough support for 9 months on the mission field I have become more certain and secure in this calling.
As I prepare to leave in September and throughout my time on the field this is where I will be posting updates. If you would like to be notified when I update my blog press the button under my picture that reads “Subscribe for Updates.” I promise I won’t flood your inbox!
I would GREATLY appreciate your prayers as I begin to prepare for this next step. Here are a few specific ways you can be praying for me:
Pray that my relationship with Christ would continue to strengthen
Pray for my future teammates and squad members, and that their relationships with Christ would continue to strengthen
Pray for the Lord to equip my teammates and I with what we will need to best serve the people of Columbia, Cambodia, Thailand, Albania, and Ecuador
Pray for my heart to be open to and confident in whatever plan the Lord has for us while we are on the race
Thank you for reading and beginning this journey with me! Your prayers and support mean so much!
