trying to sleep, except I couldn’t because I was too worried about
support raising. And out of nowhere, God told me that St. James (my
home church – I’ve been away for the past three years at school,
but grew up in this church and have been back since April) was going
to send me. This surprised me because I had honestly not been
expecting much support from my church. That’s not to say that people
within my church have not been incredibly supportive and encouraging.
It’s just that as a whole, I didn’t think the church would be that
interested. We’ve recently sent a few short term mission teams and I
had been told that people may be tired of supporting missions –
which is why I hadn’t really talked to my church about the world race
earlier. But God told me what He told me and so I tried to be
obedient to that. I asked to speak to the church about the World Race
and let them know about my financial need. And it wasn’t an option. I
felt really discouraged. God spoke it to me! And I stepped out in
obedience to Him! And I put myself out there. And nothing. God,
what’s up?!
However, through the process of asking
to speak to the church, an elder in my church offered to host a
dessert night at his house, where we would invite people from the
church to hear about the World Race and where I could let them know
about my need. Let me just say, this couple is amazing. They went
above and beyond, organizing and making phone calls and making
desserts and even rushing renovations in time for the fundraiser.
They brought the entire evening together in less than two weeks!
So, the fundraiser is two weeks away,
and even though I am so thankful for the Reids and I am excited about
what’s going to happen at this dessert night, I still feel pretty
discouraged because things didn’t go the way I thought they would. I
also had no peace about any other kind of support raising, so I felt
like I was doing nothing. (Aside: I know my last blog asked for
support, and that is the one exception. I really felt God lead me
to write that blog, even though support came through it from outside
of this particular church. To those that responded, it looks
like God definitely wanted you to be a part of the World Race! Haha,
thanks!). Anyway, so in spite of the fact that my mind was going a
mile a minute trying to figure out how to raise the money, God was
like, no way, you can’t earn it, I am going to provide it, and I am
going to provide it through St. James.
you that these few weeks were not easy for me.. I felt really
discouraged at times, and at other times totally overwhelmed. And I’d
be lying if I said the weight of the amount of money I still needed
didn’t hang over me. I mean, God called me to the World Race and I
knew that if He called me He would provide. However, it was a painful
process to be able to give God all the control. Every day felt like a
constant battle to trust Him. Literally. I’d wake up in
the morning feeling heavy. And it was a battle all day to fight for
the faith to trust that God was working and that He knew what He was
doing. Anyway, just know that I am far from perfect and that those
few weeks were a struggle but I would not trade it because I have learned a lot about God and about myself. I
can now look back and see all the ways that God was so incredibly
faithful, even though I couldn’t see it at the time.
away. I am almost afraid to tell this story because God did so much
that I know I am going to leave certain details out. The past week
has been…crazy. I’ve been blessed so so much. So, a few days before
the fundraiser, I felt God say that even though the last few weeks
had been hard, the next few weeks were going to be a time of
blessing. First of all, my amazing squadmate Will came to Nova
Scotia! He felt God leading him to be at the fundraiser so he came in
the day before and stayed a few days. Just having Will here was so so
encouraging. Being able to talk to another racer and be reminded of
why I was doing it and how amazing and worthwhile it’s going to be
was so good for me. Not to mention that most of my friends had gone
back to university and I was feeling pretty lonely. So, I’m feeling
pretty blessed that Will is here. And then, my friend Anne returns
from Newfoundland (where we both went to school, and where she
recently graduated from!) just in time to come for the fundraiser and
meet Will. I hadn’t seen her in four months and I missed her so much, it’s almost pathetic how much I love this girl. So
before the fundraiser even happens, God is already just blessing me
like crazy.
Will and I spent some time praying for the night to come. Before we started praying it had been pouring like crazy
out and Will and I had been talking about how God had spoken
separately to us a month earlier. Will had a dream where it was
pouring and it was God’s blessing on our squad and around the same
time I had been praying for the squad when I felt like it was pouring
rain on me. So, when I had read about Will’s dream I got chills. What’s
even cooler is that we didn’t know he would be visiting me at the
time, so sitting there together while the rain is pouring, thinking
about what God had shown each of us separately is just plain amazing to me. Anyway,
so we pray over the night and then I go into the kitchen and look out
the back window. And over my backyard is the biggest, brightest, most
distinct rainbow I have ever seen! It was amazing. And it was all
God. Reminding me of the fact that He is faithful to His promise.
out is amazing. So many people from my church were there, many I know
only by name, and some I didn’t even know by name. So, right away I
am just encouraged that my church family is interested in hearing
about what I’m spending the next year doing. So, we hang out for a
bit, enjoy some dessert (well…I think other people enjoyed some
dessert, I didn’t have much of an appetite) and then I share about
the World Race. Honestly, I don’t even remember what I said, all I
know is that I never realized how passionate I felt about the World
Race until I got up to tell my church about it. So, I speak and then
Don, the host, tells everyone about my financial need. I know, I
know, I really didn’t do anything for this support haha. And I just
stood there as person after person came to me to financially, and not
just financially, but through words and through prayers, support me.
The response was overwhelming, many of these people know me only by
seeing me sit in a pew a few rows in front of them on Sundays and yet
they gave so freely. This is not a church that is tired of supporting missions, but a church that has given freely and cheerfully to the ministry that God has called me, and them, to.
So, once the night is over, and we’re
cleaning up, Will gets the amount $4275. So, we count it up (this is
just the literal amount that came in, not the monthly support pledges
since they don’t count towards the 60 percent I need in my account to
leave) and the total is $3910!! I am so ridiculously excited because
it’s more than I need to leave and I am just blown away by everyone’s
generosity. After I calm down a bit, we’re all like, oh well, it’s
pretty close to $4275. haha. And then Will says well I shared at my
church on Sunday and a lady wrote me a check to support the World
Race and I really felt like I was supposed to give it to Courtney. So
he passes it to me, and it’s a check for $300 from the bank of NOVA
SCOTIA. So, new total? $4210. Not quite $4275, but close enough!
Where do you even find people like Will? I don’t know, I just know
that I am blessed to know him and spend this year with him. His heart for our squad and the way he loves each one us is incredible. I think everyone should have a Will in their lives.
to provide the 60 percent of the total that I needed to leave through
this dessert night. But I was so focused on just getting enough to
go, that I hadn’t even thought about the other 40 percent. And again,
God blessed me like crazy! Through the pledges for monthly support
that came in, and donations that came in that night and over the next few days, I am
now 90% funded! And God has given me peace that I will be fully funded
before I leave in two weeks. So, now not only am I able to go, but I
am able to truly focus on ministry without having to worry about
support raising. God is good! So you’d think, okay God, thanks! You’ve done enough here for sure. But He didn’t stop there! He just kept going!
more than I had anticipated and some other things didn’t go quite right
and I ended up having no money. I don’t mean on a tight budget, I
mean my bank account was empty. So, I was really concerned about how
I was going to buy a flight to Miami in order to launch with the
squad. It just felt like it was the one thing I was supposed to be
able to do myself and now I couldn’t even do that. But again, God is
faithful. My new friend Ben came to my dessert night and brought
along his parents. His dad asked me if there was any way I could use
airmiles! Ha! God amazes me. I haven’t even mentioned at this point
that I don’t know how I am getting to Miami and already God has provided a flight through Ben’s parents. I’ve
never even met them before and yet they were so willing to support me. What a blessing.
Okay, so it just keeps going. Another
thing that I’ve been really wanting is to take a trip to Sackville to
visit my friends Ainslie and Thomas before I leave for the World
Race. I’d been planning to take the bus up for a visit but since
things hadn’t worked out they way I thought they would, I didn’t have any money to go. So, we’re saying goodbye after this amazing day:
Will and Anne visiting, the rainbow, the support and encouragement of
my church, financial support far beyond what I had imagined, the
flight to Miami, blueberry cheesecake (there were leftovers to
celebrate with! It’s my favorite!) and then Linda, my friend and old youth group leader,
asks me if I want to go to Sackville! So we made a trip up on
Friday, and it really was an awesome trip and I got to see my friends
one last time before I leave…and to experience Joey’s and it’s amazing garlic fingers!
Honestly, it just makes me laugh. God
just gave me everything. I didn’t do anything, I definitely didn’t
earn it or deserve it, but He gave it to me anyway. Because He is
good, and He loves me. It’s hard to wrap my head around.
Okay, so I know this is long, and I
just reread it and believe it or not I left some of the things God
did out but it’s already too long. GOD IS GOOD!
Oh, I just have to add that the
morning after the dessert night we got up early to see the ocean
before Will headed back to Toronto and when we got to the beach there
was another rainbow right over the water. Love it!
