I am going on the World Race!!
It’s a crazy thing to even write out! I still can hardly believe God has chosen this path for me to follow! I am so thankful that He has already shown me again and again that this is what He wants me to do.
I will be leaving January of 2019 for an 11 month journey of ministry in 11 different countries. I have no idea what kinds of ministry God has in store for my team and me to experience next year but I know it will be absolutely amazing!
So, now onto how I found myself making this decision:
Throughout my life I have been involved with several different kinds of ministry. These included working in children’s ministry, college ministry and short term missions. Some of these mission trips were local, as well as around the United States, and a few international. The summer before I moved away to attend Ferris State University I went on a week-long mission trip to Haiti. During that time I felt God calling me to change my life to live for Him and Him only. I found myself going home from that trip and applying for a 3 months internship in Haiti the next summer. The process of applying for the internship took 9 months and during that time I had a lot of things in my life change. I truly did try to live my life for God and became very involved in a campus ministry called Real Life. After the 9 months of preparation I was declined from the internship. I found myself strangely at peace with the decision of the organization because I knew God was in control. I searched and searched for another option for doing ministry that summer but ended up just working that summer.
Before I fast forward to this year let me recap my college experience within the campus ministry of Real Life. This group changed my life. Everything you are ever told about the importance of community is absolutely true! I have not only found lifelong friends but gained brothers and sisters in Christ. I will give a small little example of the truly amazing people I have come to know with a shout out to 7 amazing people! Starting now I am living rent free! During the World Race I will still need to make payments on my student loans so several of my friends have offered me their spare bedrooms to stay in in order to save money. Thank you so much Megan, Paige, Carly, Sarah and Nate Peffers, and Nick and Kayla Loveberry!!!! You all have made this transition so much less stressful in the financial department when it comes to thinking about how to pay my bills while I am gone!
Real Life has shown me the practical ways of being in community within the life you are living. I have been a full time college student with a full time job and still been shown how to use my life and my free time to further the kingdom.
Throughout my college career God has shown me several times that the time was not right for me to consider missions and full time ministry. It became discouraging for me and I actually stopped thinking about it and really thought I would be at the job I am at now for a very long time. I thought I would be present for all of the expansions of the Early Childhood Education program at Ferris State University and even considered pursing the requirements of becoming a professor.
One Sunday, when I was home visiting my family, I went with my parents to Compelled Church. There was a guest speaker (J. P. Dorsey) that week. He is the dean of a Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan called Northpoint Bible College. His sermon that week was the first sermon of Mission’s Month at Compelled. I remember leaving that day and thinking to myself that it would be amazing to learn that much every day. I was going into the final month of my two master’s classes and I was spending a great deal of time on my final projects, projects I would never use in my day to day life. I began to think about if the degree I was pursuing was really worth it.
From there I began to pray about what God would have me do with my future. The thoughts never left my mind. The small group I am a part of focused on a time of prayer and fasting and I used this time to pray and focus a lot on my future. I was really sure what I was praying about was changing my major and switching to a Christian college where I would have to pay for my classes. I ended the time of prayer feeling content in knowing something was going to change but still not sure what God had in store for me.
The next day was a Tuesday, this is the night Real Life has its large group gathering. I couldn’t make it that night so I decided to listen to a sermon at home. The only sermon I had missed from my parent’s church was one by Paul Burkart. He is a missionary in Alaska who works in campus ministry. I was so excited when I first started listening, thinking this was God telling me to continue pursuing ministry through campus ministry, but the thought never really crossed my mind again. As he talked I felt such an excitement for my future. He talked about Moses’s mother and how she saw the future as good and was not afraid of it and nurtured it. Two quotes that really hit home were: “put your resources where you see value” and “there is no story in the Bible that says, ‘be safe and follow me’.” I was in awe at God’s ability to tie all of this in to how I was feeling about my future. I realized God was pushing me back towards overseas missions but I still had no idea what it was that He wanted me to do or where He wanted me to go.
From here I began researching short term trips to India. I have always had a love for India that I can’t really explain, yet I have never been there before. I talked to some friends and mentors about it all and then when I was on the phone with my mom I told her about all of this. I told her about how I wanted to go to India to see what ministry could be like there and then possibly just take other trips to other places if I don’t feel like that is where God wants me. My mom then told me about the World Race. I was super intrigued but also had no idea what it was. I read into it and prayed about it and could not stop myself from really thinking this was what God wanted me to do. I knew my mom had mentioned it but I didn’t want to blind side her and my dad so I texted them to let them know I could not stop thinking about it.
I began to really look into the World Race and message my family a lot to prepare them for the possibility of it. It was at this time that my friends all pitched in to tell me I could live with them so I used a weekend I was coming home to bring home some furniture. I also anticipated that weekend being me discussing the decision with my family. When I arrived my mom’s first words to me were, “So what countries are you going to?” I was so excited! My family had already accepted the World Race as what I was going to be doing! The next day I began my application! The process took about two weeks and my medical clearance took a few weeks as well. Now that all of that is done I am finally writing this blog to announce all of this to all of you! Thank you to those of you that read to the end of this blog! I know it was quite long!
Tune in next time by subscribing to this blog to read more about what the World Race is and what countries I will be able to serve in! If you feel called to partner with me through prayer this is the best way to stay informed and stay up-to-date on all that God is doing through my life.
One last thing:
In order to go I must be sent. This trip is the longest trip I have ever gone on and in that the most expensive. I need to raise $18,700! This support will cover all of my field expenses for the 11 months of the trip. I have no concerns about the cost because I know my Heavenly Father has the largest wallet in the world, it’s just scattered and needs to be collected. If you feel called to partner with me through prayerfully giving simply go to the top of this page and click donate. This can be a one-time gift or if you feel called you may also give monthly.
Thank you for your consideration!
