Dear Friends and Family,
Hello everyone! It’s hard to believe that just over a year ago I was standing in a room of perfect strangers pouring out my worship to Jesus at my sister’s Worldrace launch when I first heard the call to run. Not the kind of run when you’re standing next to a cute boy and you suddenly realize you have to fart, or the run down the stairs when you hear the timer beep for a batch of warm cookies coming out of the oven, but the kind of run your heart wants to do when you truly experience the love of the Father. The absolute surrender and overwhelming eagerness for every ounce of your being to actively pursue, and run as fast as you can straight to the feet of Jesus. I knew in that instant that I wanted nothing more than to drop everything I had going on and spread this love I was feeling with everyone around the world… I was terrified. I tried to shut the feeling out immediately and make it go away, I told myself to forget it and move on because deep down I knew better than to get attached to any idea that would inevitably just turn into another crushed dream, an unreasonable fantasy because [BEHOLD I AM ELYSE.] I am not meant for anything more than to stay in my small town forever and ever and the only way I’m meant to share love is by simply smiling when people pass by me in Wal-Mart… Yall, that is exactly how the enemy was working in my life and it crushed me. I pushed any hope of going on missions to the very back of my mind and promised myself I was not about to be disappointed again because of some crazy desire that couldn’t possibly be God’s plan for me. But God had another version of the story.
Throughout the year my sister was gone there were times when I couldn’t ignore the fact that I still had this burning desire to, “Go into all the world and share the [super duper exciting amazingly incredible] news to all creation” Mark 16:15. I knew deep down that going on a gap year was what I longed for but still I wrestled with the ever-present reminder that I wasn’t good enough to be called for such a journey, and so I began to plan my life after graduation to look just like I’d always pictured. It was supposed to be dull and lifeless with loads of stress and procrastinated essays locked inside a four-year degree which would begin with gaining 15lbs. (Now don’t get me wrong college is great, I will already have 5 of my core classes completed and be well on my way to my associates when I graduate, and I plan on plugging into a great one when I get back but my current mental picture of commuting to my local college everyday was a real bummer)
Flash forward to a few weeks ago when a notification came up on my phone saying that 2018 Worldrace Gap year routes were going to be announced live shortly, and I got this butterfly feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew better than to get my hopes up but I convinced myself it couldn’t hurt just to watch a video and see the places other people would be ministering in. When they started listing off the countries my hopes began to soar. Myanmar was the first one to catch my attention. For the past 5 years we have sponsored a beautiful little girl who lives in a small village in Myanmar and she has completely captured my heart. Her favorite food is noodles, she won the first place academic prize for her second grade year, she wants to learn how to ride a bike, and she calls me Ma Ma Elyse! (ma ma means sister in her country). To be able to see her country and possibly meet her in person (I know it sounds crazy but God is super rad and loves to make crazy possible!!!) would be the most amazing thing! Another country announced was South Africa, which is one of the countries my sister Leigh Anne was able to love on during her race. After seeing her pictures and hearing her stories of all the wonderful people and bratty children who just long to be loved, I began to have a heart for the souls of Africa as well.
When it finally came time for the routes to be announced, the first route had both of these countries listed. I wanted to cry, I called out to God and asked how he could hold back such an amazing opportunity from me when everything about it seemed so perfect for me. That’s when he showed me that I was the one who had denied the call in the first place, I completely shut out the idea because I believed the lie that I wasn’t good enough or qualified enough for something like the Worldrace. The reality is that He is the one who gives us the desires of our heart and it is His absolute joy to fulfill them! Immediately my perspective changed and I began to seriously pray for wisdom and discernment. Later in the week I was driving to a Bible study, praying and asking for Him to give me a sign showing me the right path to take. I specifically remember asking “Lord just tell me what to do!” in our discussion later that night one of the girls spoke up and said, “I truly believe that sometimes we ask God to make all of our decisions for us while He is saying that it’s time for us to choose, He hands over his jumpin boots of life and tells us to take a leap of faith in the direction we desire.” The minute she said that, it was as if Jesus was speaking directly to me and I literally got chills all over. The whole time I had spent distancing myself from Him He was drawing me near with open arms and making a perfect path for me, simply waiting for me to accept this adventure. I believe it’s pretty obvious what I chose, considering the fact that I stayed up till 2am filling out an application and am now staying up excitedly typing out this letter even though I am VERY uncomfortable writing anything (no joke I’m that person who gets a super-sweet-thought-out-foot-long text and awkwardly replies with “aww thank you” because I am terrible with words) But I couldn’t be more thrilled to announce to you that I have OFFICIALLY BEEN ACCEPTED FOR THE WORLD RACE GAP YEAR!!!!!!!!! Me and my squad of amazing, fun, Jesus-lovin, peeps launch for 9 months in September of 2018 and will be traveling to 3 continents and at least four countries including Costa Rica, Thailand, South Africa, and Myanmar!!! Our main goal will be to share the {overwhelming, never ending, reckless (-; #bethelrocks } love of God with everyone we come into contact with. We will be working with orphans, homeless, sick, victims of human trafficking and people who may have never experienced the incredible love of the Father. I am unbelievably humbled that God could use someone like me to embark on such a journey to freely give the most precious gift there ever was! I cannot wait to be a part of this church without walls [and very possibly without toilets] to ditch all expectations and advance the kingdom by living out the power of prayer!! Some people will say it’s crazy to go against society, and when they do I will probably wrap my arms around them and thank them with one of those squeeze-the-puddins-out-of-you hugs because I consider that a big compliment! I am not called to conform to the expectations of society, I am called to step out in faith and embark on a life long journey for Christ that began even long before my acceptance to the Worldrace.
Along with saying yes to this incredible opportunity, I will need your support to make this all possible. I ask for your prayers above all for me and my squad because the enemy loves to attack in areas where hearts are chasing Christ and working to advance the kingdom. Although I will be living out of a backpack for 9 months and won’t be checking into any fancy hotels, traveling can be extremely expensive and I will need to raise about $16,000 for this trip to be possible, this will cover plane tickets, housing and food. This is a big mean scary number…. At first. But I have absolutely no doubt that God will provide. When you really think about it, if 100 people gave $160 or if 80 people gave $200 I would be FULLY FUNDED!! I challenge you to pray about it and consider supporting me on this amazing journey!
If you are super duper excited to support me financially, you can do so through my blog at Elysewestra.theworldrace.org by clicking on the “support me” button, and if you’re not super duper excited to support me you can still use the “support me” tab, I accept angry donations just as excitedly as happy ones!! (; Above all, please pray for courage to grow and fear to flee! I love each and every one of you oh so dearly, and will be absolutely overjoyed to hear any of the questions/comments you have for me! Until then… Have tons of fun and eat lots of spinach
So Much Love, Elyse
