Well, now that I’ve decided to head off traveling, it seems to go without saying that I need to write a blog.
Not my forte, but I’ll do my best…
Blog #1… my World Race’s 5 “W”s… who, what, when, where, why… and GO!
Mini intro to me:
Emily Rose Knox.
27 year old female.
Single Single and ready to mingle.
KIDDING! …Being single is part of my whole “World Race journey”, and it WILL be enjoyed!! 😉
I am Canadian! Born and raised and proud to be a Vancouver Island lifer… so far.
I grew up in Qualicum Beach but I’ve spent most of the past 4 years in an isolated town called Port McNeill. I spend my days working as a Registered Massage Therapist, playing hockey, snowboarding, wishing I had a boat, fishing out of other people’s boats, hiking and exploring this beautiful island, and doing my best to embrace all aspects of North Island living.
I’m happy, healthy, have some good friends, a great family, enjoy my job, love being self employed, enjoy living alone and really enjoy my current freedom to do whatever I want. I’m pretty darn blessed…
And I love Jesus!
What is “The World Race”?…
The world race is an 11month Christian mission trip to 11 countries around the world. The plan is for a “squad” of about 50 people, including myself, to leave out of Atlanta, Georgia on August 4th 2016. These 50 people will be split into teams of about 6. This team of 6 will be my family for the year. We will spend the year living out of our backpacks, in low cost accommodation (such as our tents), and building relationships among locals. Wherever my team and I go, we will be on what us Christians like to call a “mission”. This means we are not just on holidays, but we have a predominant goal and agenda. The goal and agenda: To love and serve people, and to bring the love and message of Jesus and the Bible to the world. Our mission will look different everywhere we go. In some countries we will be working to help sex trade workers escape from lives of slavery. In some countries we will be helping orphaned children obtain desperately needed care and support. We will work to improve living situations for many suffering from HIV/AIDS. We will do manual labour where it needs to be done. We will teach skills that can change lives. We will hold hands that need to be held. We will do whatever needs to be done, whenever it needs to be done. Wherever we go, we will joyfully offer our time, skills and energy to do anything we can to make lives better. And whatever we do, we will do it in the name of Jesus!
Why am I doing this?…
The answer to this question is vast… I’ll try and sum it up.
Really, it comes down to what I believe. Some of you reading this blog will have a pretty good understanding of my beliefs, and some have very little. I’m not going to lay out the whole foundational pillars of the Christian faith (not right now at least… maybe in a later blog post if I start feeling really preachy, haha), but I will say that my Christian faith is absolutely the core and roots of who I am, of how I view this world, and of what I believe this life is all about.
When I was 16 I became a Christian and I began to sense that there was a great purpose for my life. For years I didn’t really know what it was, but I knew there was some sort of big “reason”, and inside I had a big growing passion for that “reason”. The more I read the bible and study all different kinds of knowledge, the more I understand it. The more I pray and spend time alone with God, the more I sense it. The more I step out and love, and give, and speak up for what I believe in, the more I feel this purpose light up my life, and burn away the superficial shell of who I am. Giving my life to follow Jesus is the best thing that I have ever done, and I want to share that with people. I want to share the love that I feel, the freedom that I experience, the peace and the joy that is so firmly set in my soul. Life isn’t perfect and it never will be. People aren’t perfect and they never will be. I still struggle and have heartache and pain and so does every other person living in this world of turmoil. But I have found a hope that exceeds every struggle and downfall… and that hope is what drives me to want to try and make a difference in this world of unfair and unjust circumstance. This hope and joy is what I want to bring to some of the darkest most hopeless corners of the world. If I can bring this hope to just 1 person at a time, it will be the greatest purpose that I could ever find during my short time on this planet. There is a whole world of hurting, starving, dying, enslaved, abused, alone and struggling people out there. They need hope. They need love. I have a hope and love to share. That is why I want to go on this trip.
Do I want or need support?…
Well, for those of you who pray, I will take all the prayers I can get! I don’t want to go all the way around the world just to operate within the limits of my own strength and capabilities. I want to see God make miracles happen. I want to see sick people healed, enslaved people freed, lost people get found. I want to see supernatural changes in the world around me and in the lives of those whom our team comes in contact with… and that require prayer. So please, be praying!
As for financial support, I could use a bit of help. As you can see from my fundraising bar at the top of the page, I need about $17,000 USD… plus the costs of all my gear, vaccinations, passport, flights to and from Georgia for a 10 day training camp in June, another flight to Georgia for the launch date in August and a flight home 11 months later, spending money for the trip, and the cost of supporting my 2 sponsor kids for a year while I’m gone. Unfortunately the Canadian dollar is at a ridiculous low right now, which doesn’t help my cause… but that’s OK! Don’t worry, I have been saving like crazy for a good few years so I’ve got a really good chunk of it covered… but I’m trusting God to bring in the rest. I know with all my heart that God has called me to go on this trip, and I don’t have a doubt in my mind that the money will be there when I need it.
I also want to say that there is something really awesome about receiving support. To know that I have a group of people standing behind me, with enough love and support for me to give hard earned cash out of their own pocket is inspiring and motivating. To know that I’m not going alone but that the prayers of my family and friends in Canada are going with me is comforting and reassuring. To know that you guys have faith in me and believe in my dream to go and try to impact the world by reaching one life at a time… that is humbling, empowering and extremely encouraging. So the answer is yes… I do want and need support.
Where in the world am I going?…
There are 3 different World Race routes setting out in August. I have requested to be on a certain route and am currently on the waitlist for that set of countries… meaning I may get to go to these 11 countries, or I may find out last minute that I am going to 11 different countries! Exciting!!
The countries that I have requested and will most likely be going to are:
Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Haiti, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Costa Rica
Are tax receipts available if I make a donation?…
Yes!!
But only if you make a donation through my home church. Reason being, “Adventure Missions”, which is the organization that I am going through, is an American organization and isn’t set up to issue tax receipts outside of the USA.
Donations can be made directly on my blog/fundraising page, but valid tax receipts will not be issued outside of the US for these donations.
To make a donation to my world race and receive a tax receipt, please make cheques out to “Port McNeill Full Gospel Church”, be sure to indicate that the donation is specifically for “Emily’s World Race”, and mail or deliver to the church at
Port McNeill Full Gospel Church
2540 Catala Place
PO Box 377
Port McNeill, BC
V0N 2R0
And I think that is all I’ve got for you!
Hopefully this blog gave you a pretty good idea of what I’m doing and why.
If you have any questions, please feel free to get ahold of me and ask, either on my blog page or by email at [email protected]
Thanks for reading, stay tuned for future blog entries, and God bless!!
