Being called to go on the World Race has been one of the coolest adventures of my life…..let me tell you the story…..
It has been 2 years now that I have been praying for the Lord to reveal to me what He had in store for me once I was done with college. I felt called to missions but also thought maybe of going to a bible college or starting work as an occupational therapist . I continued to pray and one night at 2 AM recieved an email from AIM. I seriously only read the title of the email and had not even opened it before the Lord brought me to tears and spoke clearly that this was the organization I would be going with. Time passed I prayed and prayed about which mission trip was my calling. I was considering going to Africa for a year when someone mentioned the World Race. At first honestly I thought no way that sounds like a vacation around the world instead of a mission trip…..it wasn’t until I looked into it that I began to pray “Lord send me to Africa for a year where I would be in one place the whole time!!” 🙂 The Lord continued to lead me towards the World Race but still by January 2009 I asked the Lord for one more sign and that I was so sorry because He had already spoken to me that I was to go but I had a hard time accepting that I would be leaving everything I knew to travel to different countries with a backpack and a tent!
On our spring retreat for Phi Lamb I prayed constantly for one FINAL sign that I was to go on this mission trip. I prayed for 3 days straight and by Sunday I felt God saying wait….be still and know that I am God; trust me Emily. So I said I would wait as long as He wanted me to…little did I know it would be the next morning 🙂
I woke up Monday morning for school and by 9 AM had an email from AIM. Let me first tell you that since I recieved the email from AIM back in September 2008 I had not emailed or contacted them to let them know I was interested or considering going. So they basically had my email as a random person and that is about it. So back to Monday morning: I recieved an email from them saying “Emily, we have recieved your application fee but have noticed you have not yet filled out your application. We just wanted to encourage you to go ahead and start filling out the application to move the process along!” I got this email and thought hmmm well obviously they emailed the wrong person so I emailed them back saying just that. They wrote back saying “We have checked all your records on paper and in the computer and your application has been paid for. So if you decide to go on a mission trip today or two years from now, your application has been paid for.” Then he ended it saying “I do not think this was a mistake.” It took a few seconds for the tears to come and I heard the Lord speak so clearly in saying, “My daughter this is your sign, I want you to go and love and serve my people. I will continue to lead you and provide for you as I have done here.”
After this I was completely “IN” and although it is still all crazy to me about how everything came about and that this is really happening, God has continued week after week to confirm this mission trip. I am answering His call.
