I remember that I was pretty young the very first time I met a missionary. I remember that we sat in a circle around her while she talked about her job. I don’t remember what country she served in or how she served there but I remember her passion and purpose. I remember knowing how much she loved Jesus just by the way she spoke to us, and I remember that I wanted to be just like her. After I met her, I put a poster of the world on the back of my bedroom door. It was a black poster and the world was outlined in white. If you looked closely at the poster you would see specks of light in various places all over it. Some clusters were far larger than others and some places had no specks at all. The poster was titled “points of light around the world”. I knew from that time on that I wanted to be one of those points of light in one of those countries. And now, I get to be.
When I graduated college almost a year ago (YIKES) I remember the fear that overwhelmed me. Fear that I had to decide right then and there what I was going to do with my life and that that was it, my decision was final. The problem was, I couldn’t make a decision, which also filled me with fear. I still wanted to be a missionary but that too made me afraid. So I started to pray and think and explore all the various choices I had before me…That’s when I came back across the World Race. I had stumbled across the World Race a few years prior when one of my acquaintances had gone. I was able to see her journey through social media. Since I had heard about the race I had always felt a tug towards it and I was filled with a longing to go. So I began to pray about it. Then I prayed some more. I waited. I prayed. I waited. I was still scared. I waited. I prayed. I don’t think I have ever prayed about something for so long. 8 months later I finally decided to apply and I was still scared but I came to realize that all my fears had no place, they had no foothold. I was and am not called to have a spirit of fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells me that. So I continued to pray throughout the process that if this wasn’t what the Lord had for me, if I wasn’t ready to go, if this wasn’t where He wanted me, that it would be a big NO. 2 months after the process began, I got the phone call and the affirmation that this was where God was calling me next.
You may be asking why would I want to go across the world? Why do I want to spend the next 7+ months fundraising and preparing? Why would I want to spend a year of my life living out of a backpack? Here’s the answer to all of those questions: Because God is calling me closer to Himself and I want to answer that call by serving the nations. The World Race and I am just His vessels. I want to be a vessel if it means that God changes my heart and my life. I want to spend a year living out of a backpack if it means that even one person is impacted by the gospel. I want to spend 7 months fundraising to go, if it means that the Lord is glorified through the process. Yes, I want adventure and fun and community and connection and culture and travel and all the awesome things that will come from a trip across the world. I even want all the hard things that are going to happen, all the moments when that old fear threatens to overwhelm me again, and when I second guess this crazy, awesome journey I’m about to go on. I want to be wrecked for the sake of Christ. I want to grow closer and closer to my Abba, to my Father. All of these things are just what come when we say “Yes!” And I am no longer afraid to say yes. Emphatically, yes I will go.
I’m saying yes but will you say yes alongside me? The next 7 months and the year beyond that are going to be really hard and I need your support. Here are some ways that you can consider supporting me: financially, prayerfully, and just straight up support through encouragement and kind words. I really can’t do this without you. Will you pray about saying yes to joining me on this journey? Will you pray for me as I continue to say yes again and again in the coming months? Will you pray that the Lord alone will be glorified through this entire process? Saying yes is only the beginning and I am so excited to see the Lord work through my team and me and YOU throughout this journey. So will you say yes with me and stand beside me to watch as the Lord calls more yeses out from the nations?
