Once upon a time, there lived a young girl of 15 who was visiting Vietnam with her family. She was no princess, but she longed for the adventures she read about in fairy tales and novels. That girl was me. It was the spring of 2014 when my parents, my two sisters, and I took a trip to Vietnam. One day on this trip, we decided to go the the international church in Hanoi. If you have never been to an international church before, let me paint the picture for you. It was a small room in a hotel filled with rows of grey chairs. A screen showcasing a PowerPoint slideshow hung at the front of the room and two microphones sat in their stands next to a table. The room was packed with people from every corner of the world. We were all so incredibly different, each one of us coming from a unique location and a unique background. My adventure-seeking self was teeming with excitement; I loved being surrounded by cultures new and strange and different than mine. What were all these people’s stories?
The service began with the pastor asking a question: how many countries has everyone lived in? He told us to stand up. We did. Then, he told us to sit down if we had only lived in one country. My family and several others sat down, but the room was still full of standing people. “Sit down if you’ve lived in two countries.” Some more people sat down. It went on and on until there was one person left standing. He had lived in over nine countries. I was amazed. I had always wanted to live in a country other than the United States, but I had never thought about living in two or three, much less nine! I made a vow to myself right then and there that I would someday be the last one standing in that room.
When I heard about World Race Gap Year, my heart sort of did a back flip. This was what I wanted to experience after years of daydreaming. The big dreamer inside me was running around, dancing and singing for joy. If you don’t already know, World Race Gap Year is a 9-month long mission trip to six different countries. My route goes to Romania, Ukraine, Chile, Peru, and India. I know, right? It’s insane and amazing. And I am so excited to be preparing for this trip!! God does some pretty weird things, you know. Even as I’m writing this, I am realizing just how much my life now links with my past self’s longings. By going on this trip, I will be exploring new, vibrant cultures, learning from so many people from all paths of life, and getting to grow together in a community of other people my age, which makes my heart feel like it’s going to explode with happiness!
So that is a little taste of why I am going on this trip. I have a few more reasons that I would love to tell you about in the future, but I think this is a good start! You can click the Follow Me page if you want to subscribe to my blog posts and keep up to date with my preparation for World Race. If you have any questions about the Race or my personal story, I would love it if you would write a comment or you can go to that cool Contact page, too! This crazy story has only just begun and I can’t wait to share it with you!
Emm
