Hey Friends! Welcome!
My first blog post ever, this is it! If you’re reading this because I or a mutual acquaintance was trying to explain what on earth I plan on doing after high school and shared the link to this page with you, you are probably wondering, “What is the World Race anyway?”, or you’ve heard about the “normal” World Race, which is 11 countries in 11 months, and you are confused as to why I am only going to be gone for nine months.
Good news! I can explain! The World Race: Gap Year is a nine-month-long missions trip to three continents around the world. (There are seven, in case you dozed off during that part of world geography.) The World Race is a program sponsored by an interdenominational missions organization called Adventures In Missions (AIM) that focuses on discipleship. Discipleship in this organization is achieved through being a prayerful people who build relationships with people, mostly by living in community. While on the World Race, I will have the opportunity to serve others by getting involved with already-present ministries, by partnering with local churches, schools, compassion centers and other mission organizations.
So now you know what the World Race is but, why go? The simplest answer is God has called me and reaffirmed that calling by making everything fall into place so far. Secondly, in addition to God calling me to take the year between high school and college off and commit it to missions, I have felt called from a young age to be a missionary, but don’t know exactly what that looks like. I think the variety of ministries on the World Race will help me explore that calling.
Since last year when I was reading through 1 Thessalonians, verse 5:24 stood out to me. It says, “The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.” While I am not quite sure that this is my life verse, it may be well on its way there. I love that while it is a fairly short verse, it has a powerful meaning and point. The first thing I notice is that God has called each of us to something. God’s call doesn’t have to be, and is often not, a call to something you will do with the rest of your life, but rather small baby steps of faith. Our response? Hopefully obedience.
The other day I was thinking about all the stuff I will have to do and money I will have to raise before I leave in September of 2020 and was starting to get a little bit stressed, then this verse popped into my head and I was reminded that if this really is something God has called me to, and I believe it is, then He is faithful and will do it. In this case the “it” is all the details involved in going on the World Race and taking a gap year.
One of the details that half of me is concerned about, and the other half of me is excited to see how God provides, is fundraising. To go on the World Race I have to raise what I’ve estimated to be about $23,000. Yes, that’s twenty-three thousand. If you poke around this page, you will see that my goal is $16,000, which is just the money the World Race needs. That amount doesn’t cover two mandatory trips back and forth to Georgia where World Race headquarters are; it doesn’t account for me running out of shampoo and having to buy more on the World Race; or me wanting to buy internet to message or video chat my parents over Thanksgiving or Christmas.
I say all this not to pressure you into supporting me, but because I want to invite you to be involved in what God has called me to–building His kingdom not just in one location, but all over the world in the many places I’ll get to visit. If you are interested in accepting this invitation, you can click the button that says donate at the top of the home page of my blog or mail a check to me. Other ways to support me are to pray for me even now as I begin preparing to leave and to share what I’m doing with friends, both on social media and word of mouth and invite them to join the journey. 🙂
