Support raising. $15,500, which includes the cost of travel and food (granted we are living off of $3 a day!) for my trip, but things such as a backpack, camping items, cost of shots, insurance, and other random things are not included in the cost. It’s intimidating, not gonna lie.
But then again, is it really?
This has been on my mind a lot lately. Especially when people close to me have been questioning how I think I am going to possibly be funded for this trip:
- “How on earth do you think you are going to be able to raise that much money?"
- “What are you going to do about your student loans?”
- “And what about your car payment and credit card payment?”
- “Oh, and what are you going to do when you come back and don’t have any money?”
- “There’s no way you’re going to get all of that money!”
- “HA! Well, good luck finding that money somewhere cause it sure doesn’t grow on trees.”
- “Why don’t you just get a job and work because that’s what is NORMAL?”
But really…I don’t want to be normal. I don’t want to fall into the trap of striving to try and live “The American Dream”. I don’t want my life to revolve solely around monetary profit and what I can get with it for MYSELF. I want my life to revolve around GOD. He has called me to love Him and others. And that is what I am doing in being obedient to what he has asked me to do.
And yeah, some are probably thinking just as I have, “Well, you NEED money to do ANYTHING.”
And that's exactly right. I absolutely do! But, do you know what else I need? JESUS! And when I have Jesus, He will give me opportunity to grab hold of EVERYTHING I NEED to fulfill His calling on my life. And He has called me to the World Race to reach out to a dying and broken world. He has asked me to lose my life so that I can find it IN HIM (Matthew 10:39, Matthew 16:25, Luke 17:33). He has asked me to leave my ordinary life to live in unordinary circumstances – in poverty and pain and hurt and brokenness – and to TRUST HIM above all else. He will provide me with opportunities I can’t even imagine that will provide me with the support I need for the World Race.
And you know why I know this? Because the Bible, God’s Word, informs me that HE is my provider. He will NOT leave me stranded. God will NOT leave me empty handed without the resources necessary to fulfill His purpose for my life.
- God provided food for 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. (Matthew 14:13-21)
- Phillipeans 4:19 says that He will provide for my EVERY need.
- God provides for the widow when she obeys in 1 Kings 17.
There are many other verses that can support this claim, but the above are examples of what serve as reminders that I shall not fear, but have faith, because I know that fear will cause me to doubt. Faith is TRUST and I will trust in the Lord with all of my heart and soul.
So, in conclusion…I can allow the doubt to tear me down and make me believe that I cannot go on the World Race because I won’t be able to gain the resources necessary…and ultimately, let the enemy win.
OR…
I can believe in the promise that God has spoken, that He is my provider and will, without even one BIT of doubt, supply me with EVERY resource I need along the way for this journey and next chapter and season of my life.
Regardless of what the world tries to convince me to believe, I know what God says. And He will not leave me hanging without the resources I need to accomplish what He has called me to do. Prayer and words of encouragement from everyone mean more than the world to me and words cannot express the gratitude I have for that! And if God places it on people’s heart to fund me financially or in other resourceful ways, then I can’t thank them enough for that either. I know that God has my back. And I know that whether or not it’s the family close to me or a stranger that feels called to help, God is going to fund me and provide in ways I never even thought possible!!!!
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
~ 1 Corinthians 1:9
