This is my first post ever, so bear with me. I feel like since this whole blog is being started because I’m going on the WorldRace in September, why not have my first post be about why I chose the WorldRace, specifically the all Asia route, and how in hindsight the Lord has been preparing me for this for a long time! Here goes…
So for those of you who may not know too much about the WorldRace, it’s an 11 month long mission trip. The WorldRace is a program that is run through an organization called Adventures in Missions. Since 1989 they have sent out over 100,000 short term missionaries out. And in September, I have the opportunity to take this journey to Asia!
Before I talk about why the WorldRace specifically, I should talk about why a mission trip in general and not a so-called “real job”, because this isn’t a decision that I made on a whim, the Lord has been molding my heart for years now. I went on my first international mission trip when I was a junior in High School. My home church of Fairview Presbyterian sent a youth mission team to Honduras to run VBS in the small village of Santa Elena. The Lord rocked my world in those 10 days and I haven’t been the same since. That was my first taste of what it meant to have Jesus’ heart for the world, and I knew that wouldn’t be my last taste!! I had no idea though that it would be over 5 years later that I would get a second opportunity to spread the Kingdom overseas.
Yes, our youth mission team met some of the Honduras soccer team in the airport!
But for the past year, my discipler Steph has been prodding me about what my plans were for after graduation. For the longest time, I had no idea but she kept bringing up the idea of going on a mission trip. I had done some research on math related jobs since that was the degree that I was going to be completing, but nothing really felt right. But this idea of a mission trip, that was different. When I prayed about this, there was something that was just different…and good different. Next thing I knew, doors started opening. People that I had mentioned possibly doing a mission trip to got back to me out of the blue with different organizations that I should look into. So I chose to see these things not as coincidence but as an intentional part of the Lord’s perfect plan. So I told my parents that I wanted to participate in a mission trip after I graduated (not my favorite conversation that I’ve ever had mind you), and I started researching.
There were two options that I was considering seriously. One was the WorldRace and the other was a year long mission trip solely in India. A lot of prayer and a lot of talking with people led me to decide to do the WorldRace. I wish I could say that I heard the voice of the Lord audibly tell me which to do, but you know He doesn’t always work that way. So instead I made this choice in faith that His will would be done through this decision. And I’ve never felt more confident in about any decision I’ve ever made!!
The WorldRace has 4 different routes launching in July and 5 more routes launching in September. They all go to different countries in different continents, which I thought would make the decision hard about which one to pick but when I found that one of those routes was all Asia, I knew immediately that was where the Lord was calling me. Since I was a freshman in college, the Lord has given me a heart for human trafficking specifically in India and Nepal. When I found out that this route works with orphans and women who have been trafficked, I felt the Lord pulling on me to apply. So I did and the Lord’s provision has been evident!
I couldn’t have made this decision and choice without the support system that I have in Clemson and most importantly in the Lord!! Below is a link to learn a little bit more about the route that I chose and the countries that I’ll be going to:
http://www.theworldrace.org/?tab=routes&subtab=september-2014-1
