Hey y’all! Welcome to my blog!
I am so excited to share with you my story of how the LORD has led me to the World Race and hopefully answer some of your questions about this incredible opportunity to minister to the nations.
I first heard about the World Race during my first summer working at Winshape Camps after my freshman year of college. One of my friends at camp briefly mentioned that she had a friend who was doing mission work through the World Race. I was instantly curious and wanted to learn more about what the World Race was. On my next off day, I found myself the World Race website and their mission statement was the first thing I read. It says:
The World Race is a stretching journey into 11 countries in 11 months to serve “the least of these” while amongst real and raw community. This unique mission trip is a challenging adventure for young adults to abandon worldly possessions and a traditional lifestyle in exchange for an understanding that it’s not about you; it’s about the Kingdom.
11 countries. The least of these. Community. Adventure. Abandon worldly possessions. These were the words that stuck out to me as I read that statement. I had spent the previous spring break in Jamaica doing mission work and got to experience what it is like to serve as a missionary in a foreign country. I loved the trip and loved getting to serve others and see what the LORD was doing outside of the US. It was on that trip, unbeknownst to me at the time, that the LORD started stirring something in my heart for missions and for the nations. As I sat reading more about the World Race, I decided that it sounded like an incredible opportunity but I couldn’t fathom actually doing something like that. It was too much money and interfered with the plans I had made for the next 6 years of my life which included going to Occupational Therapy School. I told myself I would still do missions but it would be on a short-term basis.
Fast forward to my sophomore year. It was during this year that I learned a lot about the 10/40 window. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, the 10/40 window is the area of the world were the vast majority of the unreached people groups live. 10 and 40 represent the degrees north of the equator and helps to create this box/window. The below in blue are considered to be in the 10/40 window. In addition to that, I learned that there are approximately 3 billion people in the world with no access to the Gospel. 3 billion. Just let this number sink in for a minute. There are approximately 7 billion people in the world so that means that about 40% of the world has no access to Jesus. None.
In addition I learned that there are approximately 9700 people groups in the World and of those 9700, 4000 are considered unreached. These numbers are shocking and I was overwhelmed at that the fact that there are so many people who haven’t heard of Jesus. As I was learning all of these things, I began looking back into the World Race again and reading the blogs of the racers who were currently on the race. They were going to some of these places in the 10/40 window where the name of Jesus literally had never been heard before. Something inside me yearned to go to these places where Jesus hadn’t been preached, to extend his grace and love to those who were so desperate for it and yet so unaware of how great their need was.
I had the privilege of going back to Jamaica for my spring break that year as a leader. To say this trip was incredible would be an understatement. My team and I saw the LORD do some powerful things and experienced the LORD in some incredible ways. We saw prayers being answered and the LORD fighting for his children in the most tangible way I’ve ever seen. We cried out for the nations and for the city of Montego Bay and my passion for the nations only grew stronger. I was certain that I wanted to go to the nations and that the World Race was my way to do that.
I came home from my trip to Jamaica and entered into one of the most discouraging seasons of my life as far as missions were concerned. The discouragement hit me hard and I put this idea of going to the nations on the back burner, once again believing that I wouldn’t ever actually go. Things were falling into place with my Occupational Therapy School plans and I thought to myself that these things wouldn’t be working out if it wasn’t what the LORD had for me. I got into the major I applied for that would set me up pretty perfectly for OT school. I was enjoying my classes and the more I shadowed OTs and saw what the job truly entailed, the more comfortable I became with my own plans of OT school. At the end of my junior year, I was even offered this incredible job that gave me hands on experience working in a OT clinic. These jobs are hard to come by and the fact that it fell into my lap more so assured me that OT was the right thing for me.
The summer after my junior year, I spent my 3rd consecutive summer at Winshape. It was here that I really began to wrestle with the LORD about what he wanted me to do post college graduation. Despite all of the things that in my mind were working out in regards to OT school, I couldn’t get the idea of the World Race out of my mind and the more I thought about the World Race, the less peace I felt about applying to OT school. From an earthly standpoint, my struggles made no sense. I was right where I always had hoped I’d be at this point in my life and yet instead of feeling confident in what I was doing, I felt uneasy and confused. As I as struggling with this decision, I began to read the book All In by Mark Batterson (if you have not read this book, you need to – its fantastic). Here are a few of things that hit me hard as I read this book:
“The gospel costs nothing. We cannot buy it or earn it. It can only be received as a free gift, compliments of God’s grace. So it costs nothing, but it demands everything. And that is where most of us get stuck — spiritual no-man’s-land. We’re too Christian to enjoy sin and too sinful to enjoy Christ. We’ve got just enough Jesus to be informed, but not enough to be transformed.”
“If you don’t hold out on God, I can promise you this: God will not hold out on you. But it’s all or nothing.”
“Our normal is so subnormal that normal seems radical. To the first-century disciples, normal and radical were synonyms. We’ve turned them into antonyms.”
“You can have faith or you can have control, but you cannot have both.”
“Faithfulness is not holding the fort. It’s storming the gates of hell. The will of God is not an insurance plan. It’s a daring plan. The complete surrender of your life to the cause of Christ isn’t radical. It’s normal. It’s time to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. It’s time to go all in and all out for the All in All.”
As I was reading these things and seeking the LORD for what He was calling me to do, I felt the LORD telling me to go all in for him. All in with no back up plan, being obedient and complete surrendering to him. For me, going all in was deciding not apply to OT school and applying for the World Race instead. It was a wonderful and terrifying moment when I made this decision. I was applying for the World Race with no back up plan. Like what?!
Some people would say that its foolish not to have a backup plan but I argue that the foolish thing would have been to have a back up plan. Here’s why: a back up plan would give me a way out of actually pursuing the World Race. It would allow me to quit if things got too hard or rely on myself instead of the LORD if it didn’t work out and that would completely undermine the heap leap of faith it took to apply to the World Race. No plan B would make me fully dependent on the LORD. It’s a scary and yet oh so wonderful place to be and has made me trust the LORD in ways I never have before.
Before I applied for the race, I had to face the discouragement I faced about missions during my sophomore year. To say I was terrified to do this is an understatement. I began thinking about what would happen if I encountered that same discouragement again. Would it change my mind about the World Race? Would I be able to really pursue the race if I experienced that same discouragement? I began to pray and pray that that would not happen again. And you know what y’all? God is a God who answers prayers! The discouragement I faced previously was replaced with love, support and encouragement. My mind was absolutely blown. God is so so good.
So that is my story of how I wound up with this blog preparing for this crazy adventure where I get to follow Jesus to the nations. I am sure some of y’all are wondering more about what my trip will look like and the things we will be doing. This trip will take me to 11 different countries: Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, India, Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Our ministry will look different in each country but my team and I will serve in partnership with churches and ministries in local communities to preach the Gospel, plant churches, work in orphanages, minister to women and children trapped in prostitution as a result of human trafficking, and bring restorative hope of the Father’s love to many tribes and nations.
Like most other missions organizations, World Race participants are required to fund raise financial support. In order to leave fully funded in September 2015, I need to raise $16,287. This money will cover all of my field expenses for the 11 months of the trip. As I take this large step of faith in trusting the LORD, I am writing to you to ask if you for your prayer support as I prepare for this mission opportunity during the upcoming year. Also, if you feel led, it would also be wonderful to have your financial support. I am trusting that the LORD will provide and my prayer is that He will do that through you and other believers who share and want to partner in spreading the Gospel to the nations! If you are interested in supporting me, click the Support Me Link on my blog. All donations are tax deductible!
Thanks y’all for taking the time to read this first blog post. I am truly in awe of how good God is and truly thankful that he is a Father who gives us good gifts and a Father who has better plans for us than we can even make for ourselves. Please feel free to leave comments if you have any questions about the Race! And thanks y’all so much in advance for your prayers and support.
If you want to learn more about the 10/40 window or what God is doing throughout the world, check out the Joshua Project website! It’s a great resource! http://joshuaproject.net/global_statistics#PeopleGroups
