Welcome to my slice of the web where I document my next adventure and the next season of my life, The World Race! I realize that some of you reading this have known me my entire life, others for a short while and some of you may be wondering just who exactly this crazy girl traveling the world is. =) Either way, thanks for reading. It’s my prayer that this blog will not be a reflection of me, but a reflection of God and His awesome power and the work He is doing in my life and in the world. I pray that these words will touch your heart in some way and encourage you to continue to walk in His light, or possibly learn what that means for the very first time. So here goes! My first post…
WHO is Jaclyn?
Well, I’m a graduating journalism/documentary student at Michigan State University (Go Green!) with an internship and two summer classes to finish before I actually have a degree in my hands. =) I come from the small town of Greenville, MI where I lived with my parents, two awesome brothers, and my four-legged, furry sister Mia. I currently reside in East Lansing, MI with three beautiful sisters in Christ, my second family. I love photography and capturing beautiful moments and people with my lens although I constantly doubt my ability to do it well. I also love to read and write and hate all things math and numbers. I’m always rushing everywhere and 9 times out of 10 I’m late. I ride a grandma bike and drive a grandma car. I love big cities and new adventures and I hate sitting still. I’m constantly making lists and black is my favorite color, although I’ve recently become partial to mustard yellow as well. I’m a worrier and a planner and I get stressed out way too easily… Something God continues to work within me! I’m also very sarcastic…Sometimes too sarcastic. I really like the sun. And I really hate waking up early.
WHAT is the World Race?
The World Race in very simple terms is an 11-month mission trip to 11 different countries. But it’s also so much more. It’s an opportunity to abandon the life that we so naturally gravitate toward, the security of friends and family and a nine to five job and to surrender to the idea that maybe there is something more. It’s the opportunity to reach the unreached, to love the unloved and to experience the unfathomable all in the name of Jesus. It’s not about me living out of a backpack for a year, leaving my family and career for a year… It’s about God and his command to spread His name to the ends of the earth. And the World Race is a quite literal opportunity to do that.
Check out this video from www.theworldrace.org
WHERE will I be going?
1. Thailand
2. Cambodia
3. Vietnam/Laos
4. Tanzania
5. Mozambique
6. Swaziland
7. Dominican Republic
8. Haiti
9. Moldova
10. Romania
11. Ireland
My 200 level journalism skills were put to good use as I mapped out each of the countries my team will be going to in the 11 months. I encourage you to click on the link to see the larger map and read the descriptions of the needs for each of the countries. =)
View The World Race in a larger map
WHEN will I be going?
I will be leaving in September 2012 and returning in August 2013. We haven’t received our route yet (as far as I know) of exactly where we will be in each particular month. Stay tuned!
WHY am I going?
Quite simply, to share the love of Jesus and because God commanded me (and you!) to. Let me explain… Two years ago I was in the darkest time of my life. For so long I thought I had everything figured out. I thought I knew who I was, what I wanted out of life, where I wanted to end up and how I would get there. And boy, was I ever wrong. Thankfully God loves me so much that He stripped me of everything I once thought to be true and filled the immeasurable hole in my heart with His love, grace and truth. It was a painful and humbling process, but God was so faithful. It took trial and error, mistake after mistake, a lot of soul-searching, heartbreak and a lot of frustration to finally admit that the plans I had for my life were definitely not the plans that God had for me.
The last two years have brought immense growth, as I’ve seen God mature me and change my heart in so many ways. In particular, God has given me a heart for the world and reaching His people. This was made especially clear to me the summer after my freshman year of college when I spent three weeks in the country of Haiti where my life was turned upside down. My heart was forever changed and I knew that my purpose in life extended beyond the life I had dreamt up for myself. And yet, as the months passed I found myself so easily slipping back into the ways of the world. I became consumed with perception, with material things and especially with achieving success in school and my future career. I was terrified of failing, of not being good enough and began living with the goal to make much of myself rather than much of God.
Again, only by His grace did God reveal this to me and again, it was painful. But He is slowly changing my mindset, realigning my head and my heart with His. With graduation looming overhead, I began praying fervently about what the next step of my life needed to be and God made it clear so quickly. I was to set aside the dreams I had of building a high-profile career, of being recognized as someone who works hard and achieves great things and surrender to the reality that it’s not about me.
In Acts 1:8 Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” And I have been so tempted to look away from the word “you” and toss it to my friends, to leave it up to someone else. But God was talking to ME. And in Mark 10 when a wealthy man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life and Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor to follow him, he was being quite literal in that that is what I am to do as well. And in Matthew 28:19-20 when Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” he was talking not only to his disciples, but to you and to me. I have been faced with a decision. I can choose the life I dreamed of living, of advancing in a career, of being successful and established. Or I could let it go, believing God’s plans for me are SO much greater. (Albeit, scarier sometimes. Haha) It’s more than merely looking for adventure or fear of settling down, it’s a belief so deeply instilled in me that it would be wrong for me to not go. And because Jesus calls us to give up everything (Luke 14:33) I will. I’ve walked through life without knowing God and I know what a dark and hopeless road it is. And I want to be able to bring His light into the lives of those who don’t know Him.
HOW will I go?
First, by the grace of God. It will truly only be of the Lord that I will be able to go on this trip come September because I have nothing to give, nothing to offer but a willing heart. Secondly, with YOUR help. Both prayerfully and financially. I’m asking for prayer specifically for guidance, patience and for a faith beyond myself. So much life will be happening before my departure in September and truthfully, I’m so overwhelmed. God has me in such a unique and wonderful place… Ending this major chapter of my life by graduating college, knowing that many things will need to fall into place for this trip to happen, and understanding that it’s all beyond my control. And the goal of this journey? To glorify God through the process and accepting that it really is a process. So this girl needs prayer, because I’m not enough. And because when I think about everything that will be happening/needs to be done, I just want to crawl into a hole. And we can’t have that.
As far as finances, my trip will be entirely funded by those of you willing/feeling called or able to provide for me. This is such a vulnerable and humbling place to be and right now, not one I’m feeling entirely comfortable being in. But I know God is working in my heart and that if it truly is His will for me to go on the Race, He will provide. And what an awesome position I am in having to rely so greatly on the Lord! How much does He need to provide, you ask? $15,500 for the entire year I’m gone. And I KNOW and I BELIEVE without a reasonable doubt that this CAN and WILL happen. My deadlines are as follows…
July 1st, 2012
$3,500
By my September departure…
$6,500
November 2012 (on the field)
$11,000
February 2013 (on the field)
$15,500
I ask that if you’re reading this, you prayerfully consider becoming my ministry partner in this endeavor and support me and my decision to take a step of faith and follow God’s lead to go on The World Race. All donations are tax deductible and there are a few ways you can go about financially supporting me…
1. You can mail a one-time donation in the form of a check to
Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
Please be sure to include my full name (Jaclyn McNeal) in the “memo” portion of the check.
2. You can click on the “Support Me!” link on the left-hand side of my blog and give a one-time donation, you can support me monthly throughout my entire trip or you can support me quarterly.
The amount you give truly does not matter, as God is so much bigger than any amount of money I could ever hope to raise, so whether it’s $50.00 a month or a $10.00 one-time donation, I know God will use it to do great and powerful things.
So…There you have it. The official “low down” on the next year of my life. I pray that you can see and understand my heart in this process. God is truly preparing me for awesome things and my journey with Him is only just beginning. Thank you in advance for your support, both financially and prayerfully and I pray that I can be an encouragement to you as well.
In Him,
Jaclyn
