A few days have passed since my official announcement regarding the World Race and, as expected, I have received a ton of questions.
What is the World Race?
Where are you going?
How can I help?
First, take a minute (or three) to watch this video. It will explain in no uncertain terms the vision Adventures in Missions has and the purpose of the World Race.
Now that y’all have had a chance to watch the three minute video that had a HUGE part in my taking this step of faith I will be a little more specific about what my race will look like.
When AIM releases routes, they release a set of five different routes from which to choose and apply. For example there are five routes that leave in January, five routes that leave in July, etc. Oddly enough I gravitated towards September 2015 Route 5. Side note: 5 has always been an ever-present number in my life. I was born on the 5th day of the 5th month of the year. It was my number in various sports throughout my life. Andrew, my boyfriend, is the 5th significant relationship I have had and I intend it to be the final. Anyhow, I digress.
Without ever having looked at Route 5 I already knew it was the one to which I would apply; however, once I viewed it I was thrilled so here it goes.
Uganda Cambodia
Rwanda Malaysia
Ethiopia * Guatemala
India Honduras
Nepal Nicaragua
Thailand
I starred Ethiopia because I found it pretty amazing that this particular country was part of the route. Andrew’s family is quite involved with Ethiopia and I am actually traveling with his mom to Ethiopia for a week in March, a trip that was planned back in the spring of this year. I will get a little taste of what I will get to experience just a few short months later on the race 🙂 Even before the World Race was even a thought in my mind God was already preparing me for His plan.
One squad of 40-50 racers will travel on Route 5 and the squad will be broken down further into teams of 7-8 racers each. Each team will remain together for the entirety of the race so those 6-7 other people will become my family, my support structure, my accountability, and my fellow ministers.
I have been humbled and overwhelmed at peoples’ requests to assist me in this adventure. There are three main ways that people can help. The first is through prayer. The bottom line is this is not something I can do without as many people incessantly praying as possible.
Discernment: Pray for my continued discernment in what God would have me do and the steps I should take.
Courage: Pray for continued courage during this process. God has granted me unbelievable courage thus far. I was asked recently if I was scared and I was able to answer without hesitation “No.”
Community: Pray for my squad and my team, most of whom I have not yet met, as people all across the world are still applying. Pray that God would be working in every person’s heart in the ways in which He sees fit and that each person would receive the Lord’s work in their life.
Ministry: Pray for the people all across the globe to whom my squad will minister. I have no idea what we will encounter but please pray that we will impact these communities for Christ beyond anything we could have ever imagined.
Finances: Pray that I, as well as my squad, would reach full funding by the time we depart on the race in September.
The second way people can support me is financially. The World Race costs $16,250 which covers all travel, lodging, and food. I have been financially independent since the age of 22 so recognizing that the Lord is telling me that I WILL step out in faith and ASK for support has, quite frankly, been my largest hurdle to jump. Well, I haven’t exactly jumped it. More like I’ve slowly meandered up to it, tried to push the hurdle over and plow through it on my own (that did not work; it’s cemented to the ground), and realized that I’m going to have to hit a full sprint and JUMP. This is me jumping. If you feel led to support me please click on the link to the left side of the blog that says “Support Me!” You are able to set up a one-time or monthly donation with a start and end date.
The third and final way people can support me is to share this with anyone and everyone in your life whom you feel would enjoy hearing my story, the story of my squad mates, and watching what God is going to do with us for His Kingdom. Subscribe to my blog by signing up on the left hand side of the page. Reach out to me with any questions you have and please leave comments below because I definitely look forward to reading those 🙂
Thank you to EVERYONE who has asked me how you can help or just generally offered their support over the past few weeks. It has provided further validation that I am on the path Christ would have me on at this point in my life.
One last thing…Go Dawgs!
