I have some very exciting news! I WILL BE SQUAD LEADING FOR WORLD RACE GAP YEAR!!!
You may be asking yourself, “what the heck does that mean?” Well I will tell you!
For each world race squad, they have at least one alumni world racer who goes out on the field with them to shepherd and lead them. This person is called a squad leader!
You also might be asking what world race GAP YEAR is… well it’s the world race but for 18-20 year olds. Also rather than going to 11 countries in 11 months, they go to to three countries in nine months. They stay in each country for three months.
During month two of the race, God began laying the idea of squad leading on my heart. I was so surprised because it was so early on. The idea excited me, but I pushed the thought aside because it was just felt too early to be thinking about what I wanted to do after the race.
That same month, my squad leader and one of my teammates pointed out that they saw the gift of shepherding in me. A definition of the spiritual gift of shepherding is: “The Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by overseeing, training, and caring for the needs of a group of Christians. He/She is the shepherd who leads, feeds and protects” (Grove Bible Church). This made me begin to realize that I genuinely do enjoy pouring into people and encouraging them in their walks with the Lord. It comes pretty naturally and I love to see people realize their God given purposes for their lives.
As I said, I felt it was too early on in the race to be thinking about this so I didn’t put too much thought into it. But throughout the last several months, the thought of squad leading would continue to pop in my mind. I began praying for the Lord to give me clarity about this. Specifically I wanted to know if this was my own desire to squad lead or if this was a desire for me from God. I continued to pray that prayer and eventually about a month ago, the Lord confirmed He wanted me to apply. He specifically confirmed this next step in my life by leading me to Isaiah 6 in the Bible. (Go check it out if you’d like!)
So after the application and interview process, I was accepted!!! I am so excited for this next adventure in my life and to grow in shepherding and leadership! I will be coming home from my race this August, and then I will be launching with my gap year squad in September.
For the nine months, I need to raise $3,800 plus extra personal money for flights to training camp and launch. Would you please prayerfully consider donating to support me? Your support would help me to disciple and shepherd a large group of missionaries who are eager to grow closer in their relationships with the Lord and to go out to spread the love of Jesus.
You can donate towards the $3,800 by clicking the “donate” button above. If you prefer your money to go towards personal expenses like my flights, I have Venmo and PayPal.
Venmo: Jillian-Sceski
PayPal Email: [email protected]
If you are not able or do not feel led to donate financially, I would really really appreciate prayer.
Please pray:
- That the Lord would prepare my heart for this next season I will be stepping into. Please also pray that God is spiritually, mentally, and physically preparing my gap year racers for their world race.
- For my parents’ experience during the parent vision trip that is in a week and a half! Please also pray that they safely arrive to Romania and safely arrive back home afterwards.
- That I will continue to keep my eyes on Jesus and trust He will provide everything I need for this next journey.
Thank you all so much for following my journey, and supporting me (both financially and prayerfully) through all of this! I am forever grateful.
