On December 23, 2015 I deposited $150 into my fundraising account to be officially placed on August 2016 Route 1 of the World Race (later to be known as I-Squad). At that point I was .91% funded.
324 days later I opened my phone to a message informing me that I had reached my final fundraising goal of $16,561; 100% funded. It’s hard to truly describe the experience I’ve had raising support for the World Race. Painful, stressful, uncomfortable, humbling, eye-opening are a few, but they don’t even do it justice. Over the last 11 months, I’ve been rallied around by my friends and family in more ways than I can count. I want to take this time to speak directly to two groups of directly: those who are about to embark on, or are currently embarking on this journey of fundraising for the World Race, and the wonderful humans who make that dream possible for people like me.
Future Racer
I know what you’re thinking. It’s probably somewhere along the lines of, but not limited to, any of the following:
“$16,000? How can anyone even fundraise that much money?”
“Where do I even start?”
“How much do kidneys go for nowadays?”
That’s okay. You aren’t the first the think that, and you definitely won’t be the last. I’m sure you’re thinking that absolutely there’s no way you can possibly do this. You’re right. You can’t. You’ve got no shot. There’s nothing on this Earth you can do to make that happen. Fortunately for you (and me) it’s not your responsibility to do that. When the Lord called you to the Race, that included this whole fundraising thing. And the Lord doesn’t call you anywhere that He won’t take you to. Does that mean you can just phone it in and not work to raise that support? Absolutely not. But that does mean that if you give this all you’ve got, you have nothing else to worry about. Put the work in, a lot of work in, and then sit back and watch the Father take care of the rest. Just you wait, He will blow your mind.
Past and Present Supporters
I’m having a hard time putting into words how I much I appreciate each and every person who has helped me get to this point, so I’ll have to suffice it with a simple statement.
Thank You.
You might never know the effect that your giving has had on not only me personally, but the countless people I’ve been able to share the Father with in the last four months. People who had never been shown how much Jesus loves them. People who had never met Christians that didn’t shun them for not having the same faith, unlike the “Christians” they always knew. People who didn’t even know who Jesus was, or that they even had the choice to live a life walking alongside Him.
You might never understand what God has done to me and through me in the last four months. It would take me ages to write out all the beautiful moments I’ve experienced with Him since I set foot on that plane headed to Serbia back in August. He’s shown me everything that He’s gifted me with, and given me people who habitually call those things out in me, even when I’m not ready to accept them. He has pushed me into places that I didn’t think I could handle, because that’s exactly where He wants me. And He’s called me to walk closer to Him than I ever have and isn’t accepting anything less.
So thank you. Thank you for allowing me to share real Love with those who’ve never been able to experience it, and giving me the chance to feel that real Love in a way I’ve never encountered before myself.
Want to be a life changer for someone else? Here are some people on my squad that still need some love to reach that Final Deadline on November 30th, don’t be shy!
