I have put this blog off for way to long now…
I remember the first time I learned about what a missionary was. It was in AWANAS in elementary school. We had a guest speaker who had been a missionary in China for a long time. I remember being so scared that God was going to call me to go to some far away place (such as China) and away from my family and everything that I knew and loved. I absolutely did not want to do that. She told us about how not everyone was called to missions and I remember being so worried that I would be one of the ones called. I think that's when this journey really started. Little did I know that later in life God was going to grab ahold of my heart and change the way I looked at the world forever and desire to go to a "far away place".
Fast forward to Summer 2004 when I went on my first mission trip to Leon, Mexico. I was 17 and it was right before my senior year of high school. I don't remember how exactly I got involved in the trip, but my mom and best friend were going so I went too . We went through some training, but I still didn't know what to expect. I knew it would be a good week but had no idea how my life was about to change. I fell in LOVE with all the people there, the locals and the missionaries. My pespective of the world changed dramatically and I have never been the same since. I won't go into detail about the trip but the important thing is that during that week God totally changed my heart and placed a desire in my heart for missions. I ended up going back to Mexico three more times as well as other places too.
So how did I end up on the World Race? I found out about it from a friend from high school on facebook. Her and her husband left in Jan. 2010. I read their updates during the fundraising part and then throughout the year during their race. At first I just thought it was a cool experience, didn't think much else of it. By the time summer came around I decided I might like to go but thought there was no way it was possible and fought it. I prayed and prayed about it. I knew God was calling me to do this but I did not want to admit it and didn't tell anyone. Let me just say that it's terrible and miserable fighting against what God is calling you to do!! By September I could not fight it anymore, I emailed Erin and she gave me lots of information. After emailing with her a few times, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the World Race was for me and this is where God was calling me for this season in my life. I applied in October, interviewed in November and was accepted 🙂 Everything has been falling into place ever since! I really enjoy traveling and I love that on this trip I will get to travel to so many wonderful places and have a chance to do so many different types of ministry. July can't get here fast enough!
So…that's how I was called to the mission field in a nutshell 🙂
