The new year has brought about many changes in my life. The biggest was being accepted into The World Race. This little heart of mine was made to travel, I never foresaw this path but we must take adventures in order to know where we truly belong.
The last few years have been filled with competition for internships and high grades – with the expectation that I would graduate from the prestigious Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State and immediately begin working at my dream job… which I expected to be in the journalism industry. Little did I know that a few months before graduation The Lord would open my heart to working as a Missionary.
A few weeks into my final semester of school, my friend Shayna, knowing where I was at spiritually and that I wanted to work Internationally, asked me if I had ever heard about the World Race. Immediately, I began romanticizing the idea of traveling as a Missionary. Travel being key. It wasn’t until I began reading through blogs of current and future World Racers that I realized the true depths and details of the job description. Most importantly the fact that there isn’t a full job description. While I enjoy the occasional spontaneous adventure, I like to think I have control over my life through organizing my days. With the World Race, my journeys could take me to new places, allow me to truly experience different cultures and learn to show Gods love and grace despite language barriers. However, it also means never knowing exactly what your day of ‘ministry’ could mean. Some days you could be helping rebuild homes, other days you could be taking care of the elderly, teaching english or computer literacy in schools, provide resources to help end sex trafficking or even help with a widows chores.
I had always tried to balance God, squeeze him into my life where I saw fit and all of a sudden, one restless night it finally clicked. I know I could do any job and still glorify the Lord, but what if I could find a way to truly place Jesus in the center of my life, my family, my friends, and my work. Not only that, but to truly and only rely on Him. Would I be capable of placing Him first and foremost if I was taken outside of my comfort zones, outside of my circumstances. What could my own life look like if I followed Jesus in such a way. More importantly, what if I let down all of my guards and put my life, full of flaws but also full of grace and mercy on display for others?
This September I’ll be a part of The World Race’s first All-Asia route, a journey into 11 countries in 11 months as a missionary, not just sharing Gods word but truly living out the gospel through our actions. I’ll be trading a traditional lifestyle for living out of a backpack, serving with a real and raw community of believers in hopes of understanding this life doesn’t revolve around us, but the kingdom.
I want to learn to love God outside of my circumstances. To better understand His multi-dimensional love and in turn be known for the way I love others, all flaws included. Exactly the way The Lord already loves each of us right now: Unconditionally. I know the journey won’t always be easy and there will be times that I struggle to give up control but courage is taking that first step even when you can’t see what follows.
Courage is also learning it’s okay to be vulnerable and it’s ok to ask for help. Through this blog I hope to share with you not only the exciting times but also times of trials, and hope that through my truth and transparency i’ll be able to show grace and disarm pride. Being a Christian doesn’t mean we have it all together, it means that we are well aware of our imperfections and know we couldn’t make it without Jesus.
The Lord is also teaching me to humble myself by asking for prayers and support throughout this journey. I have a tendency to belittle my prayer request but if you could come alongside me in prayer for the next few months of preparation and continue praying once my travels begin, I would be beyond grateful. I also would love if you guys could pray for me and all other world racers – that we would be bold in our proclamation of the gospel through both words and actions. That we would care more about teaching people about an awesome God than making ourselves out to be awesome people.
As you can imagine this next season of my life will also cost a HUGE chunk of money for one person – but it’s a small chunk if taken on together as a community. Finances are broken down between insurance & program fees: travel, boarding, meals, etc. but I also have to purchase travel to a week of training camp during the summer, travel to the launch site/beginning of the trip in September, gear, medication, and other misc. items.
This is me admitting that I need help financially if I’m going to serve. Seriously, no donation is too small. You can either click the fundraising tab at the top of this blog post or stay tuned for future blog posts where i’ll be announcing some of my fundraising ideas! If you feel led to pray for me, sponsor me, have questions for me, need some prayer or guidance for yourself, or just want to send some encouragement my way please, no matter the instance please feel free to reach out and say hello 🙂
If you’d like to continue following along with my journey, then I encourage you to hit the subscribe button on my blog OR follow me on Instagram @Kcboyd1
UPDATE: YOU CAN NOW PURCHASE BASEBALL SHIRTS, TANKS & CUSTOM WOOD SIGNS 🙂
