Each year, Furman’s Student Activities Board hosts a campus-wide game of tag. In this game, everyone who signs up (about 180 people this year) receives a bracelet in their Furman mailbox on Monday with someone else’s name on it. You then start searching for that person so that you can tag them and then take their bracelet and search for their target. If they have already tagged people, you get to take all of their bracelets and continue moving down the line. Whoever is still in the game and has accumulated the most bracelets by the end of the week wins! The challenge here is that while you are searching for your target, some unknown stalker is searching for you. You have to be super sneaky about how/when/where you eat, go to class, sleep, etc.
I’ve never played this game before because I know myself well. I’ve seen the sign-ups come and go year after year and imagined myself ducking around all week, constantly terrified of who is hiding around the next corner. I just couldn’t bring myself to voluntarily participate in a game of paranoia and anxiety where someone I don’t know is given permission to stalk me and chase me.
However, this is my senior year, and because tag was on my unofficial Furman bucket list, I had to sign up. I formed an alliance with some guy friends and waited for Monday to come. I was aware that there was a cash prize for the winner, but I wasn’t sure for how much. I thought, “Hey, it would be cool if I got money out of this somehow and could use it to pay for my sleeping bag! I kind of need to get it soon since I’m going camping next month…” But let’s be real. There are 180 people in this game and odds are not in my favor.
Well, Monday came and the game began. I quickly discovered a disturbing talent for Facebook and Twitter stalking, which came in handy for hunting down targets pretty quickly. (To give you an idea of how creepy I became, just know that by the end of the week, the eight most recent photos on my phone were of people I didn’t know or their class schedules. If you’re a little scared of me now, I understand. I’m a little scared of me, too.) Plus, I cooked and packed every meal so I could eat in the safe zones of academic buildings, and I arrived to class super early and left very late so that I could keep an eye on anyone in the hallways. Basically, I became the paranoid, obsessive player I feared I would become. (At least I know myself well, right?)
After a couple of days, I hit it big: my next target (Aaron) was a friend in my alliance! This meant I was able to do all the hiding while he roamed free and tagged to his heart’s content. His first target had packed a bag and a hammock and disappeared, so things weren’t looking good, but with the help of quite a few friends and some three way phone calling, Aaron was finally able to tag him on Friday. After that, the ball really got rolling and we started catching people about every hour. By the end of the day, we were able to catch up with another alliance member who was willing to help us out as well by letting us tag him and take his bracelets.
By Friday night, things were looking good, and the guys in my alliance sort of gave me the princess treatment. I was dropped off at the door of academic buildings and picked up again after class. They rode with me to my apartment and then swept the path from the car to my door to make sure no one was hiding. They searched my apartment for anyone hiding before I entered. I felt like a high-profile celebrity for an afternoon… and I didn’t hate it. 😉
On Sunday, I got this email…
WOOHOO! After splitting the prize with the friends who let me tag them, I will have enough to purchase my sleeping bag! (A big thank you to my grandparents for being the first to donate to my personal needs fund. Their gift will supplement this prize to cover the sleeping bag and a sleeping pad!)
I’ve said it time and time again: I trust God to provide for my World Race. I trust He will provide the $15,500 that I have to raise, and I trust He will provide the money I need for additional expenses (gear/supplies, immunizations, plane ticket to/from our launch city) as well.
I’m not especially surprised that God provided the money for my sleeping bag right on time. He is Jehovah Jireh (God Who Provides) after all! What I am tickled about is that God has a creative mind and a sense of humor. He used a silly (creepy?) game of tag as a fundraiser. God used a game where I snuck around, ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a week, and Facebook stalked strangers to provide the money for my mission trip supplies. How cool is that?!
To those who helped me win this past week (Aaron, Robert, SJ, Alyssa, Ms. Gail, and others): THANK YOU. Consider yourselves officially part of my World Race support team. God used you to help provide my sleeping bag just two weeks before I needed it!
This isn’t a super spiritual blog by any means, but I still want to leave you with a bit of a lesson: Don’t put God in a box. He’ll always meet your needs, and He can do that in creative ways outside of your pre-existing ideas about how He provides. Whether someone randomly mails you a check or a stranger stumbles upon your blog and feels moved to give or you get paid for being the creepiest stalker on campus, the money will come. Don’t let financial fears keep you from obeying God when He calls you to step out in faith! He is Jehovah Jireh, and He will provide.
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I still have to raise $4,882.36 to cover the cost for this trip, so if God lays it on your heart to help send me out by supporting me financially, click "Support Me" on the left to make a tax-deductible donation. Or, cut out the 3% online processing fee by writing a check to "Adventures in Missions" with "WARDKALEIGH" in the info line and mailing it to:
Adventures in Missions
PO Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
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If you feel led to help cover the cost of my personal expenses (supplies/gear, flight to launch city, immunizations), you can contact me personally for more information. I am paying for as much as I can out of my savings account, but I appreciate any donations for these costs as well!
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