Yo, welcome to my first blog!
I have sat down and tried writing this blog time after time, and it has led me to the conclusion that blogging is not my forte. So, I am here to let my stream of consciousness flow and do my best to answer two questions for you: what is The World Race Gap Year and why am I doing it.
The World Race Gap Year is an incredible mission trip that is giving me the opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with beautiful people around the world for nine whole months! I am going on route #4, which makes stops in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Eswatini. I will be saying adios to everything I have called normal over the past 18 going on 19 years, and I will be living out of a backpack for this next chapter of my life. Our job will be to love on people and their communities in several ways; this could look like teaching English in a local school, working with victims of human trafficking, construction, HIV education, playing soccer with kiddos, and much more.
So, now the question to answer is: Why am I doing the World Race?
I will start with when I moved to San Luis Obispo, California this past July. I moved to attend Cuesta College to pursue a degree in nursing. I was beyond confident that nursing is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and going to community college in the best city in America was the best way to do it. Right off the bat, everything was awesome: I got into all the right classes, I was loving my roommates, and I had gotten into a CNA program, it was all new and exciting. This “honeymoon phase” lasted for about 2.5 months, and then my perfect plan fell apart. I had to move apartments, I realized I don’t want to be a nurse, I got fired from my CNA program (because I wanted to work part-time) and my grades started dropping. So, let’s just say I went from thriving to struggling quite a bit.
Towards the end of this experience, for lack of a better word, I found my church home and immediately got plugged in. So, while things of this world were falling apart, my relationship with Jesus and other believers were flourishing- I felt like I had finally found my own little slice of community that Jesus often talks about.
Before graduating high school I looked into the World Race, but it didn’t seem like the right thing to do at the time. So, when the ad for World Race popped up on my Instagram about 2 months ago, it was nothing new. A few minutes later, I found myself filling out the application for route #4. The difference this time around was that I was leaning into Jesus, not relying on myself. I could see how he closed quite a few doors so that I could be where I am at. Now, here I am writing my first blog post, beyond stoked to be launching in September.
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There are three ways in which I ask you to consider supporting me by:
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Prayer: please pray with me for my journey pre-race and for my journey during the race!
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Connect: subscribe to my blog to follow along with updates while I’m out in the field and before launch!
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Financial Support: any and all donations are SO appreciated and make a difference!
Now, as I wrap up my first blog, I want to say thank you for taking the time to read through this mumbo-jumbo, and I want to share with you the passage that has been on my heart throughout this process:
Psalm 96:1-3:
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”
Catch me singing in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Eswatini:)
-kb
#makeheavencrowded
