Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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So here I am.  Living in the picturesque mountains of Western North Carolina.  Working at a job that I love surrounded by incredible people.

And now I'm leaving.

In a matter of just a few months I will walk away from most everything that I have known for the last three years.  I have worked so very hard to be in the place that I have found.  This place of fulfillment, peace, and love.  And now I am choosing to step away from this place, geographically speaking, and live out of a backpack and a tent with strangers for 11 months without the promise of all these "precious" western comforts.  There is much unknown for me on this road but I am confident of one thing I will find.  And that's Jesus.

I first met Him when I was a young girl of seven.  Another ten years passed before I really began my pursuit of Him.  One trip to the Dominican Republic (with Adventures in Missions) was what began a whisper in my ear of foreign missions.  I returned the following year in pursuit of that whisper.  College, however, was my immediate future.  Life ensued from there.  So, after a religion degree and many jobs later the Lord brought me to Young Life Windy Gap, which proved to be much more than a job.  And all the while I wondered why He had not yet sent me to a foreign land.  Unbeknownst to me, He was building a springboard to launch me out into the world. 

Life is comfortable and sweet right now.  I work in ministry with devoted people.  My bills are paid.  My car is reliable.  I spend my time how I choose.  I am beginning to see how that is not quite enough.  Not enough for Jesus.  He wants it all.

Where there is no level of discomfort where is Jesus?  If there is no need in my life where is the room for Jesus?  If I remain in my own comforts how will I find the poor, oppressed, and hurting that Jesus so longs for me help in His name?

"if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.  And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."  
Isaiah 58:10,11

 

Cue the World Race.
 
Jesus will not allow me to enter this lightly.  He has even tried to talk me out of it.  He reminds me that this will be difficult.
 

"And Jesus looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' " 
Mark 10: 21
 
 
Jesus, here is my pursuit of You.  Here is an open door for You wreck my life in Your name.  My expectations are relinquished.  The only thing I expect is to be surprised by Your love.  Open my eyes to the hungry that I may feed them.  May I be sensitive to the afflicted and aid them in Your name.  I am eager to see You work and look forward to never being the same.

So here it is.  Do what you always do.  I fully expect to be blown away.