As I have been talking and sharing about the World Race with friends and potential supporters, a lot of good questions have come up about why I am going on this trip. So I wanted to write a post sharing a little more of my heart behind my decision to leave the country for eleven months to serve our glorious Savior and others around the world.
In college I knew I wanted to go on some sort of long-term mission trip at some point in my life, but I had no idea what that would look like or where I would go. I also knew in college that I wanted to get into the nursing field to put my skills to use. So for the past year or so I have been working in oncology nursing and have learned and grown so much. Although I know I still have so much to learn in nursing, I have recently felt like God was calling me to do something else. However, I had no idea what this “something else” was so I began to pray about it and ask God what He would have for me. And, to be honest, this was one of the first times I really whole-heartedly surrendered my plans to God and told Him I would do whatever He would call me to. Don’t get me wrong, I have definitely prayed about my future before, but I have always had some sort of idea or plan in the back of my mind that I wanted God to bless (cause, ya know, I’m a classic type-A planner). So after praying for a few months, I really felt like God put the World Race on my heart. I then began to look more into the organization and met up with a former racer to ask tons of questions. The more and more I learned, the more and more I felt like I wanted to go on this adventure the Lord was calling me to.
I then decided to apply and within a week I was interviewed and found out I had a position on one of the trips leaving in August. It was really awesome to see how the Lord paved the way through this process too. It just reminds me that when God calls you to something, He will be with you every step of the way.
When I leave in August I will be going to eleven countries around the world and will spend one month in each country. These countries include: Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. I will be partnering with different local organizations in each country and will be doing various types of ministry/outreach. To answer the most frequent question I have been asked- this is not solely a medical mission trip, although, I feel that in some way or another I will be able to use my medical background on the trip.
Overall, I am thrilled to be going on this trip and cannot wait to learn more about God through this next year or so. I am excited to learn more about what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus and to serve the least of these. I am also excited to learn more about what it means to put others before myself and to trust God with whatever He calls me to.
If you want to learn more about the World Race, you can go to their website here: https://www.worldrace.org or simply ask me 🙂 And if you would like to help support my trip or find out other ways to get involved, feel free to ask me too!
