1. What in the world are you doing, Keeley?
2. Are you going to be safe?
3. Why are you leaving for 11 months?
4. Where are you going? What is a route?
5. Do you realize that you’re going to miss holidays/birthdays/weddings?
6. Are you afraid?
7. Are you crazy?
8. What is Training Camp?
9. When do you leave?
These are many questions I have or will get as I continue this process, and launch my way into the adventure/journey of a lifetime. Let me help answer some questions, because they are valid, and very understandable. So I thought maybe it would help to let you know my heart, and my thoughts on these questions.
1. What in the world are you doing, Keeley?
I am going on the World Race! The World Race is sponsored by Adventures in Missions which is the organization I am going through. I will be traveling with my beautiful brothers and sisters to 11 different countries for 11 months. I will be living in places that can vary from a church or building, to the great outdoors in a tent. I will be living out of a backpack and my whole life will be in that backpack for 11 months, and I could not be more thrilled about it! Crazy huh? AND, awesome!
2. Are you going to be safe?
Yes. The World Race has a lot of safety protocols. They are prepared for any situation we could be faced with. I will attach a video from the World Race website that will explain it a lot better than me. (: Safety Protocol
3. Why are you leaving for 11 months?
Well, that is the way the World Race works. It is an 11 month mission trip. 11n11. However, some have asked why I wouldn’t just do some shorter mission trips. The reason is that I believe to completely allow God into my life, and solely rely on Him I need to go on a Kingdom journey such as this. I need to give up my comforts and security and completely abandon my life of luxury, and be with God’s people in other countries that don’t know luxury. I need to be broken so that God can mend my heart, and so that I can rely on Him fully. I want to know my God more than I ever have before. I have been reading Kingdom Journeys by Seth Barnes, who is the founder of Adventures in Missions, and it has been such an inspiration and encouragement to help me through this transition. I’m so excited! I would encourage you if you’re interested to read Kingdom Journeys. It’s amazing, and could maybe help you understand better. I’ll attach the link! Kingdom Journeys
4. Where are you going? What is a Route?
If you didn’t read my About Me, here is the list of countries I will be traveling to!
India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Botswana, Swaziland, South Africa, Vietnam, Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria.
This is my route. There are different routes you can choose from that include different countries. Mine is specifically Route 3 for January 2017.
5. Do you realize you are going to miss holidays/birthdays/weddings?
Yes. I do know that. And if you know me well, you know that my family and ALL holidays are very very important to me. It does make me sad to think about the fact that I will be missing things that go on back home. It will definitely be a struggle both for me, and my friends and family. However, I do know that I am called to GO, and sometimes that means leaving not only things, but the people most important to you behind. Plus, lets be real, you guys have been trying to run me out of the country for years! (; I’ll be back before ya know it!
6. Are you afraid?
I get this question a lot. It is understandable as to why I get this question a lot too. But I’m not. Not at all. And maybe it is because I’m 10 months away from actually leaving. But I can honestly say that 3 years ago when I was on the verge of applying, I was terrified, and was not at all comfortable with leaving the security I had. I was also worried about leaving my family. I am at peace with this decision. Where God is calling me, is where I am the safest. I’m so excited!
7. Are you crazy?
Yes! But you have always known that.(:
8. What is Training Camp?
Training Camp is a 9 day preparation time about 6-8 weeks before launch where we are trained on how to live in close community and cross-cultural ministry. We will learn how to live out of a backpack for a year too!(; Training camp is October 19th-29th.
9. When do you leave?
Launch is normally about 7-10 days into your Launch month. So I could leave any time between January 1-10th-ish. We’ll know this date after training camp.
I hope I was able to answer some questions floating around in your mind. If you have any other questions, please let me know!!