Why the World Race?
For this blog, I want to share the whole story about how The World Race became a part of my life. It was a journey of many unknowns, prayers, and God’s perfect timing! Never would I have thought that I would be here, right now, writing this blog to inform you of the complete life changing adventure I am going on in 8 months! This post will show you just how God has control and His timing is always on time!!
I had briefly mentioned in the last post about how I came to hear of the World Race. Well this summer at Tate’s Day Camp (this is a magical place) I had the opportunity to be paired up with the best part timer ever, Hanna Reeves. Hanna was the kind of girl that was just always so cheerful and full of joy, you couldn’t help but want to be her friend. As the summer went on we began getting closer and talking more in depth about ourselves. Then the World Race came about. I of coursed asked about it and Hanna said that it was an 11month mission trip to 11 different countries! Nothing ever sounded so amazing in my life, so she began to tell me about what she will be doing and what countries she would be going to.
I had been on two out of the country mission trips to Honduras and I knew how hard, but yet life changing mission trips were. I knew the moment she left she wouldn’t come back the same person. This was her first mission trip ever!!!!!! Biggest leap, no more like jump across the Grand Canyon, she could have ever taken. Then she says I only need 16,000 dollars to go……… :0 Say what!!!! I knew then that the world race was not for me! So I spread the word to my friends and family about Hanna’s race, bought T-shirts, and prayed for her journey. She left in September for her journey, and after only three months she has experienced so much! Check out her Blog : hannareeves.theworldrace.org
Well after coming home from Honduras in June, I just really wanted to go back. I just wasn’t happy living in the US anymore. All people care about is them selves, or how big their house is, or the kind of car they drive. I just came from a place where you couldn’t even drink the water and here we are wanting more than just water. So I began praying for God to take me away from here and send me out. Well I really thought I was going to come out of graduation with a teaching job at Karns Elementary. My internship had gone really well and I was so sure that is where I would end up. Never got the phone call, had an interview at another school but still no call. Not getting a teaching job devastated me. I felt like I wasn’t good enough, and that I wasted my whole college years.
I did odd and end things for awhile until I decided that I was going to nanny for a year till a teaching job came up. Everyone was saying no don’t nanny, you need to start subbing in schools. Well that sounded like a great idea, except I just signed a lease for my apartment and I knew subbing wouldn’t pay all the bills. Being a nanny has been such a blessing. I get to spend time with amazing kids, I have an amazing boss, and I get to spend time with God while the little guy naps. All of a sudden I kept having strange dreams.
A month or so ago I just kept getting the feeling in my heart that I was needing to prepare for something greater. I had no idea where this feeling was coming from or what I needed to do so I just began to pray. Missions where on my heart and over and over for month I prayed, “ God use me, send me out. Give me a greater purpose in my life.”
For a long time I have felt different from other girls my age. I always thought I needed to meet the benchmarks that the culture gives us. I read an article on facebook about this subject and my mind was blown. Since high school I assumed that I would go to college, get a degree, find my potential husband, get my career, get married, and that would be that. Well my life never worked out that way, relationships never worked, I didn’t get my career started, and I am as far away from marriage as you can get. What I was really craving was adventure. I wanted a journey, a time for me to do the things in life that you can’t do with a job, family, and kids.
Suddenly there was one night where I had the most vivid, real life dream I have ever had. I dreamt that I was in all these different countries and loving on all sorts of different kids. I woke up happier than ever and couldn’t do anything but pray. That night I cried out to God that if He was telling me to go then I would go but I need Him to tell me where He wanted me! The dream never left me, I continued to pray, and the World Race kept coming to mind. I knew I couldn’t raise 16,000 dollars, but I couldn’t get it off my mind so I prayed again. I asked God that if He wanted me to go on the World Race, then I wanted my mom and dad to be supportive.
That weekend I went to the flea market with my family and when my mom and I were alone I started to slowly bring up what was on my mind. I told her that I wanted to travel and have adventures that I wouldn’t be able to have. I told her I wasn’t meant to live the routine life of getting the family and the job and that be it. She said, “ Kelsey, if you want to go out and travel the world for a year and come home then go!” Um…….. Mind blown. I did not expect that to go down that way. I had my conformation but I just needed something else. I prayed again for God to have someone tell me to go… and that’s just what he did.
I had posted on facebook that I wanted to travel and do something adventurous but wasn’t sure what that was yet. The next morning I woke up and had a notification from Terry Duponte ( pastor in Honduras) and his reply was… “Go for it! Joshua 1:9”
That was it, I applied for the world race the next day!
The process was long and crazy. I was excited, scared, happy, and stressed all at the same time. I had an amazing interview and was told it could take up to 2 weeks to hear back. Well the two weeks was almost up and no news. So randomly, my friend Lauren and I decided to go to dinner with our translator Pamela who had come from Honduras to visit. We had to drive all the way out to Pastor Terry’s house to get her. The whole way there I told her I was nervous about not hearing anything but she said don’t worry about it. Well we walked into Pastor Terry’s house and the very first thing he said was, “ So are you going on your big journey?” Literally right after he said that, the call from the World Race came in.
Austin from the World Race was on the other end of the phone and I was so nervous I could barely speak. He asked me how I was and how I thought the interview went. I almost said, “ Look if I’m not going on the race just go ahead and tell me.” That is when he said, “ Well I was just calling to tell you that YOUR GOING ON THE WORLD RACE!!!!!” I had a heart attack right then and there. All I could do was laugh and smile the rest of the night.
God had a plan for me and it was all in His timing. He knew the desires of my heart and through prayer God answered! He was always there and even now He is with me. I have to fully rely on Him to fund this trip and I know that if it is His will then it will be done!! In 8 months I will be out in the world with His people and doing what God has called us to do!
