WHY I DECIDED TO GO ON THE WORLD RACE.
To make a long story short, this past summer I applied to a summer dental school program and didn’t get in. My plans were to complete the summer program, take the dental admissions test, apply to dental school, get accepted, and start June of 2020. That rejection was God’s protection and it led to me to The World Race.
Ever since I got saved, I have been wanting to go on a mission trip but the “timing” never really worked out. A few nights after getting rejected from the summer program, I decided to google, “Christian Missions Trips,” and The World Race popped up. Some may have stories of how they intensely prayed and fasted for months. My simple, maybe 4 time prayer was, “God, I am going to apply and if its not your plan, then PLEASE don’t let them accept me.” Strange. I know. It wasn’t until a few weeks before I got accepted that God revealed to me how He used rejection to point me back to His plans.
I have been in college for 7 years straight. Burn-out is an understatement. If my plans of graduating from my master’s program and starting dental school the next month would of happened, I’m pretty sure I would of dropped out of dental school before thanksgiving break! God knew this, and thankfully stepped in before I dug myself too deep. Its also interesting enough to note: a couple weeks before that rejection, and google search, I found my passport that had been “lost” for 2 years!!
As Christians, we don’t have to follow God’s will for our lives. He lets us choose: live in the world, or live in Him. We are all called to go out and make disciples of all nations, and I am choosing the world race as one of my ways to do so. Choosing to go is more than just an “I’m not ready for dental school right now” thing. Its bigger than me. A lot bigger. It’s a ginormous YES to Jesus. A whole heart surrender to His plans for my life. And a beautiful death to my plans. I never in a million years thought I would do something quite like this. I don’t expect it to be easy.. at all. But what I have learned through my walk with Christ, is that life is SO. MUCH. SWEETER. with Jesus. The thought of getting to spend the next year growing deeper in love with Him and learning to love His people well, makes my heart jump with joy!
I look forward to fellowshipping with other young adults that have decided to fully commit to the Lord’s plans and go on this wild journey. I look forward to going to new heights in my relationship with Jesus. I look forward to helping build, paint, clean, teach, and whatever else I am asked to do for the community. But what I look forward to the most is telling the broken, lost, and “least of these” about their marvelous creator!!! To teach them about and point them to the incredible hope and joy found only in Jesus Christ!!
I’m not sure why these are the Lord’s plans for my life. I am SUPER shy, I LOVE being alone, I don’t like bugs, sometimes I go month’s without opening my bible, and my past is FULL of sin. I guess its a good thing that he doesn’t call the qualified, but qualifies the called. For 11 months, I will abandon everything I know to blindly follow Jesus. I will learn to lean on His provisions and not my own. To seek Him first and not things of this world. One of my many prayer’s for this journey is that my YES will be a win for the Kingdom. That because I chose to surrender, others, Christian or non Christian, won’t see me, but instead see the transforming power of Jesus Christ.
I know, from experience, He’s real. He loves you. He loves me. He died for not only you and me, but for everyone. And we have eternal life, because of Him! That’s something to shout about!!
If you made it this far, I guess it wasn’t a short story after all, sorry! 
Lots of love,
Kelsie
Here’s my favorite scripture:
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
