First post! Woohoo! Here we go! haha
Well hey there! My name is Christina (Krista for short…no, I’m not kidding you).
I’ve never done this whole blogging thing before (if that wasn’t already obvious), and it’s a little intimidating. BUT I am very familiar with books and how they typically begin. So I’ll attempt to do the same: by sharing a little bit of my background.
I was born and raised in a suburb of the ever-growing mid-Western city of Denver, CO. Believe it or not, I recall several people having made this comment to me in high school: “There’s nothing to do here”. Hmm. In a city whose population is around 110,000 and is submersed in a 12-city metropolis landscape…my usual response was “Really?” Life, at least for me growing up, was anything but lacking in opportunities. Looking back, God orchestrated and showed me opportunities everywhere: At home, my church, my schools, in varying friend groups, jobs I held. I was never in want of something to do. And the things I did coupled with the reasons I got involved all made complete sense…from the point of view of the secular world. Get good grades. Go to a good college. Delve deeply into various activities and clubs. Go to a good college. Develop a character of commitment and reliability. Go to a good college. And, eventually, go to a good college, and get a good job. The logical progression, right? The way life works, right? The calling that Jesus has for every reasonable Christian’s life, right? Well, safe to say college made me wonder at and question all of this stuff.
(Btw, I don’t think my opportunities in and of themselves were bad. I believe God led me to them. Neither do I think wanting to go to a good college or get a good job are somehow un-Christian. Even Jesus worked for a while before he did full-time ministry! Really, it is the purpose for which I was being opportunistic, the motivation behind it that needed an adjustment.)
One year prior to attending it for my undergraduate years, Missoula, MT was a town I had never heard of. Sure Billings, Bozeman and Helena were all in Montana. Most people know that. But Missoula might as well have been in any state. Well, I applied and got accepted to the University of Montana-Missoula for Fall 2011. The Saturday before classes started my freshman year, I wrote a very brief journal entry and addressed it to the Lord. I asked simply for a campus ministry to get involved in and grow by. THE NEXT DAY, my dad and I came across Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship playing a concert on campus, and I wrote down my contact information for them. Little did I know that XA would be the tool God used for countless spiritually-sharpening friendships, odd and daring adventures, and especially, for developing a relationship with Him that was more solid. After that first day of meeting people on campus, I slowly began to realize something about my Christian friends. They didn’t just preach love and truth. They wholeheartedly lived it out, by God’s grace. I witnessed the way they lived with abandonment for Jesus, forsaking luxurious living, forsaking comfort and safety and their own glory. I was being exposed to long-term missionaries, short-term mission trips around the world, missional people in the business workplace, and through it all I was having to ask myself a hard question: What does it mean to lay down one’s life at Jesus’ feet? What does that look like?
I truly think Jesus might say any number of things, depending on the person. I know for me at this point in life, I believe taking a year and devoting it directly to the work of ministry is what He’s telling me. Four years ago, I never would have considered World Race. However, the more and more I learn about the steadfast love of Jesus, the more I’ve become willing to do anything for Him, including putting off immediately searching for a job that will provide stability, comfort and routine. He is so much better than these things!
There’s very little else I need say other than that I’m THRILLED for this preparation time and for the World Race! I emphatically encourage you to pray for any or all of the following:
1) That I will go on the route HE has predetermined. We are still in the interview phase until the training camp so we don’t know exactly which route we’re going on yet (much prayer and thought is going into this on my side and theirs). I can tell you that, currently, the route I have the most passion for is going to 11 countries within the 10-40 window, including Kazakhstan, India, Morocco and Greece. Much prayer is going into this on my side and on theirs, but ultimately I want to go where He thinks I would fit best.
2) For the other people on my team, that even now the Lord will begin to give us one heart and one mind for the people we will be serving and witnessing to.
3) For the people we will be serving and witnessing to! Like I said, I don’t yet know what countries and people groups we’re going to, but He does, and I believe He is already going before us to prepare the way.
4) That God will use this fundraising time to humble me and show me how His biggest weakness is still so much greater than my biggest strength.
5) I would invite you to also pray and consider donating/partnering with me to see His Kingdom be built worldwide! Through this process of fundraising, I’m learning so much about how God has made us to be interdependent. If you know me, this is a challenge. I am a very independent person, and on top of that, I just graduated college. I’m expected to do things on my own now. Yet, God is the one who knows what I need to learn, and He is bringing me through this time.
If you really read all of this, thank you and congrats! Here’s a smiley face for you to literally help brighten your day:
