Hello, dear Reader!
Guess what! I’m going on the World Race “Spanish” tour in January 2014 with Adventures in Missions (AIM)- an 11 month journey to Central and South America. For each month on this trip, our small team will travel to a different country in South and Central America, supporting one “contact” in that country with their existing Christian missions in whatever way we can.
I received my World Race acceptance phone call on May 7, 2013 while I was in a meeting. I knew who was calling and was fairly sure I knew why, so I stepped out of the meeting to answer. The anticipated statement arrived after a certain amount of small talk:
“I’m calling to tell you that we think you would be a great candidate for the World Race!”
Surely at this point most racers scream for joy, laugh, or express relief. Of course, all I could come up with is:
“uhhh…thanks!(?)”
Awkward pause…
“Would you like to secure your spot on the WR right now?”
“Well, I need to spend some time making sure that this is really what God is calling me to do.”
I was immediately taken aback by the words that had come out of my mouth, seemingly without me taking part in forming them. I was already sure that God wanted me to go – I’d just been fervently trying to talk myself out of it by conveniently “not knowing what God wanted me to do.”
Truth be told, I was scared. Plain old shakin’-in-my-boots scared.
Over the past month or so, I’ve come to realize that it’s a good thing that God never gives us more than we can handle, and that the challenges he does allow are always perfectly timed. Experiences and life events leading up to the World Race have set me up for very specific challenges that I anticipate I will encounter during my year abroad. However, these same challenges have prepared me for this new adventure in ways I’m just beginning to understand. I’ll blog more on these things at a later time.
I am a Christ follower and am both honored (and surprised) to have been chosen to be a part of His journey. It is my hope that you, after reading this, would like to partner me with me as I do the World Race. One of my favorite things about missions is that, in order to send a missionary, the whole community has to get involved. I will need a great deal of support from my community (you) to do the WR this coming January. Please consider helping me meet my most immediate and pressing need: I must raise $13,500 (not including traveler’s insurance, all of the gear, several plane tickets, and other supplies I will need) to fund my year with the WR. There are a variety of avenues for you to support me financially, listed and explained below:
- Online donations https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=worldrace&desc=For%20Laura%20Ahrens
- Upside: Super fast!
- Downside: There are added fees for online donations, 3% for Credit and Debit Cards and 2% for eChecks.
- DynaPay (Automated recurring donations) http://www.adventures.org/dynapay/
- Upside: SUPER helpful for me in reaching my support goals and if you sign up with DynaPay to automate this process, there are NO processing fees!
- Downside: You have to sign up for DynaPay, though it’s not a painful process.
- Special note: Any payments occurring after June 2014 will go to the general World Race account, not directly to me. I'll talk to you more about this at a later time.
- Checks written to Adventures in Missions (These MUST include the a completed AIM support card so AIM knows the money is meant for me, contact me and I will send this to you)
- Upside: ALL of the money you give goes directly to my account (no fees for processing!)
- Downside: Traditional checks (not eChecks) must be submitted through by snail mail. Then, they can take up to two weeks to process.
- Checks written to me
- Upside: Checks written to me can help me buy gear and supplies I need for the trip. If a check is written to me and I don’t need to purchase anything, I’ll just send the money on to AIM for my account.
- Downside: Same as sending checks to AIM. Also, you have to trust my financial stewardship 😉
My mom keeps reminding me that “God owns the cattle of a thousand hills, and all he has to do it pick some sheep up from one hill and plop them down on another.” I’ve found that her awesome paraphrasing of Psalm 50:10 (honestly, I had to look it up) has helped me remember that if God desires for me to go on the WR, He will raise up the money. Everything is all His anyway.
Aside from finances, I will need support that will sustain me spiritually and emotionally. I am a very social being and flourish when I have people investing in me and rallying around me. Non-financial support that will be crucial for my trip with the WR includes (but is not limited to) prayer, words of encouragement, emails, and journeying with me by reading my blog. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me, I would love to tell you more about the WR, why I’m going, and answer any questions you might have.
I’m eager to see what God is going to do through our partnership on this journey!
Que vaya con Dios,
Laura
