Last Tuesday I flew down to Atlanta to begin launch for the World Race! My squad, made up of 55 racers, attended a Story Telling training session for three days in Gainesville, Georgia where training camp was held. My squad will be filming our entire race for a documentary produced by Gray Media. The vision and the people behind the project are incredible. It is a privilege to have this amazing opportunity to show how God is working through sharing the stories of people from around the world. Each team was supplied with some sweet filming equipment to use while we are on the race. (Pictured below)
photo credit: Grace Veker
When we arrived at launch two girls on our squad were both about $2,000 short from reaching the deadline to leave ($7,500). In faith, they both came to launch knowing they could go home if they did not reach the deadline by Friday. When Friday came around they both were still short from being able to fly to Guatemala and being able to launch with us on the race. In a matter of 10 minutes the squad began donating their own personal money and we raised over $4,600. It was incredible! The generosity of everyone, most who are still fundraising for themselves, was amazing and a great way to bond our squad before leaving together! All of us have seen the unexpected ways God works through fundraising. It was so special to be a part of their fundraising story.
The rest of the time at launch was spent in Atlanta with all of the other September squads. We had training sessions about safety, ministry, and traveling. I am the team treasurer for my team of seven people so I will be responsible for maintaining our teams budget, keeping up with receipts, etc. Families were invited to come to launch and I was so blessed to have my dad, mom, and sister all there to support me and to say the final "see you later".
ROUTE CHANGE!
Here is a updated list of the countries I will now be going to:
Instead of India, I will be going to Cambodia for the month of January!
The Eastern Europe countries for June and July will be Albania and Ukraine!
Guatemala information:
This month will be an all squad month – which means all 55 racers will be together and working with the same ministry. Typically, the teams of 6-7 people will disperse throughout the country and work with different ministries. This will be a special time for our entire squad to bond and to create a strong launching pad for the rest of the year.
We will be in Santa Cruz Del Quiche – which is in the mountains of Guatemala and will be a little chiller then I was anticipating. We will be sleeping in our tents for the entire month – which means I will not have wifi on a regular basis. Please contact me through email or send me a Facebook message!
The ministry we are working with is Agape in Action, a medical ministry service. I will find out specifically what our ministry will be when we arrive there.
I will be boarding the plane in an hour to start the adventure of a lifetime! I am so excited and ready to begin this journey with God. There have been many months of fundraising, planning, packing, and anticipating this day to finally come. All of my fears and worries have been replaced with excitement. I have not been this excited since I applied for the race last September. I have so much peace that this where God wants me to be. God has taught me so much in the preparation for the race, I can't wait to see what He will teach me while I travel across the world in His name. I am honored and excited to begin this race with you!
