We were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip. Here is my story…
I guess to understand how I was called to The World Race, you have to understand how I was called to the Lord…
I grew up not knowing much about God. I had never learned any of the scriptures, and was never taught any of the stories. I guess that shows you how big God really is… he can find us when we don’t even know who he is! I think at a very young age, the Lord put a deep compassion in my heart. Compassion for people who didn’t have what I had, for people who had no one to help them, and a compassion for children that were helpless, lost, and abandoned. The more I look back on my life, the more I realize that the Lord was chasing me down for many years. I always had a burning curiosity inside to know who this God was. I had friends that would go to church, and I would tag along with them. I remember how I got my first bible… my friend had one and I begged her to let me have it. I was always looking for the big answer. What was the purpose of this life? Why are we here? Who is God and why did he create us?
Through the years, I went to Catholic church with my friend and sometimes my grandma. I began to connect with God, but not really understanding how or why. I think he spoke to me then in ways that I didn’t understand at the time. As I entered high school, I started going to “club” at my friend’s house to learn more about Jesus. This was called Young Life. I finally began to put all of the pieces together, I was beginning to understand that Jesus was the “big answer”. I went to a week long camp in the summer of my junior year, and it was there that I accepted Christ into my life. When I remember what happened that week, and reading my journal from that time, I now realize that this was the first time I had ever experienced the Holy Spirit. Of course, I didn’t understand at the time what I was experiencing, so once again, God is very powerful. It still amazes me that He can do things in you that you aren’t even aware of! Anyway, after high school, my life took a turn for the worse. Even though I had accepted Christ, I didn’t let him control my life. I decided to do things MY way. Over the next 2 years, I was involved in some deep, deep sin. Sins that eventually led me into a deep depression. I was hopeless, lost, and alone. I was about to make the biggest choice of my life. God or me.
A friend of a friend, who I had only met a handful of times, decided to call me and invite me to The Story Formed Life. This is a ten week discipleship course that looks at the bible as God’s Story… not our own. The amount of revelation that I got during these ten weeks is insane. In ten weeks, God opened my mind and heart to everything I was always searching for. I began to experience the Holy Spirit in ways that I didn’t think were possible. I finally understood who God was. I understood the character of God… that he is ALWAYS good. I started falling in love with the Lord. I feel like God put me in speed motion and everything became clear in one moment. I was baptized, and confessed that Jesus was LORD of my life. And this was early 2008! At first, I didn’t think I was mature enough in my Spirit to experience things, or that I wasn’t an old enough Christian to have my voice heard. But God quickly told me that that was a ridiculous lie that the enemy was trying to use to make me think I wasn’t good enough. I am so thankful that the Lord chased and captured me. That even at an early age he was planting things in my heart.
This compassion and love for others has only increased. Which brings me to why I chose The World Race…
After experiencing God in such a dramatic way, my only response was to spread the Truth that I had found. The Lord put the desire to help others in my heart a very long time ago, but I just became aware that the desire was for those people to know Christ. Sure, it’s nice to build someone a home, give to the poor, feed the hungry… etc; but if you do all of that and don’t share the Word of Christ, you’re doing nothing. I began to pray that the Lord would direct me into this next stage of life. What does my life look like as a servant of Christ? It was very clear that the Lord wanted me to leave the United States. I am too comfortable here, and I knew he wanted to take me out of that comfort and rely on Him. My friend mentioned The World Race to me, and when I looked into it, it was exactly what I had imagined I should do. I prayed about it and on my birthday, while friends were praying for me, I heard the Lord say one simple word… GO! So, i applied, and knew that if I was accepted, it was totally the Lord’s plan. When I got the phone call, I was overjoyed! I have total peace that whatever is in store for this mission, the Lord is doing what he wants… and after 22 years, i’ve finally realized that letting the Lord do what He wants is way better than anything I could ever choose!
Visiting 11 countries doesn’t seem that bad either, eh? 🙂
