Hi friends!
You know what’s insane? There’s only seven more months until I launch on the race, and even less time until I meet my amazing squad mates at training camp in July! It’s still kind of hard to wrap my head around the fact that this year I will leaving for nine months to serve alongside missionaries in eSwatini, Ethiopia, and Cambodia.
The closer I get the more real everything seems, and the more excited I get! I’ve been trying to read as many blogs, watch as many videos, and listen to as many podcasts from current and previous racers as I can. And now that the World Race launched an amazing new website, I have so much information on the countries I’m going to and what I will be doing there. So, I thought I’d share a little bit on my blog!
I’m on the third World Race: Gap Year 2020 route. After some final training and preparation at the WR headquarters in Atlanta, GA, I’ll be leaving for eSwatini (formally known as Swaziland). My squad and I will be serving at an Adventures in Missions base in Nsoko. In eSwatini we will be serving the many children who have been orphaned because of the AIDS/HIV epidemic there. Our focus will be children’s ministry, community development, and leadership.
After three months in eSwatini, we will leave for Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a historically and culturally rich country that has been devastated by civil wars, famine, and poverty. It also happens to be the birthplace of coffee, which I think is really cool. My squad will be serving with HOPEthiopia in Addis Ababa, a ministry that creates safe communities for people at the margins of society. We will be serving in children ministries and elder care.
Finally, my squad will transition from Ethiopia to Cambodia. Cambodia is a beautiful country that’s recovering from a horrible genocide. We will be serving with local ministry partners throughout the country. Our focus will be community outreach and we will minister to local street kids, teach English, and share the hope of the Gospel with local families.
If you’d like to learn more about the world race or what I will be doing you should definitely check out worldrace.org. I’m so excited for this opportunity and I can’t wait to be writing these blogs from on the field.
Thank you for all the support and prayers!
