This is a blog post I have put off writing, mostly because I am still transitioning and it doesn’t feel very good.
Whenever I signed up for the World Race I always imagined myself in a rice field in Thailand. But instead of signing up for the route that traveled here, I signed up for route 3 going to Nepal, because I felt God was calling me there. To be able to travel and serve on this mission squad I needed to get an Indian Visa, so a few weeks before launch I sent in my application.
After training camp, I started to have a few dreams about myself serving in Thailand, I thought it meant one day I would be going to Thailand, but it didn’t occur to me that would mean now.
About a week ago I received my passport in the mail hoping to have my Indian Visa approved, but instead I did not get approved. I didn’t know what to do in this moment, I jokingly resorted back to my dreams and told my mom “It looks like I am going to Thailand.” In my mind, I was still going with my group to India and Nepal.
I arrived at launch in Atlanta, GA and had the girls in my room pray for God’s will in this situation. After we finished praying I again said “Guys, I might be going to Thailand if I don’t get my visa.”. At this time I didn’t know what would happen if I did not get my Indian visa- I knew God was about to bring a wind of change.
After we all prayed together I got a text from my Squad Mentor- Shadrach, saying we needed to talk about what was going to happen, so I meet with him and one of the lady Coaches- Renee. They explained to me my options, and it meant I would need to choose a different Squad to serve with for the next nine months. I looked at my options and there it was, on the first route- Thailand. I told them I felt this route was the one God was calling me to, and I explained my dreams and previous thoughts about Thailand. The agreed that God was putting together another story for me for these next nine months.
Before I made the transition to the new Squad- squad N, I tried to apply for my Indian e visa, to give it another shot. I figured if I had come this far I needed to at least try. I filled it out and when it was time to pay for it the site kept kicking me off and not allowing me to pay. I stayed up late trying to fix this- even waking up at 2 am to try again. The next morning, I continued to try to use different browsers and even tried to pay on my cell phone. Nothing. Would. Work.
Later the next morning I decided it was time to lay it down. My fight for what I wanted was done, I couldn’t do anything else. Whatever was to happen next was up to the Lord. So, My Squad Mentor Shadrach had me meet my new Squad Mentor- Deborah. She prayed over me and this decision and told me how it all fell into place for her Squad to gain a new member- that my new team had been praying for a new member so it wasn’t a surprise for me to join.
None of this is very easy for me, I miss my first Squad so much. Letting the dreams of serving together, laughing, crying, and growing together go is heartbreaking. I will miss all of their faces and hearts over the next nine months. Through them the Lord showed me healthy community and what it can look like, and now I get to gain another family.
My new team is so great and my Squad is wonderful. They have been so kind, understanding, and comforting. So now where am I headed off to for nine months?
Right now, I am sitting on a Greyhound bus headed to Washington D.C. to fly to Colombia, then we will be off to Ecuador, Thailand, Cambodia, and Albania! I don’t know what Thailand will hold but I do know that each day the Lord is affirming the steps I am walking in. I am so thankful for this opportunity to be uncomfortable, although this is emotionally one of the hardest things I have ever done, I am choosing my new people and I am choosing Christ as he leads my path.
