There are some things that I don’t think you can ever be fully prepared to experience. No amount of training, reading, shopping, packing, or listening can fully equip a person for the unknown future lying ahead- which is honestly a beautiful thought. You could have bought all the right stuff (from bug spray to wool socks), and still you would have no control over what adventure waits ahead. As I prepare to leave for launch tomorrow (Saturday morning), I am a mixture of excited, anxious, ready, nervous, and crazy. I cannot believe how fast time has flown and that I am now on the brink of leaving for my first destination: East London, South Africa.
Over a month ago, I went to ten days of training camp in Georgia. I had no clue what to imagine for training camp before going into it (shrouded in mystery, it was a daunting period of preparation that I was terrified to experience). The one word I can think of to describe training camp is “unexpected”. Even after reading some of the horror stories, nothing could have prepared me for the emotional, spiritual, and physical growth I underwent during a short period of ten days. Bucket showers, port-a-potties, nights spent in the torrential downpour of heaven’s opened floodgates, eating sometimes without utensils, and no coffee- not exactly within my comfort zone. The many scenarios that I was honestly terrified to encounter left me itching for more, because within those extreme times I got to experience God in freaking awesome ways. He is so amazing, and I don’t even know a fraction of it! The worship, the community, my beautiful and wonderful squad, my God-appointed team of 7 girls, and the hundreds (thousands, or millions) of adventures that await us are beyond what I could have ever dreamed. I was not ready for training camp, and I am not ready for the World Race. But God is all that I need, and He provided above and beyond as He gave me peace, excitement, love, and joy uncontainable. I could not be more pumped to gain more and more intimacy with the beautiful creator of the universe.
I have a squad of 53 members that will be traveling with me to all 11 countries. Within those 53, I have a team of 7 girls called Team LOL (Ladies of Laughter, Ladies of the Lord, and/or Ladies of Love). With Team LOL, I will be traveling to particular ministry sites within each country (which could range from construction to teaching to ministry-related activities and more). In East London, we will be teaching for a few weeks, doing construction, and traveling for a week to Lesotho (so I’ll be going to 12 countries in all) to work with a local church. I am beyond thrilled to start on this race, and I can’t believe it’s already here. I will be flying out on July 1 (after a launch weekend that starts tomorrow) from Atlanta, GA.
I have said so many good-byes (with more to come today and with my parents in a few days), and it is bittersweet as I temporarily leave so many wonderful family and friends to join my new family abroad. I cannot believe the support and love I have received from so many beautiful people, and I am so happy to report that I am almost fully funded (with over $11,200 officially in my World Race account and over $3,000 pledged). That means I have less than $2,000 to raise, and I haven’t even launched yet (and have until January 1 to raise it). How wonderful is God?! I am baffled and again am so grateful for such a wonderful community that He has blessed me with.
I am nearly fully packed, I have bought everything I think I need (which may or may not be all wrong, but hopefully not), and I have been trying to stay calm. Training camp was life changing, and if ten days can rock my world in such fantastically drastic ways, I am stoked to see how 11 months changes me from the inside out. I could not be more elated to be traveling with my U squad (which was an instant community of encouragement, joy, and full of servant hearted followers of Christ), and I feel so much love for them already and am ecstatic to grow closer to them and get to know them even more. Further, I am incredibly excited about my team, and I know that God has so many plans for us as we dive head first into months of joy, laughter, tears, excitement, frustration, and God-ordained craziness.
Despite the fact that I’m “ready,” I’m very much not. But God’s got me; He always has and He always will provide for me, and it’s beautiful to recognize my complete lack of control alongside His perfect plan and outrageous love. I would ask for prayers of peace upon me and my family as we say good-bye in the next few days, excitement and joy within my team and squad as we depart on July 1, organization for all of the teams as we spread out to different ministry sites within South Africa, and awesome work of the Lord as He uses us for His good purpose. I praise God so much that He has provided so well for me financially, and I ask for prayers for my fundraising as I raise the last couple thousand dollars and for the finances of my other squad mates as they continue to fundraise and receive more donations. Finally, I ask for unity for my squad, uplifting community within my team, and that wherever we go in this wide world, that God’s love will shine brightly and that our human imperfections will dull in comparison to His grace and mercy. There’s so much to look forward to and so much unknown- I am fully expecting the unexpected, and I’m pumped to travel this mind-blowing journey with a crazy, awesome God.
