I’ve always enjoyed a good adventure in life. I long to travel the world and see different things outside of the bubble that I live in. However, as a child, traveling wasn’t always at my finger tips. I grew up in a family that didn’t always have a lot of money and couldn’t afford to travel to the places my heart longed to explore. That all changed about 2 years ago when my dad passed away. Before my dad passed away, money was always something that held me back from doing what I had always dreamed of, which is to travel. When my dad passed away, I realized that life is too short to worry about money and that I needed to live out my passion.
After everything settled down, I was cleaning out my dad’s house one day when I ran across pictures, brochures, and books from my dad’s experience backpacking through Europe. It was in that moment that I discovered I wanted to follow the footsteps of my dad and spend some time backpacking through Europe. I immediately began saving money, hence the collecting of one dollar bills, for my trip to Europe. I planned on spending 4-6 months in Europe, traveling to every corner of the continent. I wanted to see any and everything that Europe had to offer. I had saved somewhere around 5,000 dollars towards my trip when things took a turn.
I was sitting in a class for 20-somethings at a church in Memphis when God started tugging on my heart. The speaker was teaching about Joseph and his dreams. I sat in my chair listening to what God was trying to tell me when I realized that my ‘dream’ of traveling through Europe was a selfish dream. God convicted me of my selfish dream and sent me on a search of how my dreams could glorify me less and him more. A few months later, one of my good friends, Kaitlyn, came back from a 6 month mission trip in Africa. My friend, Haley, and I decided to go hiking to a waterfall with Kaitlyn to welcome her back to the states. On our way to the waterfall I caught myself asking Kaitlyn all about her time in Africa. The more she shared about her experience with the people of Africa, the more I felt my heart longing to go on a mission trip. That day I realized what God was trying to show me. He wanted to show me that I can still fulfill my dream of traveling, but glorify him and travel with a purpose.
(Pictured left to right: Kaitlyn, Haley, and I at the waterfall)
Once we got back home, I talked to Kaitlyn more about her mission trip. I told her that I was looking for a mission trip that would be as long as or longer than my trip to Europe. She mentioned looking into Experience Missions, the organization that she went to Africa through, but it didn’t feel like the right fit. She continued to suggest different organizations that provided long term mission trips and one day she mentioned The World Race. Just the sound of The World Race captivated my heart, so I began to do more research. I stumbled across a quiz on The World Race website that would help me see if I was ready for that kind of adventure. At the end of the quiz, I was told that I had what it took to embark on The World Race. My heart was overwhelmed at the thought of spending 11 months in 11 different countries and my research turned into an investigation.
I was eager to get my mission trip planned and get myself out there, but family and close friends advised me that it would be best if I graduated college before embarking on this exciting journey. As much as I longed to get the ball rolling and be in a different country, God was teaching me how to be patient through it all. I spent 6 months obsessing, anticipating, and longing for the 2017 routes to be released. It wasn’t until January of 2016 that I was able to select and apply for a route. The application process was a struggle for me. Taking the time to fill out the application and complete interviews was difficult and there were times when stress and fear would creep in. Some days I feared that I didn’t have enough biblical knowledge to lead someone else much less spend a year telling people about Jesus. This fear stems from the fact that I am still young in my faith and that I have a messy past. Some days I felt unworthy of being a part of The World Race and that I didn’t have much to offer to other people in the world. Through countless prayers, support, and God reminding me of who I am and whose I am, I began to realize that it doesn’t matter who I used to be. What matters is who I am and who I will be in Christ.
The Monday I returned from my Spring Break trip in March, I received a phone call from The World Race letting me know that I had been accepted for the 2017 Route 4 World Race. Now I am spending my time raising money through countless fundraisers and allowing God to prepare my heart for the journey of a lifetime.
