We were asked to write a blog about how we were
called to the mission field and specifically this mission trip. My story starts in college. During my last year-and-a-half of school I
started thinking about what I would be doing after graduation. I had done a number of internships during college
and didn’t feel content with going to work for one of those companies. Through short term mission trips I had taken,
groups I was involved with in college, and a bunch of other circumstances, I
really felt called to go and volunteer in the water quality sector
overseas. I didn’t know if this would be
a long-term position, but I felt is was something God was telling me to go
explore. I ended up going to Haiti for
six months and it completely changed my life.
I had never been to a third world country before and living and serving
in Haiti made me reevaluate so many things in my life. With all the poverty, corruption, desperation,
and need that was present every moment of every day, I still felt God at work
in me and the people around me. I loved
the simplicity of life there and the focus on meeting people where they were at
and helping in a tangible way.
When I left for Haiti, my sister gave me a
couple issues of Relevant magazine and I ended up not reading them until three
or four months into my trip. In one of
the issues, there was a long excerpt on a guy that had gone on The World Race
and his experiences. I had heard about
this mission trip once before in college because one of my friend’s siblings
had gone on the journey and seemed to have an amazing experience. While I was reading, something was stirred in
me and I began to pray about what I should do after my six months in Haiti were
up. I could return to Haiti, take a job
offer I had pending in California, or apply for The World Race. Through prayer and talking to other people, I
decided to apply for The World Race. It
was difficult to do the interviews and paperwork from Haiti, but I was able to
communicate this to Adventures In Missions and we made the best scenario
possible out of it. I was eventually accepted
and couldn’t have imagined all the support I would get from people in Haiti and
my friends and family back home.
