going to bring me financial deliverance. Before I even knew about the
race God gave me a word about it. My brothers’ friend owned a
landscaping company and I was being groomed for a position. It was an
amazing opportunity, to work a lot of hours and make a lot of money.
The fact that I hadn’t worked in months and that I had many debts made
the opportunity even more desirous. Also, I seemed to be a perfect
candidate for the job. I worked with my father for years remodeling
peoples homes, so I had experience working in peoples homes and
communicating with them effectively. I also owned my own, albeit much
smaller, landscaping company when I was young. I had a lawn mower, a
trimmer, a rake and about five or six lawns in the neighborhood. I
casually and lightheartedly mentioned this at the interview, and the
owner was excited. He told me that his business started that way.
On
a Thursday I went to my first day of training. It went very well and
they gave me all the training materials and I was expected to be there
again Friday morning. That night I went to Campus Crusades’ weekly
meeting at UW-Milwaukee. It was an amazing night of worship. The Holy
Spirit was moving powerfully that night. At one point, almost like a
whisper I heard God say that I was not to take the job. I quickly
shrugged this off. My brother had worked hard to get me this position,
and my family was very excited for me to finally have a job. I was in
no position to turn down a well paying job. I had an apartment in
Milwaukee, debts, no income, and no money. I returned to my apartment
that night, and read a devotional from Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost for
His Highest”. As I read it, the Holy Spirit again convicted me that I
was not to take the job. God had spoken and confirmed His will, and so
I had to surrender mine. The next morning I woke early, returned the
training materials, and told them I had to turn down the position for
personal reasons. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to
do. Talking with my brother and friends and family was even more
difficult. They were upset and didn’t understand. My brother was
especially upset because he persuaded his friend to hire me even though
he didn’t usually hire friends. For weeks my family was pressuring me
to get a job.
A couple
weeks after turning down the position, I was at a Campus Crusade dinner
party. I met a guy named Danny Stinson, a friend of a friend from
Oklahoma. We talked briefly. I mentioned I had recently gotten back
from a short mission trip to Ghana, Africa and he jumped at the
opportunity to tell me about a mission trip he had signed up for. It
was called “The World Race”, and he was going to 11 countries in 11
months. He told me how much he had to raise and I thought he was
crazy. I wasn’t even able to raise $2,000 for the Ghana trip, and he
needed to raise $13,800. I thought maybe he was rich or something. We
didn’t talk long, and I didn’t give any thought to our conversation.
In fact, I didn’t think for a second about “The World Race” until a
month later.
home from Milwaukee late one night to my parents house. I crept in at
around 2:30am. I was exhausted, but for some reason felt compelled to
pray and worship God. I prayed for about 20 minutes and all of a
sudden I thought of the World Race. I remembered the website and
immediately checked it out. There were four upcoming races. I saw the
link for the October race, and said to myself “October, if I were to
join I would go in October”. I remember being surprised by such a
random thought. I looked up the details for each race, and turns out
October was the only race that included Ghana as one of the countries.
When I saw this, I suddenly knew God was calling me to the October
World Race. I immediately started worshiping God, overwhelmed with joy
and excitement.
Upside Down and Backwards
During
this time I was still receiving pressure from family and friends to get
a job. It seemed so crazy to continue with no income, so I started to
consider their argument. It was then that I got another word from
God: “Don’t work, but serve all summer, and I will deliver you”. I
didn’t realize it at the time, but God was calling me into a season of
being completely dependent upon Him.
Training
camp for the World Race came quicker than I anticipated. It was three
days away, and I didn’t have the support needed ($1,000) or a plane
ticket to Georgia. I was extremely discouraged and questioning whether
God had really called me to the mission. That night I met up with
Jamie Neumann, a racer from Wisconsin (we live 20 minutes away) who was
also preparing for training camp. I told her all the obstacles I was
facing. I didn’t have the support, a plane ticket, or equipment. In
fact, the only thing I did have was a pile of bills and no way of
paying them. But I also talked about how I was called to the race, and
that I did not doubt what God spoke. In saying this, suddenly all the
obstacles no longer mattered. I realized I had heard clearly from God,
and He did purpose me for the mission. I remembered that God is a
specialist in impossible situations, and that it didn’t matter how many
obstacles I was facing, He could deliver me out of each one. Through
our conversations that night, my faith skyrocketed. That night, a
friend gave me $100 towards a plane ticket. I got home late, and
although I had already checked my support account that day, I checked
it anyways. I told God that I believed He could make the amount
change. When the page loaded my eyes grew big. My support had jumped
to over $1,000, providing just what I needed for camp. The next
morning I told the story to my cousin Dawn who was visiting from
Texas. She decided on the spot to match the $100 donation towards my
plane ticket! Within hours God took my impossible situation and worked
a miracle!
God provided
the support and all the equipment necessary for me to leave for the
race. It was amazing seeing all the support come in, it was nothing
short of a miracle. At the same time, as the days counted down to my
departure, I become more and more concerned about my financial
situation. God told me to serve all summer and allow Him to deliver
me. I served all summer, but was not seeing the financial
deliverance. As the day got closer and closer I become more and more
anxious. I had unpaid bills and debts and student loans in question.
Finally the day came and I hadn’t received from the Lord. I did not
understand, at all! I was leaving the country for a year, and would be
without an income for the duration. Throughout the race this issue has
challenged me greatly. There have been times where I have considered
leaving the race to get home and start working. The whole situation
just seems upside down and backwards.
Impossible Situations
In
the past couple weeks matters have gotten worse. My parents, who have
been helping a bit financially, can no longer help due to their own
financial struggles. Also, the deferment on two of my student loans is
over, and payments are now due. My father is cosigner on one of the
loans, and can not help with payments. So I am not only hurting my
credit but also his. When faced with this issue a week ago, I realized
there was nothing I could do but pray. I ruled out going home to work,
because that would go against God’s character. God is not in the
business of breaking covenants, and He has called me to join this
mission and commit to it. I also ruled out a hopeless situation.
Though the situation seems impossible, God always leaves a hope. God
is a specialist in impossible situations.
So
that night I did the only thing I could do, pray. Even that was
difficult. Every time these financial issues have come up during the
race I have had the tendency of shutting down. Still, I lied down and
attempted to pray. I was so flustered that I couldn’t even formulate
the words, so I just sighed before God. Then, I imagined myself
presenting the problem before God. I lifted it up to Him and placed it
His arms. I lied in silence a few minutes, until God started to
speak. He spoke a number, and then said “Its yours. I have taught you
what it takes to be a great steward, and now you have the opportunity
to steward well.” Honestly, I didn’t think much of it at the time. I
just scribbled it down into my journal and fell asleep.
Breaking Down the Wall
week later we met the entire squad in Accra, Ghana for debrief. The
first day there, I remembered a story from training camp. One night at
camp I saw Tim Carlson, and God spoke to me that Tim needed to forgive
himself. Tim told me that there has been a wall between him and God,
and he realized that it was because he hadn’t forgiven himself. I
prayed with him that night, and he forgave himself. The wall came
down, and Tim has been on fire for God since. It was random that I
remembered that story, but it made sense later that night. Tim and I
were roommates in Accra, and I talked to him about the financial
situation I was in, and everything that had happened in the past couple
weeks. I told him that whenever this stuff comes up I tend to shut
down. When I finished speaking, he asked me one thing: “Have you
forgiven yourself?” I remembered the story, and also realized that I
hadn’t forgiven myself. My former life in sin affected not only my
financial situation but also my families, and I carried the weight of
that for a long time. That night in Accra, I declared I wasn’t going
to carry around that guilt any longer, and I forgave myself. After
praying, I knew my wall had come down.
After
forgiving myself I felt like I was again in a place to receive from the
Lord. I remembered the night when God spoke to me, and I told Tim
about it. I told him God gave me the number $25,000 and then told me
“It’s yours”. Tim immediately started laughing. Before I could gauge
what his response meant, he told me that when I was talking earlier God
gave him the exact same number. I was amazed. God told me He was
bringing me $25,000 and then confirmed it through my friend. I thought
back to when God told me to serve all summer and allow Him to deliver
me. I thought about how God never said He would deliver me before the
race, He just said He would deliver me.
I
am convinced that God likes to put people in impossible situations, so
that they learn complete reliance upon Him. Sometimes He calls you to
do things that seem to be upside down and backwards. Sometimes when
you follow God’s voice, you have to be prepared to be misunderstood.
Regardless of what others say, or what your circumstance is saying,
trust God. When He calls you, He is faithful to deliver you.
So
I have no idea how God is going to deliver, but I also have no doubt.
God has spoken and confirmed what He said, and He is faithful to
deliver. My financial situation back home remains the same, but I have
hope. Deliverance is coming, and its coming soon! God has purposed me
for this mission, and He is paving the way for me to finish it. There
are four more months and four more nations to impact for God’s glory.
God
recently led me to read Psalm 34. It really spoke to me, and I wrote
in my journal a couple pages about it. I used the writings and made a
video. I hope you enjoy it!
