I know many of you have already received my support letter, but just incase I missed someone or anyone else wants to read this, here it is! This letter goes more in depth more about my decision and explains ways you can support me. Also, THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH for everyone who has already shown support! I can’t express how blessed I feel being this far in my goal after just little over a month!
P.S. My T-Shirt orders are out and the store will be open until December 31st. Order now if you want one! All proceeds will go towards this trip. Here’s the link: https://canovaworldmission.itemorder.com/ Let me know if you have any questions.
Dear Family and Friends,
I hope this letter finds you in good times! I just wanted to share with you a journey I have started and want to invite you to join me. Instead of going to college after graduating, I have decided to take a gap year with the World Race. Now you might know why I decided to do this, but if you don’t I want to tell you.
First off, this decision took a long time for me to say, “YES! I want to do that!” It took me a long time because why would I willingly chose to leave such a “perfect” life I have right now to be away from my comfort zone for nine months. Yes, you read that right. It is NINE months. Now that is a long time to be away from family and friends with an unknown amount of communication back home during this trip.
Every time someone would ask me what I was going to do after graduating, my answer would be go to college or maybe on a mission trip. I was never sure in my answer because I honestly didn’t know what was right for me to do. I soon realized I never felt dead set on a plan because I hadn’t prayed about it enough. As I started to pray more, I got a stronger feeling that God was calling me to go on this trip and be His hands and feet, but all my mind could think about was the NINE months. My mind was stuck thinking about fear instead of faith. I focused on the fact I would miss out on things at home, be a year “behind” of all my classmates, and miss holidays or important events at home.
Then I started praying about how to change my focus from the fear and talking to my mentors about this decision. Everyone, including God, pointed out how amazing this trip would be. I would read blogs from other racers and think “Wow! Why am I even questioning this decision? Clearly God is going to work through me to make amazing things happen if He is doing it with all these others racers.” Also, people would point out how strong my love for mission work shows. I have been on many trips in the past to multiple places including Kansas, Missouri, South Africa, and Uganda. Those who have been on a trip with me before would say “Your face lights up when you’re helping others” or “Why are you questioning this? You clearly are called to missions.”
Now, I’ve known I’ve had a heart for missions for a very long time going back to my first time participating in a homeless outreach in sixth grade. I’ve known God has been calling me to do more than two week long trips for a while, but I always brushed the push He kept giving me off my shoulders.
Then one night I found myself filling out an application for the World Race: Gap Year just because. Not even thinking how this decision would change my life. I told myself I was only filling it out to see if I would get accepted not because I wanted to do it. I hadn’t even told my parents I applied even though I’m sure they could have guessed it. A few days later, I found I was accepted and decided to dive into this opportunity believing God would be with me every step of the way.
On the World Race: Gap Year, I will be traveling to Romania, Costa Rica, and Ecuador staying in each place for three months. There is no specific ministry with each country we’ll be doing, but others on past trips have worked with running kids camps, teaching English, and working with children who have special needs. During this time of ministry, I am thrilled to see how God works through me and how I grow closer to Him.
With all of that being said, I would like to ask for your support through this journey. Support can be shown in multiple different ways. A big way to support is praying for my team and me leading up to and during my trip. I would love prayers for safety, growth, and reassurance we are in the right place at the right time to show God’s love. Another way of support is financially. For this trip, I need to raise $16,600. These funds cover all transportation, food, housing, insurance, and other costs. This number can be very scary, but I have complete faith in God that He will provide for me and show me how to accomplish this. I ask you to pray and consider helping fund my trip. I do not want to pressure anyone into donating; yet, I want you to feel led to donate. After praying, if you feel led to financially donate, there are two ways to donate:
1. Via my blog https://paigecanova.theworldrace.org/ — I will be posting regularly to keep you updated on my journey.
2. By check. Please make all checks payable to Adventures in Missions. I have enclosed a fundraising card that must be filled out and sent with your check to the address listed on the card. Checks are made out to Adventures in Missions because the World Race is an organization under AIM. If you have any questions about this please let me know!
Also, I am beginning to plan other fundraising ideas which you may feel better called to help support. I am collecting pop cans to return and saving that money for my trip and working on designing a t-shirt for purchase. If you have any pop cans you would like to donate or interested in a t-shirt in the future, please let me know!
I am so excited to begin this journey and invite you to do it with me. I ask that you please pray about it and consider supporting me. If you have any questions about any part of this letter or journey, don’t hesitate to call me or shoot an email or text. I would love to talk more about this with you!
With Love,
Paige Canova
Phone: 515-975-7638 Email: [email protected]
