This is a short and sweet version of the story of how God has been working in my life in the past couple of years; and more specifically, how I was led to the World Race.
Beulah Beach is an absolutely fabulous camp on the shores of Lake Erie that has a very special place in my heart. My family and I have attended Family Camp there for the past 10 years and in the summer of 2011, I decided to go to Senior High Camp at Beulah. My life was wrecked over the course of a single week. God had been placing missions into my mind lately and there was a service where He spoke to me as I prayed about the future and His will for my life. In my spirit and in my ear, I heard God whisper to me ‘GO’. I had never even been on a mission trip before, but I knew that this was God calling me to serve Him in cross-cultural ministry. Thankfully this was just the beginning of what might prove to be a lifelong adventure.
I refocused my college search process, convinced that a Christian college would be the best place for me to figure out exactly what a call into missions meant for my life. Many of the counselors at Beulah Beach attended Indiana Wesleyan University and I figured that a college with students who were such beautiful examples of Christ’s love must be doing something right, so I checked it out.
When I began attending IWU in the fall of 2012, I was an Elementary Education major in the Honors College. After a few weeks, I realized that my lifelong aspirations to be an elementary school teacher were a bit misplaced. I discovered a whole new field that actually fit my passions and strengths. TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) fit perfectly with my love for languages, culture, and travel. On a warm spring night later that year, I was with a group of friends and we were discussing our wildest dreams upon graduation. One friend mentioned the World Race so I Googled it and started reading the Racer’s blogs.
In May 2013, I participated in a short-term mission trip through IWU to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia changed my whole perspective, on just about everything. I fell in love with a country, culture, and people in a way that I didn’t even know was possible. Cambodia taught me so much about what it means to experience love, hope, and joy, and also what it looks like to have a hunger and need for Jesus. Two and a half weeks were enough to show me the intense beauty and overwhelming need in a single country. While in Cambodia, we met a team that was in their last month of the World Race and got to talk to them. After that, I knew that the World Race was something I wanted to pursue.
When I returned from Cambodia, adjusting back to life at home and at IWU was more difficult than I expected. I wanted to return to Cambodia as soon as possible and had a restless sense that God wanted to use me somewhere else (besides IWU). As I continued to read World Race blogs and search for opportunities to return to Cambodia, I realized that it would be possible for me to graduate in three years. I wrestled with whether or not this was really a wise decision since I would have to drop out of the Honors College as well as postpone my plans to return to Cambodia.
After a lot of prayer, I decided to take the plunge and graduate a year early. Because of this decision and as a part of TESOL major requirements, I traveled to Skopje, Macedonia for a practicum in teaching English. My May and June 2014 were spent teaching English to middle school students and an incredible group of adults, exploring the streets of Skopje, learning to love coffee, and eating way too much delicious food (Coconut 7 Days included). For those of you who don’t know, 7 Days are basically croissants filled with wonderful stuff like coconut cream, chocolate, Nutella, etc. I was excited for the trip, but not expecting to be overcome by such a deep appreciation and love for the food, culture, and people of Macedonia. I described my love for both countries to someone and was told that God must have gifted me with a ‘heart for the nations’. I’m afraid that just might mean I’ll fall in love with every place that I travel to; if that’s the case, then I can’t wait to fall in love with more countries, cultures, and people all over the world.
November 13, 2014 was the day I received the call that I’d been accepted to the World Race; I was, and still am, so ridiculously excited to say yes to this adventure. So here I am, getting ready to graduate from college after 3 years and preparing to embark on a crazy journey to spread the love and joy of Jesus in 11 different countries. If you would have told me all of this five, or even two years ago, I would not have believed it. “The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9. My commitment at camp, transformative experience in Cambodia, and love for Macedonia are all parts of the journey that shaped me and brought me here, to the World Race. But mostly I’m here because God brought me here, and I am so thankful that He has been with me every step of the way.
