When I tell people about the World Race Gap Year, I get a lot of questions. If I haven’t had the opportunity to clear up your confusion in person, hopefully, these answers will explain a few things.
What is the World Race and why take a Gap Year?
It’s an nine month Christian mission trip to 3 countries. Still confused? Click “What is the World Race?” on the left. It’s important to bring God to the center of your life while making big decisions. Taking an intentional year off from school can actually propel you into making the most of your college experience, or whatever you may decide to do. They’ve seen the fruit of students making wise decisions and doing great things, in college and afterward, because they took a season to seek after God’s heart while serving His people. So, this is exactly what I want to do too. It will give me a chance to discover what passions, gifts, and talents God has given me to pursue the Kingdom of God.
Who runs this show?
The World Race is a program of Adventures in Missions (AIM), a short-term missions organization based in Gainesville, Georgia. AIM partners with long-term missions, missionaries, churches, and organizations around the world, sending in teams to serve them in the work they’re already doing in local communities.
Okay, so why are you doing this?
Because this is what God has called me to do this coming year. I am trusting His call and giving Him a year of my life to learn to see Him more clearly and follow Him more deeply. I pray He’ll use me to bring His light to dark places around the world, and in the process transform me to look more like Christ. And of course, I’m super excited for a year of travel across the world.
Who’s going with you? What’s the difference between a squad and a team?
I’ll be traveling with about 40 other fantastic young adults, ages 18-20, on my “Squad.” This large group is divided into small units, teams of six to seven. Our squad will travel between countries together, and then each team will separate across the country to go to their own ministry sites for the month. I’ll be doing life and ministry with these individuals.
Where are you going?
Route 1 travels to Guatemala, Ethiopia, and Thailand.
That’s so cool! I love Thailand. Where in Thailand are you going? You should go to this awesome town I visited a couple years ago!
Here’s where the mystery comes in… I don’t know where I’m going within each country, and I won’t find out until a few days before I get there. I might be in the middle of the city with constant wifi or out in the rice paddies without running water. Each month I’ll have a few days off to spend resting or traveling, so I’ll see some of the nearby sights, but I probably won’t be hitting all the tourist hotspots of every country. If you do have suggestions for places I should visit or things I should do, email me! It’s always nice to have ideas.
What are you going to do in each country?
Once again, it’s a mystery! What I do each month will vary based on the ministries my team is sent to, and ultimately I won’t know until I get there. Typical World Race activities include teaching English, loving on orphans, volunteering in hospitals, doing construction work, befriending girls who have been trafficked into slavery, doing door-to-door evangelism, or using our own talents in fields like writing or videography to aid the ministry. In every location, we’ll be working with “the least of these,” the impoverished and neglected populations where the need is deepest. Ultimately, I’m not going to “fix” someone’s problems, but to serve and encourage the ministries I encounter in whatever way they need. I’m going to build relationships, love people with Christ’s love, and share the Gospel.
More to the point, where will you sleep and what will you eat?
This year, I’ll be carrying my home, clothes, sleeping bag, and tent all on my back. Accommodations will vary month by month: sometimes I might be in a church basement or a ministry contact’s spare room, and other months I might be tent camping in a mango grove. My team will have a small food budget, but the way it’s spent will also vary. We may be cooking for ourselves, buying meals at local markets, or eating with our ministry contacts.
When do you leave, and how long will you be in each country?
I’ll head to Launch in Atlanta on September 5, 2019, and from there my Squad will fly to Guatemala! We’ll spend 3 months in each country, returning to the States at the end of May 2020.
How much does this all cost, and who’s paying? Which is to say, how can I get involved?
The cost for this year of missions work is $16,600. That covers all expenses of the program, including training, travel between countries, food, lodging, administrative costs and insurance. These funds are fully support raised; I am praying for a number of generous donors that will partner with me to join me in this ministry to send me around the world. If you would prayerfully like to support me financially, you can click the “Donate!” link on the left to make an online donation. Or, click “Contact me!” and send me an email if you’d like to donate by check. If you’re interested in getting more information about my World Race journey and how you can support me financially and in prayer, email me your address and I’ll send you a cool packet of information on how to help.
Wow! This sounds like a super awesome year long vacation. I hope you have fun!
Thanks! But.. thinking of the World Race as a vacation, though a common misconception, misses the heart of this ministry completely. I’m not going on the Race to avoid starting college, to escape from “real life,” because I love to travel, or because I think it’ll be easy. On the contrary, I expect it will be one of the most challenging years of my life. Ultimately I’m going because the Lord has called me to do this, and I want to follow Him wherever He leads me. I anticipate and pray that He will use this year to break me and rebuild me to look more like Jesus, His perfect Son. It won’t always be easy or fun (like taking cold bucket showers or having only a few changes of clothes), and there may be times when all I want is to quit. I will be stretched and challenged physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, but I pray for perseverance and that I return transformed, ready to radically pursue the Lord wherever He would call me next. This isn’t a vacation: it’s life. Jesus has invited me on an adventure, and I’m saying yes.
