It’s not a race (although, for those of you that know how much I love Spartan Races I wouldn’t be surprised or blame you if you thought that it was).

Around the world in 80 days (give or take a few)

“The World Race is an 11 country, 11 month mission trip to share the love of Jesus and serve others around the world. It’s a program under the umbrella of the non-profit organization Adventures in Missions, which exists to mobilize a generation of radical Christ followers, discipling and training them to establish the Kingdom of God.”

They offer different routes and opportunities to serve, but my route launches in October of 2020 and finishes in September 2021. This is awesome, and a huge green light from God in my discernment process, because it allows me to finish my grad school program at Lipscomb and have about two months at home before launching! The route includes the countries of Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

I’m super excited about getting to see and experience the landscape and cultures of these amazing countries, and get to visit South America and Asia for the first time! For more info on my route specifically, follow this link here to take you to the main page. There you will find more information on the route and countries themselves as well as be able to meet the squad and see all the people I will be working with and serving alongside of for those 11 months. And feel free to read/subscribe to any of their blogs or donate to them as well. I know they’d appreciate it!

As for what specifically we’ll be doing in each country, we won’t even know until about three to four weeks out from getting there. They have so many ministry contacts, and such varying needs, that they’ll wait until closer to time to discern where and what the specific needs at the time are. We could end up doing things like church planting, discipleship, prayer ministry, preaching, leading bible studies, children’s ministry, serving women, befriending refugees, and so much more.

If you’d still like to see more, click here for a video about the route.

Wait, so why are you doing this?…

Long story short: for myself, for others, and for God’s Kingdom.

I’ve decided that to spread God’s love and kingdom, I want to love and serve others by helping to lead them to discovering and becoming the best versions of themselves possible, and to do that I need to continually seek to become the best version of myself as possible. I know I’m the best version of myself I can possibly be when there’s less of me and more of God. 

This trip will stretch and grow me in ways that haven’t been possible up until this point, mainly because my Faith has never been where it is until now. By stretching and growing myself, I’ll be better positioned and equipped to help others do the same. The cool thing is, though, is that I’ll be able to love and serve others along the way as well!

You hear stories all the time of people saying “They touched my life more than I ever touched theirs,” and I think that is a powerful side effect and benefit of the Spirit’s involvement in a relationship: the server and the served are both impacted in major ways!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent 40 days thinking, praying, and discerning whether or not this Race would be my next step after grad school. Here are my thoughts straight out of my journal…

Reasons for pursuing missions after graduation:

• Timing is perfect, like the military, where I have no relationship to hold down, no career to get off the ground, and no obvious “next step” to pursue. If I’m going to ever do it, now seems the perfect time.
• Want to experience living out a life I have constantly been told to pursue (the Great Commission) and have been called to as a Christian – sharing the Joy, Love, Peace, Hope, the Good News, and Kingdom of God with people around the world who may not have ever heard of or experienced it in such a way as I would be uniquely positioned to show them and share it.
• To jump start my Jesus Years (30-33, I turn 30 a week after we launch!), setting the standard for reflecting Him to the world, being transformed by the Spirit into the person He’s called me to be, and coming that much closer to fully dying to self and allowing Him to live in and through and out of me.
• I want, like with the military, to again push and challenge myself and my faith. I have grown so much in the past five years, learning I’m capable of so much more than I may initially think, and my faith is in a place now that I would never have expected it to be back then. I can only imagine what an experience like this would do for its continued stretching and growth.
• God created an entire world. I want to experience as much of His beautiful creation as I can. I’d also love to experience as many different peoples and cultures, growing in understanding of not only our vastly different perspectives and life views, but also the parallels and similarities shared by all of us participating in the human experience.

Let’s get down to brass tacks.

A trip around the world in 11 months and visits to 11 different countries doesn’t come without costs. And not just the kind involving money.

A year out of the states means a year without work, which means no income, which means without your support I could very well have a steep hill to climb upon reentry.

We, as racers, are responsible for our own fundraising. We are required to come up with $17,700 by month 4 of the Race, but I would love to be fully funded by the time we launch so that I’m able to be completely present and focused on the people we’re with and the work we’re doing. 

That amount covers everything from the time we fly out of Atlanta in October to when we get back that next September. That means travel, lodging, and meals. Any expenses above and beyond those are on me.

Those additional expenses include travel to and from Georgia, as well as gear required for the packing list, shots and vaccinations, and of course anything related to fundraising.

There are also ongoing bills to still be paid while I’m not in the country earning money. My phone and healthcare payments are two, and there’s a boy I sponsor in Africa that I’d like to be able to continue to support as well.

In Summation

The next two years will be rife with challenges. Many seen and anticipated, but probably many more unforeseen and unplanned for. As with the military and this graduate program I’m currently in, both with their own unique trials and challenges, I will walk confidently into this next stage of my life trusting God’s prompting and believing that no matter what the years ahead and on after end up looking like I will be all the better for it! But I know I can’t do it alone.

I don’t intend to play at your heartstrings, I wish only to invite you to participate in this journey and partner alongside of me as God works in, on, and through me during these next two years! Whether that looks like subscribing to my blog, praying for me and my squad, donating to my fundraising goal, or some combination of the three, I only want God’s amazing works to be highlighted, experienced, and shared with as many people as possible. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and taking an interest in my journey and story. Thank you to those who have already donated, encouraged, prayed, and offered your support. Thank you to those who will make the decision to do so, and welcome to the team!

To the ends of the earth,

 

 

P.S. Also, always feel free to share this or any post on social media to help me get the word out and others involved!

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