[First published on 12/16/2015. To view the original newsletter, click here.]
Hello friends!
Hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying the holiday season! As Christmas fast approaches, the countdown begins to mark the end of 2015 and the start of 2016… which means my January departure day is just around the corner!
These past few weeks have been both tiring and rewarding, as I’ve been running around taking care of some final preparation items but also having many “see you later” get-togethers with family and friends. And in the midst of all this busyness, I am constantly reminded of how truly blessed and thankful I am for every person and thing in my life… so THANK YOU 🙂
This might be my last newsletter before leaving for my trip so I want to share with you all one last “why” for doing The World Race and also pass long some updates and prayer requests. So here we go!
A SENSE OF WANT
Then [Jesus] called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” — Mark 8:34-37
Growing up, I hated the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Because quite frankly, I had no idea…and no, being an accountant was NOT one of them, haha. But nevertheless, I worked hard in college and was blessed with a job a few months after graduation. And I then proceeded to spend the next year and a half studying for my CPA license while also working — which I passed and got a nice salary bump for 🙂 So at that point, I thought I finally knew what I wanted to do and had made it — I had “gained the whole world.“
But 3 years into my job, I started to wonder if this really was what I wanted to do. Yes, I could easily continue with what I was doing and collect a steady paycheck, but was that it? Is this what I was designed to do? And it was at this time that I decided to go on my first missions trip in 2009 — and it shook me to the core. That experience not only changed my views of missions, but also opened my eyes to what I could do to serve God. But the question remained — would I do it?
That struggle persisted for years, as my mind and heart ebbed and flowed between all the hard work I had already invested into my career and the longing I had to give up myself wholeheartedly to do something great for God’s kingdom. But like Jesus asks His disciples in Mark 8:36, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” What good is it for me to have this nice job if my heart and soul longed for something more, something greater?
So that is my third reason for doing The World Race — the sense of desire I have to fully surrender everything — my career, my stability, my comforts — and serve Christ with complete and utter abandonment for the next 11 months (and longer). And I believe this is God’s answer to my many inner cries to Him to leave everything and do something great for His kingdom-building.
I want to give up my job.
I want to serve God’s peoples throughout the nations.
I want to fall in love with God more and more.
As Jesus says, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matt 22:37-39) And so I long to be unplugged from the world and instead be plugged in to Christ. For I know that as I take my delight in Him, He will fulfill the desires of my heart.
TRIP UPDATE
So there’s been another change to my route, LOL. My new itinerary is as follows: Thailand → Cambodia → Vietnam → Indonesia → Latvia → Ukraine → Romania → Greece (new) → Botswana → South Africa → Swaziland (new)
They told us to expect change so I won’t be surprised if this changes again during the year. But here it is for now, so please pray for these nations!
Also, I’ll be maintaining a blog page throughout my 11 month journey. I haven’t added anything to it yet, but here is the link below and I will let everyone know when it’s up and running!
http://sangpark.theworldrace.org
FUNDRAISING UPDATE
Guess what??? I’m now at $8,470 of my $16,362 goal (52%) — that’s more than halfway to my overall fundraising total! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have donated! Your generosity and support warms my heart every time! But I’m still a little short of my second deadline of $10,000 total by this Friday, December 18…so if I can get one last push, my heart will warm a tad bit more 🙂
Plus, this would be your last chance to add to your tax-deductible charitable contributions total for 2015! (That was courtesy of CPA Sang again, haha)
Please use the link below if you’d like to contribute!
[Select Support a World Racer and enter my full name, Sang Yeop Park.]
PRAYER REQUESTS
In my last newsletter, I mentioned that I didn’t have too many doubts or fears about my Race…I was wrong, LOL. I guess as the trip is finally drawing closer, some real prayer requests have been billowing up and I want to share them.
1. Pray for health and safety. I ain’t gonna lie — I’m deathly afraid of mosquitoes, y’all (at least the ones in Southeast Asia and Africa). The more I’ve been reading about these buggers, the greater my anxiety is building about being bit by them, and getting sick in general. So please pray that none of my teammates or I get dangerously sick from food, bugs, diseases, etc. Instead, please pray that our team remains in good health physically so we can do God’s work out there!
2. Pray for finances. I’m not overly concerned right now since I can still fundraise until the end of April 2016. But until I am fully funded, I know this will be a lingering matter that will weigh on my mind. So please pray that God will lead people to continue to prayerfully support me financially. The last thing that I’d want is to be sent back home early because I came up short financially!
3. Pray for prayer. Yes, I’m asking for prayers for prayers. I’ve come to realize in the past weeks just how much I’ve NOT been praying for this trip or for myself. This is not good and it needs to stop! Err, or start in this case. So please pray against all the distractions, busyness, laziness, etc that have been getting in the way of my prayer life! And for others to join in my prayer battles as well!
In case I haven’t said it enough, THANK YOU everyone for your support and prayers 🙂 This trip wouldn’t have been possible with each and every person that God has placed in my life!
I’ll be VERY free after this Friday and until I leave on January 3rd…so please feel free to contact me for a “see you later” moment before I go. I’d love to chat and share more!
T-minus 18 days before I leave 🙂
By His Love,
Sang Park
