Why the World Race? | Calling Over Comfort

Hi + thank you so much for taking the time to check out how I was led to backpack to 11 countries for 11 months next year!

When I think back, there are many spiritual markers that I can mention that Jesus used to bring me to this point in my walk with Him. I am going to highlight some of them! 

Growing up, I was not raised in church or a Christian home. It was not until 8th grade that I started attending a church with a close friend + her family. I clearly remember one night at a youth camp when they asked people to come to the front of the worship center if we felt that there was a calling on our life to be involved in ministry. I could feel the pull on my heart + made the walk to receive prayer. That night I went to my leader’s room + cried. I remember feeling + expressing how conflicted I was because I wanted to go to college for a “normal” job but also help out in ministry. Please remember, I was around 13 at the time… 

Shortly after, I stopped attending church. I enjoyed the community, however I did not know what it was like to have an intimate relationship with Jesus which resulted in walking away for around 6 years. 

During those 6 years, I thought I knew what was best for me. I lived life how I wanted to. I worked a ridiculous amount of hours + jobs, finished high school + started college. I was in love with my spanish classes in high school + ended up starting college to be a spanish teacher… I pictured myself teaching + using spanish + traveling the world. 2 years into pursuing this degree, I realized that my future students deserved more than someone who would be “kinda” fluent. Fast forward to my junior year in college + I was getting a degree in psychology + in a 2 year relationship. Things were looking great, so I thought. The same friend + family who started bringing me to church back in 8th grade continued to be a huge part of my life. They encouraged me, loved me + walked with me over the years. In February of 2018, my friend asked me if I was free on Tuesday nights. Which then led to her signing me up for her small group at church called “Freedom.” I had no clue what I was getting myself into. 

I start attending this group which is centered around finding freedom + healing from your past to move forward into all that God has for you. I started off believing the lie that I would get nothing from this group. In reality, it changed the entire course of my life. I also started attending services + have not left since. I knew God was asking me to make the choice to follow Him with everything. In March of 2018 there was a group of people from my church heading to the Dominican Republic for a mission trip. My 2 best friends were going + I had never been out of the country so OF COURSE I wanted to go. During that week in the Dominican Republic, the Lord spoke so clearly to me that once I got home, I needed to make some changes. I was struggling with the thought of walking away from the life I had been building for myself for years. I was struggling with the thought of no longer being in control. However, He was showing me + teaching me that His plans + His ways are SO MUCH BETTER than the sinful life I was living. It was time to fully surrender + trust my loving Father. 

I walked away from a 2 year relationship which also meant I needed a place to live. This was around the same time that my mom was moving to Texas to live with my sister. This meant that I had no immediate family as a back up plan to move in with. As I prayed, I felt like I needed to ask the same family who helped bring me back to Jesus if I could rent their extra room. Times like this truly showed me that when we are walking in obedience with what God is asking us to do, He will ALWAYS provide a way. 

I moved into their home in April of 2018 + jumped head first into serving at church, joining more small groups + also started to intern in the admin department. Jesus used being in their home, in small groups, serving, interning + being surrounded by a community that was hungry for Him to allow me to grow in my faith at a pretty quick pace. I was no longer doing everything to try to take control of my life. I was no longer trying to fill myself or my time with things that were not what He had for me. I remember being in a small group one summer with the same leader I cried with at youth camp about wanting to be involved in ministry + go to college. I looked at her at one of our groups + said “Look!! It is happening!” 

In October of 2018 I was brought on staff at my church part-time as an administrative assistant while I finished my senior year of college. I never ever pictured myself working for a church. To be honest, I never knew that was even possible! Jesus continued to do more than I could ever ask or think through me + around me as I said “yes” to Him. In May of 2019 I was getting ready to graduate from college. That same week, I was asked to come on staff full time. If you asked me what I would be doing after college a few years prior, working at a church would have not been on the list of options. I could not believe this was happening. God truly pulled me from what I thought I wanted + placed me in what He always had for me from the start. 

I know this is long, but I promise I am getting somewhere! 

It is so hard to put into a few words what the Lord has done over the last 2 ? years. 

In October of 2019, I moved into a beautiful home on a blueberry farm with 3 other incredible women from church. A month later I was heading to the Domincan Republic for a second time on a mission trip. The entire week I was there, I kept hearing “I have more for you than a week long mission trip” over + over again. I was shocked, confused + excited all at the same time. I kept this to myself that whole week because I wasn’t entirely sure what this meant. On the last day of our trip as we were saying our goodbyes, a woman who came with us who I had just met that week asked if she could share a few words with everyone. Spanish is her first language so with a translator she started sharing what the Lord had put on her heart. She started off by asking all of the younger people to sit behind her as she shared that we would be the ones to continue the mission. She then asked if I would stand up next to her. Instantly I began to cry because I knew in my heart what she was about to share. I am posting the picture with this blog of this moment! She stated that the Lord had been speaking to her that week about me + that I would be doing long term missions one day. I could not believe the Lord was using her to confirm everything I had been hearing that week.

On the flight home, I was beginning to stress. I was asking questions in my head like “When will this happen? How will this happen? What do I do next? Is this really what God is asking of me?” Yes, I went spiraling in my head with a bunch of doubts + questions. It was also in this moment that I had a full view of the moon from my window seat on the plane. I was praying + journaling + clearly heard, “If I can place + sustain the moon in the sky, what makes you think I can not do the same for you?” Peace instantly flooded over me. I knew that night that if this was something the Lord was calling me to do, He would make it very clear + He would provide a way. 

A few months later in January of 2020, I was running around on a Sunday morning at church + was suddenly stopped by a younger man. He says “I know we have never met but when I saw you I felt like I needed to ask you if you knew what the World Race was?” I am pretty sure my mouth fell open in shock. I had known about it because I knew 2 people who had done it, but I never considered it for myself. That night I was at home + found myself on the World Race website. I saw how much needed to be fundraised + once again began to stress while thinking “ How could I ever raise that kind of money?” Again, I prayed + surrendered this desire knowing that the Lord would make it clear + He would provide a way if this is what He was asking of me. 

March comes around + I am at church on Sunday afternoon after services + am approached in the foyer. This man began to speak things over me that he felt the Lord was showing him. This included “I see you going place to place to place to place…. I see it happening soon + it is not here.” Once again, the Lord was confirming what He had spoken to me that week in the Domincan Republic. My prayer had been that He would make it clear + He surely was. 

I had felt that I was being obedient by laying this down + trusting His timing. As more confirmation came + more time passed, it started to feel like disobedience that I was not partnering with God + how He wanted to use me. This led to applying to the World Race + being accepted!!

The thought of leaving the comfort of my home, my church family, my mother who recently moved back to New Jersey, my friends + my job can be hard. However, I know my God is faithful + I know that I can trust Him to direct my path. 

If I have learned anything over the last 2 ½ years, it is that the calling that is on your life is so much better than the comfort that you find yourself trying to stay in. God’s purpose for your life is so much better than the comfort that He is asking you to walk away from. It is not easy, but choosing to follow Him, no matter what it looks like, is so worth it. 

He has surely made this clear + I believe that He will continue to provide a way. 

If you made it to the end of this blog post, WOW, thank you!! 

I hope + pray that you would prayerfully consider partnering with this ministry that the Lord has brought me to. 

ALL prayers are appreciated more than you know over this next year as I prepare to leave in August of 2021.  

I have a faith goal of being halfway fundraised by the end of 2020! 

If you feel led, please prayerfully consider donating financially. A donation or monthly support would help with travel expenses such as flights + other transportation as well as food, lodging + ministry expenses over the 11 months while sharing the gospel + partnering with organizations + communities around the world! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me : )