Why I left the Race

I have very prayerfully and cautiously made the decision the leave the World Race.

I want everyone to know that this was not an easy decision for me and this was thought on and prayed over very seriously for a couple of months leading up to my departure. This decision went against every grind of my character that fights to always finish what I start and follow through with my commitments, However, my commitments to the Lord and to be obedient to what He is asking me is far more important than my commitments to myself. 

There are many things that fall under my reasonings for leaving, but to give you the main point and understanding I will write the short story here. 

A couple months into the race, I started to see things about the organization that I didn’t agree with. For the sake of my own personal convictions and Proverbs 29:9 that says, “Argue your case with your neighbor himself, do not reveal another’s secret”, I will not be sharing these things publicly. I have my peace in having gone to the organization and expressing my concerns. However, my point to this is that I started to see things that were very convicting for me and this made it difficult to have peace about continuing to partner with something that contradicted my personal beliefs. (Please hear me when I say personal, I know my experience has not been everyone’s experience and I applaud and fully support my squadmates who are still on the field) However, I still decided in these months, despite the lack of peace I had, to continue because I wanted to stay faithful to what I committed to and respect the generosity of all my donors. But the final straw came when civil unrest started to happen in Ukraine with the plan being for our squad to travel to Romania. 

When news first started coming about a possible war about to break out in Ukraine, I was finishing out my last week of ministry in Tirana, Albania. In the beginning of this week I received at least 5 calls from family members asking me to come home because they were worried for my safety and couldn’t stand the thought of me going to a boarding country of Ukraine. After this, I decided to turn my phone off and just sit with the Lord for two days in fervent prayer to see what God was really asking of me and to seek Him in what decision I should make. In this time I was still communicating with my leaders, staying in the loop with plans for traveling to Romania and keeping them in the loop of my thoughts of leaving the race. Through prayer and the wisdom that I believe the Lord gives me through being close to him and in his word, I decided that if my squad decided to move forward in going to Romania, I would be deciding to leave the race. This is the peace I came to and the answer that I gave leaders. With that being said, my squad is currently in Romania, and I very peacefully made the decision to leave the World Race. 

I left with great relationships with my leaders and my squad mates and I have complete peace with everyone I left. I can say in confidence that this is where God was leading me and that I have peace that he has a big purpose in this! 

I also want everyone to know, that me going on this trip was not a waste and just because God called me to leave does not mean that he did not call me to start. I still believe that called me to the World Race, my race just looked different and shorter than most others! But I also want you to know that within my 6 months of the race, amazing things happened and God worked in incredible ways! I saw so many people come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, I saw people taken off the streets and find restorations in leaving their addictions and seeking strength that only comes in the Lord, I saw women and children find hope for their lives and hope in Christ, I saw peoples needs be provided for: financially and spiritually, and I saw broken and hurt people find healing and restoration in the power of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. 

NOT ONLY this, but I also affirmed my calling and passion for serving and doing missions in Central America which is something that God has placed on my heart since I was a little girl. 

With that being said, I would love to inform you on my next steps… 

I am going to be finishing out my race by continuing to do missions and serving in Central America! 

For the past three weeks I have been serving with the ministry I grew up serving in Palacagüina, Nicaragua. I have already seen the Lord working so much in this time and I have full confidence and peace that he is going to continue to use me in this time here in Nicaragua. Its been crazy seeing the purposes he’s has for me being here and seeing his hand in everything and his provision in asking me to step away from the race. With that being said, I have so much peace that I’m exactly where he wants me!  

This was a lot of information, and I really appreciate you taking to time to read this and be apart of what God is doing in my life. I would love to continue keeping you updated in my missions so I will be sending out news letters to keep everyone updated on the work God is doing, so please reach out if you would like to be added to that!  

Thank you so much to all of my friends and family who have supported me along the way, you guys are so loved by me and the Lord! 

Also big thank you to ksquad for teaching me so much about God’s grace and for stretching me and helping me grow in so many ways, you all will always be family to me. 

Stay tuned for more info on what God is doing in Nicaragua!