Hey Friends! This August I will be launching to go on the World Race and I would love for you to join me in this adventure!
What is World Race?
The World Race is a program for ages 21-35 that travels to 11 countries in 11 months while focusing on three main areas: mission, discipleship, and adventure.
The World Race currently serves in and partners with ministries in dozens of countries, spanning from the tip of South America to the vast wild of Mongolia. Every day on the World Race looks a little different. Some days will be packed full with construction, VBS, building relationships with orphans, or praying for the sick at a hospital.
Some days could be slower — shopping for groceries at the market, cooking for your team, and spending time praying for the community we walk through. Much depends on our ministry partner’s needs in each country, and specifically during our team’s month with them!
Regardless of the pace or the activity, every day will be focused on being a part of God’s kingdom work.
How did you find out about the World race?
When I was 14 years old, I was on a mission trip in Nicaragua and I just so happened to bump into some World Racers on my trip. Before even meeting them, I was starting to consider what my future life would be like living on full time missions and I was praying about whether or not it was something God was truly calling me to. When talking with the World Racers and seeing what their everyday was like on the race, I was ecstatic about it and began to hope that maybe someday I could do the World Race.
Why the World Race?
Fast Forward to the summer after graduating high school, I ended up serving with Adventures in Missions on a mission trip to Swaziland, Africa. During this trip I was reminded about the World Race and I began to feel conviction from the Lord that the Race was something he was leading me to someday. I say conviction because at this point in my life I was committed to a four-year degree program at Liberty University and in my head, I had planned out exactly what I wanted my life to look like in order to live my American dream. You know; go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, and hopefully do church ministry all along the way. Can anyone relate?
So I came back from Africa, ignored the conviction, and started my journey towards my American dream. In just the first three years of schooling at Liberty, God changed just about everything I had planned for myself even in the tiniest details. In this time through growing closer to the Lord and surrendering my complete life to him, I realized that taking up my cross daily meant letting go of my plans, my desires, and my dreams, and entrusting my life with God, letting him establish my steps while I continue to trust Him and seek Him EVERY step of the way. This meant me learning what it meant to be okay with my American dream never coming true.
This leads me to this year. My senior year of college. With the constant question running around my head, “What in the world am I going to do when I graduate?” Well. This past December I took a season of fasting to really seek the Lord and remind myself that true contentment and fulfillment is only found in Him. I decided to do this for the whole month of December and in the last few days of December I was having one those incredible life altering talks with my dad who then reminded me of my initial desire to do the World Race. As soon as this thought was put back in my head, it was all I could think about. I immediately started praying and seeking the Lord to see if this was really his plan of if this was just another one of Maria’s big hopes and dreams.
After some serious time of praying I decided to just google the trips to see if the World Race was even active at this time with all our World has been through in 2020. Sure enough, trips were posted and the giant box that said APPLY was just staring at me. So I laid it down at the feet of Jesus and through lots of prayer and close counsel, I decided to apply. Through continual prayer, I watched God open every door and I will continue to trust that if this is where he is truly leading me, he will continue to keep opening every door to make this journey possible!
How can you help me?
Throughout my walk with the Lord, I have seen that the God that I serve is a good and faithful God. I have seen that in putting my complete trust and fulfillment in Him, I am able to live a life with hope and eternal joy, glorifying a God who is so unfathomably deserving of all my praise.
I live and find freedom by these verses that say in Colossians 3:1-4,“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is yourlife appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Because I have this hope for an eternity with my heavenly father, I want to bring the same hope to those who are lost, broken, and in need of a savior just as I was before knowing Christ.
If you know what it’s like to have this relationship with the Lord and you have a heart for others to know him too then I have some great news… YOU can be apart of this too!
Here are some ways you can partner with me in sharing the Gospel:
Join me in PRAYER!!
1. “Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of God.” -Colossians 4:3,
2. Don’t underestimate the power of prayer, prayer is the work!!
3. Pray for hearts and lives to be changed, and for God to use me and my team to do his will and bring people to Him
SHARE: Share my journey, blogs, and stories with others who can join us in prayer and can be encouraged by the work of the Lord that is being done!
DONATE: You be apart making this journey happen by clicking “Donate!” on the left side of my page, any amount will help me reach my goal!
