I don’t care who sees me abandoned. Oh I surrender all”

Last year on July 10th, 2023, I first found out about the worldrace. I was heading up to volleyball camp with one of my friends. I was not planning to do this camp, but they needed more huddle leaders for this camp. At the time I wasn’t working because I quit my job in the summer. After all, I had full-on faith the Lord was going to show me what the next season of my life was going to look like, and wanted to be fully focused on him in the summer, but that’s what’s so wild about the Lord of all the camps I was doing the least expected one I was going to do he showed me what the next chapter of my life was going to look like.

When me and my friend named “Addison” was heading up to volleyball camp she asked me “Are you going to college?” I told her “No, but I wanted to do some type of Ministry, but I don’t know what that looks like yet.” She told me she knew this girl who was in the same boat as me during her senior year and she went on this program called “The World Race” It’s a 9-month gap year to do mission work. When she told me this it was something so clear that I knew this is what the Lord was calling me into, but I didn’t know how to leave everything behind for 9 months.

As I look back on from a year ago and what he has done in my life I’m just in completely in awe of him. Through all the heartache, happy moments, sad moments, and even when I was so confused. He was there right beside me every step of the way.

Fundraising

When I first heard the amount of money I had to fundraise was 17,000 dollars I was left speechless about how much money I had to fundraise, but that’s the thing I was trying to rely on my strength to fundraise and I didn’t get far. It was the beginning of June I was in the living room with my parents and we were talking about my fundraising and we were upset because I needed a lot more to fundraise. My mom said, “I’m starting to get worried that we won’t have all of it before you leave.” I told her “Never underestimate the Lord because he could do so much right before I leave and the day when I leave.”

That same night I went into my bedroom and fell onto my floor because I felt so convicted trying to do it on my own. I was trying to rely on my strength instead of trusting in the Lord that he was going to make a way. I cried out to the Lord asking for forgiveness. That I put my full-on trust in him and I’m relying on his strength because my strength, won’t ever get me far. The very next day I got two donations from two churches one was $1,000 and $500.

Donations after donations kept coming in and had an opportunity to speak at a church. The Lord is so good because I was at 43% and 4 weeks later I was at 80%.

Competitors camp

As a lot of y’all know I was at basketball camp, but had to leave because I ended up having kidney stones. So competitors camp was the very first camp I got to do and I was so excited. One of the mornings the preacher was preaching and after he was done preaching a lot of us went to the altar. I was praying over this girl and after I was done praying the pastor looked at me and waved me over. He told me “I feel like the Lord is wanting me to tell you to trust him. That everything is going to be okay.”

I started crying because he had no clue who I was or what my story was. I told him a little about my testimony and what the Lord is doing in my life.

He was so excited for me on this journey and he told me “If the Lord wants you to go on this he will make a way, but you’re going to have to trust him for him to do that.”

On the very last day at camp, the Lord brought someone to me at FCA camp who went on the worldrace and she was just praying over me, pouring into me, and giving me advice, and let me tell y’all I was crying so hard because I needed that so bad.

A couple days after camp one of my huddle leader friends reached out to me asking “When I get the chance to call her.” I called her instantly because I thought something was wrong.

She told me she had seen where I followed her on TikTok looked at my account saw where I was going on the world race and saw that I was at 80%. She calculated it up to see how much I needed left and she felt the Lord told her to get the rest funded for me.

When she told me this I started to cry, but was so happy because this whole time the Lord was making a way I just needed to lay it all down and trust him.

Thank you

Thank you, to anyone that prayed for me and to continue to pray for me. Thank you to anyone who donated from 0.1 cents to 3,000 dollars. I can’t thank you guys enough for supporting me on this journey. I love you all so much and you guys are such a blessing.