HI FRIENDS!

WOW. I'm excited! Okay, so being a senior in high school, I often receive the question "What are your plans for after you graduate?". For the last year, my response has been that I will be taking a gap year and going on a 9 month mission trip. I am always met with an excited response from my community, however, the trip truly raises a lot of questions for most people, so in this blog post I am hoping to finally answer as many common questions as I can!

I am partnering with Adventures In Missions and participating in the program World Race: Gap Year, which is a program set out for 17-20 year olds. We will be traveling to 3 countries; South Africa, Guatemala, and Dominican Republic. Though, keep in mind that due to covid policies and politics our route has the possibility or alterations. The ministry's team does a very good job of staying in the know in countries around the world and making sure us racers are as safe as we can be and prepared for any changes that may affect our trip. 

I graduate in June, however, very shortly after I will be making my way over to Georgia and going through a week long boot camp where I will meet my squad and go through a short training where we will be trying to gain as much knowledge and trying out our gear as much as we can! But that's not all. After that week I will return home until September. Then September 9th, the real training begins (also in Georgia). We will spend 4-6 weeks preparing as much as humanly possible for the fields overseas. These trainings will involve worshipping, team bonding, looking into what the next 9 months may have in store for us, and most importantly PRAYER!! 

Looking into the more physical portion, we will be BACKPACKING! Yes. A backpack. For 9 months!! We will mostly be staying in tents, however it depends on the ministry we are partnering with at the time, we may also be staying in houses or shelters as well. This lifestyle may not be as exciting for everyone, but I am feeling very excited and extremely blessed for this opportunity. On this trip we will be focusing on community outreach, children ministries, sports development, evangelism, and different kinds of teachings!

Going on this mission trip, for me, means that I will be pursuing my passion for spreading the love of Jesus, diving deeper into my relationship with Christ, and serving others. All the hardships and changed realities that I will experience are all worth it for the glory of God. As excited as I am, I admit it will be a bit of an adjustment of lifestyle, however this is me sacrificing all of my worldly desires to pursue the will of God- including my queen sized bed ;). 

And now to look into the reality of being able to go on this trip, there is quite the large goal to fund I am needing to raise to be able to sustain myself for 9 months. That goal being $15,800. At first glance the number may seem a little overwhelming, but I am so confident that without a doubt; God provides. Throughout the next several months I will be posting updates as I take each step in getting fully funded, and I have a couple fun ideas for fundraising, but I will need as much help as I can get! Although, financial support is not at all the only support I need. Prayer is one of the most impactful ways of supporting and I would absolutely  appreciate is everyone could just take a couple minutes to pray for me and other racers as we prepare for this journey :)

Thank you for reading and I hope you decide to support me and follow along as I get ready for this life changing year!

-Lilli <3