The process of choosing the World Race

First and Foremost, I’m overwhelmed by your love and support over these last few weeks! Going into this I was confident that I had the most supportive peeps in the world and I’ve yet to be proven wrong, so thank you.:))) I find it most appropriate that you, as you share in this journey, are informed and included from the very first moment. SO this time, I’d like to take a step back and write about what led me to decide that the World Race would be the next move for me! 

Last February, the 21st to be exact, I became a full time staff member at Glorieta Adventure Camps in Glorieta, New Mexico. I’d worked here for the four summers preceding this date, but was incredibly anxious and thoroughly thrilled to experience camp from a different perspective. 

My employment from February to May fulfilled the internship requirement for my Intercultural Studies major. The majority of my time in those months was spent interviewing, hiring, and preparing for the summer staff that would serve the guests that attended conferences at our location. Many of those staff members came to us from Puebla, Mexico! (shout-out to my amigos from Mexico!!) In all honesty, I was having the time of my life preparing for them and then they arrived to camp and life only got better. I struggled quite a bit as I had transferred to this position from a program that I knew inside and out and had made into a home for myself, but they were incredibly gracious to me even when I was feeling “homesick” for a place that i could still see. 

The summer months, May to August, were filled with lots of laughter, lifechange, and so much fun, but as the summer began to draw itself to a close, I was hoping that camp would offer me a position that would keep me on staff now that I had finished my degree and had no other plans. I spent a lot of time dreaming about what that would look like and ended up disappointed when I was offered the very position that I convinced myself I would never take. I felt strongly that I wasn’t being led away, so I set aside my pride and I signed my contract to be a Department Assistant. There was a whole lot to look forward to as I stepped into this position, but unfortunately I chose to focus on the parts of the job that i wasn’t all that stoked about. After way too much time spent grumbling and complaining, I finally decided to appreciate the season that I was in and the opportunity that I’d been give to learn and to serve. By that time, it was February 2020 and I had some new thoughts brewing in my lil brain. 

At the end of January I began to read “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. Truly, I had no idea how the Lord would use this book to literally change my whole life and my perception of Jesus and his people. Though I would love to share all of my favorite words from this book, I’ll only share the ones that are relevant in this instance. Chan proposes this question, “What are you doing right now that requires faith?” After I closed the book to have a moment to reflect on what I had just read, I learned that this simple question might be what leads me into the next season of my life. Seeking to answer this question, I pulled out my journal and began to write only to learn that my response to this question would be quite disappointing. Nothing. I’m not doing anything in my life that requires faith. So… I began my pursuit of what my restored desire to faithfully depend on God might bring me into. After considering a load of options, I made the decision to consider the World Race. I’d considered WR many times before, but the circumstances never supported the venture, so I didn’t get my hopes up until I checked out the routes launching in January and I was sold. The following day Caleb U (shout out to my boi) and I met up for lunch with two camp pals, Amanda Ruth and Jill (word up, gals). Y’all won’t believe it, but Amanda Ruth was telling us about how she had an interview the next morning and guess who it was with…. THE WORLD RACE. guess when she was planning to launch… JANUARY… i was like WHOOOAAA.. Prolly like you’re hopefully responding now. It’s alright, say it with me. WHOOAAAA. This event alone was not what confirmed this move for me, but it helped, for sure. In the coming weeks I brought the idea to friends and family and their support astounded me. I prayerfully began the application process, interviewed, committed to becoming a World Racer. Just like that. God’ll do it, won’t He!?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t confess my doubt in the midst of this current season. I wonder how I’m supposed to raise these funds with so many people losing their source of income, myself included. How can I plan to go into the world when people are barely allowed to leave their homes at the moment. Though I don’t have answers to these questions, I am confident in one thing alone, that is that the Lord sovereignly appointed these circumstances for a purpose and I will rejoice as he renews his mercy each day. 

with love and hope for the future, 

AWM