I’m gonna be honest, I wasn’t really sure how to start my first blog. So here’s me winging it and hopefully getting better as I create more;)
I guess I’ll start by sayin some stuff about me. So my names Abby and I live in a tiny town called West Alexandria in Ohio (lots of cornfields). I’m currently a senior in high school and I play soccer! I have my mom and dad, one older sister, a dog, and a cat. I love being outside and adventuring new places. My favorite season is fall. Small things in life make me happy. I also love sushi and basically any Chinese food. I’m no expert at the enneagram but I’m a 4w5. I love art…drawing, painting, journaling, anything creative. So there’s some random facts about me!
Here’s a little backstory as to how I got here: When I was younger, church was just an occasional thing for my family and I. As I got older, I didn’t go to church really at all. I was invited to go to a Sunday service at Community of Faith around November of 2018! I absolutely loved it. I learned who the Creator of everything was. I really started to pursue my relationship with God in fall of 2019. Ever since then I’ve been learning so much about myself, Jesus, and faith:))
So here’s why I’m going….I’ve never been fond of the idea of college right after high school. It never appealed to me. So I already knew I wanted to take a gap year, I just didn’t know how I wanted to spend it. I knew what the World Race was, and I knew people who had gone on it, I just always eliminated it as an option because of my fearful thoughts. I felt unqualified, doubtful, and fearful. So I prayed for a bit, waiting for a yes from God to help with my choice. I heard nothing. I was super discouraged until I started thinking and talking to some friends- God already called us to make disciples. That’s what he WANTS us to do. Why was I waiting for a yes when I already had one? That was enough for me. I (kind of) got over my fear of being uncomfortable or unqualified and applied. It doesn’t even seem real at this point. I’m pretty scared for this trip but I also know God will be faithful the entire way. He’s so much bigger than my doubts. I’m super stoked to be able to be a part of this opportunity. I’m incredibly blessed as well. God really took me out of a place of darkness and told me i CAN do this. I’m so excited to be able to spread Jesus’ love to people who may have never even heard of Him!!
So you all might wonder what exactly the World Race Gap Year is. It’s a Christian Gap Year program for graduating high school students ages 17-20. The Gap Year allows people to discover more of God, themselves, and their calling in life. This trip is nine months long and my squad and I will visit three countries, spending three months in each. I will be visiting Eswatini (South Africa), Thailand, and Costa Rica!!! While in these countries, we will spread the love of Jesus through children’s ministry, community outreach, manual labor, etc. In June of 2021 I will be going to Georgia for a week long training camp in preparation for our launch in September.
All this being said, I’m going to have to raise quite a bit by next September. Throughout the year I’ll doing multiple fundraisers to help raise the money needed. I would really appreciate your support and donations. Even the smallest donations would mean a lot. If you have any questions or comments about the World Race, myself, how you can help, or really anything, feel free to message me!!! I would love to be able to talk about these things! I’ll be posting multiple blogs updating you all on how things are going in preparation. Thank you in advance for your support! 🙂
