OH MAN.
There are officially just under 7 weeks until I launch for this trip, and that is low key insane!
Hi! I’m Michaela and this is my blog for the 3 month missions trip to the Dominican Republic that I am going on with the World Race! The LORD led me to this trip in such a cool way. I had a few other options for what I wanted to do after high school, and I honestly felt a lot of unrest about them all. I had heard about the World Race before because my brother in-law did it a few years ago, but I never thought it was for me. By the end of my senior year, I was pretty confident that I did not want to pursue any of the opportunities that I had been considering for most of high school, but I still had no idea what I wanted to do. In April, I randomly started the application for the 3 month outreach to the Caribbean, and a part of that process was three calls with some World Race staff members. I started praying about what the LORD wanted me to do after high school, and with each World Race call, I felt a new sense of peace that I hadn’t felt with any of my other options. The third call was the “commitment call,” and I spent the weekend after that call praying about this opportunity. This sense of peace continued clearly from the LORD, and here we are! Not gonna lie, I still kind of feel like “wait is this really happening?” sometimes hahah, but it’s also SO exciting!
I am going to try my best to post most of the updates from the trip here on this blog, but I will also be posting some on Instagram too! I am so excited to be able to share how the LORD works through this trip and to tell all the other crazy, fun stories to you!
For now, I want to give you a general timeline of the trip! WHOOOO
- One of the days at the end of August, my mom and I will drive to South Carolina together and get to stay with my sister and brother in-law which will be so fun!! My mom and I made this trip about 50 times since I was in 7th grade so it will be so super special to do it one more time before I peace out for a bit
- We’ll get to hang out with my sisters and brothers in-law for a little then I’ll have to say bye to them ):
- On September 2nd, my mom and I will drive the last 2ish hours from Greenville, SC to Gainesville, GA which is where Adventures in Missions (AIM) has their base. (AIM is the ministry in which the World Race is run through)
- We’ll arrive in Gainesville (contrary to popular belief, not Florida) and head straight to AIM’s base where I will have to say bye to my momma.
- We will cry.
- Then I will be at AIM’s base for about 10 days for a training camp with all the Racers (people going on the World Race) not just the other people on my squad. I’ll get to meet all of my squad mates and learn more about the specifics of what it will be like living in the Dominican Republic for 3 months.
- We’ll leave for the DR on September 12th. WHOOOOO
- We’ll be there for three months working with an organization called Mission of Hope which is a ministry with the desire to bring the message of Jesus’s transforming power and love through relationships and individual care for God’s children! Here is the link to the website for more information! And I am sure that there will be so many other opportunities that I cannot wait to tell you guys about!
- On November 14th, we’ll fly back to Gainesville, GA and have a few days of debrief and processing from the trip!
- I’LL GET TO SEE MY MOM AGAIN because she’s gonna come pick me up on November 18th!!
- We will cry again.
- Then we’ll go home and see what happens next!!!
In all seriousness, I know I am going to miss my family and friends and friends that feel like family (: and the comfort of familiarity and just home in general, but I am also so pumped for this trip! I haven’t had a lot of time to process this whole trip and this next part of my life, but I honestly don’t think I really will be able to process it until I experience it. I think I honestly prefer that because I don’t want to get so caught up in everything that doesn’t really matter, I want to live in the joy of this opportunity to serve Jesus and share His love! I’m really excited to tell these people about my Best Friend and about how real His love is!
Before I finish, I would love it if you could join me in praying for a few things these next few weeks before I leave!
- That my relationship with Jesus would grow even more and that I would desire to get to know Him and be like Him more and more all the time. I was just listening to something that talked about how when Jesus comes back, we should be able to say, “Hey I was just talking to You!!” and that really hit me.
- That the LORD would soften the hearts of the people I and my squad will meet on this trip, and that He would soften our hearts and prepare us too.
- That I would be able to trust God in raising the support I will need to go on this trip. Praise Him for His constant provision and care!
- For this whole trip that Jesus would be glorified in all of it! He works all things together for good because He is good and there is no one else like Him!
I’ll end with one of my favorite verses which is my prayer for this trip and for my whole life! “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your Name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” Psalm 115:1
