The World Race - Kelsi Dawe

Support Melina!

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Check out this video and please pray about supporting Melina on her World Race! She still has about $6000 to raise and she would love your support. Thanks!

It's Worth It Because...(Video)

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

World Race travel can be long, hectic, and tiring. It's worth it because...

Dabodia (Video)

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A typical WR day in Ampil, Cambodia. Enjoy!

Cambodian Questions

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I was asked why I walk.

Cambodians dont walk. Even to go 5 houses down they will ride their bikes.

Everyday we go on a walk to the market for a little exercise. The market is about a 15 minute walk down from our house, and we like to say hello to people on the way and get a morning coffee at a shop at the market. Students in our English class told us that people had been telling them that they see us walking through the village.

We are the weird walking white people.

I was asked if I know how to ride a bike.

Every person here owns a bicycle and they ride them everywhere. Last night we were going to a students house to dinner and our contact, UE, asked if we knew how to ride a bike.

Maybe he didnt think we did because we walk everywhere.

I was asked to come to dinner.

One of our students, Lucy, invited our entire team to dinner. When we got there we took a bike ride to the river. The sun was just setting as we got the river, and we could see all the people coming home for the day in their canoes or on the back of their cows. Many people in the village are farmers and own land on an island across the river from the village. At dinner they had our entire team sit down to eat as they sat around and watched us and served us. Even when we finally got Lucy to sit with us she only took a spoonful of white rice. We were complete strangers to them yet they took us in and fed us and treated us like honored guests.

Everyone we have met in Cambodia has been so sweet and hospitable.

Mosquito Net Living (Quick Update)

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I've been sleeping under a canopy.

This month we have been teaching English in Ampil, Cambodia off the Mekong River. When we left Siem Reap we had little information about what we would be doing or where we would be going. We went from our bus to a truck bed to a ferry to a church floor, where we have been sleeping the past month. Our contact, UE, and his family have been the most gracious hosts.

Larb and Lard

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Slightly out of date, but now that Im back in the world of internet I wanted to update my page with some blogs I had written.

Written on 01-09-10

Larb and Lard Goodbye Thailand

Our time in Thailand has come to an end and that means, among other things, saying goodbye to our favorite restaurant where we ate larb with sticky rice and rotee (banana and chocolate crepe made with a heavy amount of butter and carnation milk) all for around 65 Baht (2.00USD)

My pack is light and Im ready for the next adventure!

We are heading to Cambodia today!

This month we were asked to pack as little as possible and I am currently carrying about 1/2 of the stuff I brought with me (the rest is back at the YWAM base in Bangkok, where we will be going for Debrief at the end of February). We will first take a van five hours to the border, walk across the border, and then take a bus five more hours to Siem Reap. We will spend two days there preparing to leave for our ministry sites and touring Angkor Wat.

This month we will be working in a Cambodian village (which will be the first time this race I havent lived in a city). I actually dont have much information to give just yet- not even what city we will actually be in, but I do know we will be working with a church in a village, teaching English and doing evangelism in the surrounding area. Its possible we will be living in our tents and taking bucket showers this month, which will be much of a change for our team since we have lived in hostels and, for the most part, had hot showers. Im looking forward to our camping experience. Most likely I will not have electricity or internet but I will try and write an update with better information soon.

Happy New Year (Video)

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Love Throw A Line

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I heard this song when I got home last night and it struck a chord...

I heard someone calling me from very far away
Sister oh sister did I hear them say?
Prisoner of this endless story of pain
You hold the key
Try to find the way

And just before the flood comes
Just before the night falls
Just before the blood runs
Into the valley
Just before my eyes go
Just before it all blows to pieces
Love throws a line to you and me

-Patty Griffin

We are here to call out to our sisters. To be on the line.

Every night when I leave the bar I ask the girls "Are you going to be here tomorrow?"

For now their answer is always yes.

For now they stay.

But...

My hope rests in the word NO.

My hope rests in them WALKING AWAY.

My hope rests in them GRABBING ONTO THE LINE.

UNO and Coke Zero

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

For the last two weeks Haley, Justine, and I have been able to visit the same girls each night we have gone out. I get so excited to see them each night and for us it is such a delight to us to see their faces light up as we walk into the bar. Over UNO and Coke Zero we are building relationships with them, growing a friendship, and sowing the Spirit. We ask questions about their families; we laugh, we tell them they are valuable, that they are our sisters and that we love them.

Yesterday we were able to buy their time for the night, and we took two of the girls out of the bar for a few hours. As they SPRINTED to grab their coats we decided we would take them to get ice cream at McDonalds. They seemed so happy to get to spend time away from the bar with no expectation on their time. Despite the work these girls do they have such an innocence about them. They have such a joy and sweetness. God has so much more for them. He has sent three seemingly normal girls to show them another way. What they don't know is that we are women of God. He has empowered us to bring kingdom to Earth and to bring glory to His name. He is after their hearts and He is using us to bring them back to Him. Thank you Lord that I get to be part of this story you are writing for these girls. In the words of Citizen Cope, "If there's love I just wanna have something to do with it."

Quinta Air-names (Video)

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I'm in Thailand but let's flash back to Nicaragua for a moment shall we-

Much of our time in Jinotepe, Nicaragua was spent with the teens living at Quinta Esperanza, a home for abused and neglected teens. After making the first stop-motion video, Mike and I decided to make one featuring all the kids living at the Quinta.

Below is a blog written by my teammate Justine about the Quinta and the teens living there. I hope you will read it and watch the new stop-motion video as well.

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Posted in Nicaragua by Justine Zins on 12/5/2009

My life and heart will forever bare the impression that these young men and women have left. I have witnessed the fruit of true discipleship in the lives of these fifteen teens. Once beaten, and begging on the streets; they now boldly proclaim a life in Christ and worship Him with all of their lives.

The Quinta is home to these 15 individuals. It is their refuge, their classroom, and their family. We have spent our month in Nicaragua taking a small van through the streets of Jinotepe and Dolores to a small dirt road on the outskirts of town. This small road, rutted out from the rain and frequented by cattle, carries us to the Quinta that is tucked back in the slums. It is a lighthouse on a hill in a dark world for a child.

Most children in Nicaragua are left without a father. Many men leave the woman pregnant without word or provision. Many children who do grow up with a father in the picture experience the rage of alcoholism and abuse. Children at young ages are also taught to beg and sent out on the streets for income.

The Quinta is a home that has sheltered these children from the storm. They go to school, learn a vocation, and are taught the Word of God. They are now teaching in the youth services, ministering to children in the slums, and walking in righteousness.

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

They walk out the Word. They live their lives unto God. They are setting an example for future and past generations of Nicaragua.

I watched an eight year old girl preach s sermon this past Sunday. After she shared her message the pastor asked anyone who needed prayer to come up to the front of the church. All the seats were left empty and the front was crowded with men and women ready to receive. This young girl made her way through the line of broken and desperate. Tears hitting the floor as she wept for each person. It was incredibly humbling to say the least.

We have been blessed to come alongside this ministry and pour into the lives of these youth. We have been teaching at the youth services and worshipping side by side in a different tongue but the same Spirit. We have been fellowshipping with them, eating with them, and just doing life with them for the time we have been here.

It has been so amazing to witness young men and women being raised up as men and women of God toward full maturity by their elders in the body of Christ. It reminds me again of my responsibility to my "Timothy's" in the body of Christ. It stirs up my heart even more to pour into the lives of new believers, or younger ones in the faith. In the same way it causes my heart to beat stronger for a "Paul" in my life. We need people in our life to teach and equip us. We need someone pouring into us that have been where we long to go.

We are a working body. We have a responsibility to one another. It is a key to moving from milk to meat. I pray that each of you find your spiritual sons and daughters that you are called to raise up, and that you, Elisha, find your Elijah.

The Baby-sitters Club

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Last night, while the YWAM Chiang Mai missionaries were having their Christmas Party at WonGen Kafe, the ladies of Team Jubilee, Team 180 and I were able to bless them by baby-sitting their children upstairs- hence we felt like the girls from the Baby-sitters Club. When I was younger I read over 100 Baby-sitters Club books, which may be one of my finest literary accomplishments to date.

Some pics from the night...

Justine AKA Kristi Thomas

President

Janna AKA Mary Anne Spier

Secretary

Melina AKA Claudia Kishi

Vice President

Haley AKA Stacey McGill

Treasurer

Kelsi AKA Dawn Schafer

Alternative Officer

Jordan AKA Mallory Pike

Junior Member

Katie AKA Jessica Ramsey

Junior Member

Chelsea AKA Shannon Kilbourne

Associate Member

WonGen Christmas Concert

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Place: WonGen Kafe- best cheesecake in all of Chiang Mai

The Reason #1: Working at the Christmas Concert, selling tickets and sodas

The Reason #2: Build relationships with the underground Thai community

The Music: Wide variety of cover songs (Kings of Leon, Nirvana, etc) with some heavy metal thrown in.

WonGen Kafe

Beer, Janna, Wi, Me

This blur is me dancing.

Lighthouse in Action (ACTION-NIGHT)

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Blog #4: Action (NIGHT)

NIGHT: Chiang Mai Red Light District. Bar after bar after bar. Girl after girl after girl.

MY Heart: One.

Prostitution. Sex-tourism. Human-trafficking.

The fact of the matter is, when I think about how huge this industry is, not only in Thailand, but around the world my stomach turns. The work that needs to be done seems daunting, but my hope and heart searches after one woman; one woman to love, to be Jesus to- to be light in the darkness.

Tonight was our first night in the bars. Before we went out we spent time in prayer asking the Lord for direction for the evening-what bars to go into and which ladies to talk to. As we walked down the street Haley and I felt a tug to enter one of the bars so we did. One specific vision God had given me was of a dragon and as we sat down I noticed a flag with a dragon on the wall, and I felt at peace that out of the many bars and many women to talk we were where God wanted us. Our primary objective in going to the bars is to build relationships with the women and begin to show them how valuable they are. Haley and I talked to the women, played darts, and had them teach us some Thai words. As we talked to them they opened up and shared details of their lives with us, and by the end of the night they were inviting us back to hang out tomorrow.

And We Will.

Please continue to pray for the hearts of these women working in the bars, the owners of the bars, then men purchasing time with the women, and also for our protection as we enter into the dark spiritual climate that surrounds these bars we are ministering in each night. Your prayers are greatly appreciated and highly effective!

Lighthouse in Action (ACTION- DAY)

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Blog #3: ACTION (DAY)

DAY: During the day we are working with WonGen Kafe, which was started to reach the young people in Chiangmai city. The cafe provides people a friendly and great environment to drink coffee, eat cheesecake, hang out, and meet with God in some way. The caf is located right across from Rachamongkol University so there is a chance to reach a LARGE amount of Thai youth.

Our Part:

We arrive at the cafe at 9:30am and help set up and open the cafe by sweeping the floors, setting up tables, wiping windows, and drinking coffee (really good mochas!). We will then usually meet as a group (Team 180 and Team Jubilee) to discuss the schedule for the day, have some time in worship, or just hang out as a group. Around 11:30 we head over to the university right across the street to hand out flyers to promote WonGen Kafe. There is a Christmas Concert this Friday and we are hoping for a great turn-out of students. While we are on campus we also eat lunch at the cafeteria (bowl of soup for $0.75USD) so that we can meet students and build relationships. I don't know how the students really feel about a bunch of Americans randomly sitting next to them and striking up a conversation in English but they are always very friendly and willing to speak with us. After lunch we will head back to the caf and take some time to rest, talk with students that come into the caf, or spend some quality time with God in preparation for our night ministry. Then... we get to eat again (which is awesome bc Thai food is so good) and pass out more flyers and talk to more people.

At 8:30 we leave for our NIGHT ministry- Blog #4

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The Meeting Place:

WonGen does an amazing job providing a meeting place for the youth of Changmai to meet people and have an encounter with God. It is a great tangible example of what God wants to do with us, with our lives. WE are the meeting place between Heaven and Earth and God has given us so much so that we can give to others. He will continue to make His name great on the earth and He bids us to come worship Him and join in with Him in His work, to live out our faith. Faith without works is dead.

Lighthouse in Action (VISION)

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The L squad left Nicaragua on December 8^th and 2 days and 4 planes* later arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. We were able to spend a few days at the YWAM Thailand base recovering from jet lag, going on a temple tour and attending an orientation on Thai culture. On the night of the 12^th the ladies from Team 180 and Team Jubilee made our way on the 12 hour bus ride north to Chiang Mai, where we will be doing ministry for the month.

Vision Without Action is a Dead Dream

This is the motto of Lighthouse in Action, the ministry I will be working with this month in Chiang Mai. Part of their vision involves the youth of Thailand.

Blog #2: VISION

This is the VISION Lighthouse Thai has for the youth of Thailand.

Taken From the Lighthouse Thai website: http://www.lighthousethai.com/Welcome.html

-We believe that young people are the key to change the nations because if they grow up with the knowledge of the One True God they could lead the nations to the fullness of God's plan for them.

-The natives are also the main key need to be reached in every way. They know the language, culture and people but they need to see the good example from Christians all over the world to show them how to love the way God loves.

-We want to see people who are rejected by society meet with God- the gays and lesbians, those in prostitution that are rejected by society and Christian churches, and we want them to experience the love of Christ through our walk with God. We want to let them know that their Father in Heaven and their Best Friend is waiting for them and ready to receive them just as they are.

Blog #3: Stay tuned to read up on the ACTION.

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*A more detailed travel log.

December 8^th at 3:30am CST: Leave Jinotepe, Nicaragua by way of chicken-bus for the Airport in Managua, Nicaragua

8:30am CST: Board plane for Miami

1:30pm EST: Board plane for Los Angeles

4:30pm PST: Arrive LA, make way to FedEx to pick up package from parents, eat In-N-Out, head back to airport

11:30pm PST: Board plane for Asia

December 10^th at 6:30am Taiwan Time: Arrive in Taipei, Taiwan

8:30am Taiwan: Board plane for Bangkok

12:00pm Thailand: Arrive Bangkok

Then: Make way to the YWAM Thailand base

Spread out sleeping pad in conference room with 29 other girls

Try and stay awake as long as possible

Skip dinner, pass out at 4:00pm.

December 11-12^th: Recover from Jet Lag, Orientation, Temple Tour

December 12^th at 9:30pm: Start 12 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai

December 13th: Arrive Chiang Mai

YOU can help in Panajachel!

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

4 times this year the L Squad will be able to support raise for a cause that has touched our hearts. Please take the time to read about Team New Song's experience in Panajachel, Guatemala and prayerfully consider donating to this worthy cause!

Repost: Written By Sydnee Mela

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God has power to restore in miraculous ways. He can redeem even the most lost people. Let us tell you about a man who defines God's grace. His name is Benjamin and he has a great need for his ministry in Panajachel, Guatemala. We are inviting you to be a part of this. He now pastors a church named Mi-Reto (Ministry of Total Restoration) and lives his life by complete faith. He serves the community to the extent that he sacrifices all he has to share Jesus with the people around him. He does this not only with words but with his actions. Ben has been building homes, putting in plumbing, wiring electricity, and been an overall handy man for Pana. He has been doing all his projects with broken borrowed tools and transporting everything with a borrowed motorcycle. He carts everything around in wheel barrows which triples the time of each project compared to how easy it would be in the states to do with a truck. Ben would be able to serve his community and reach multitudes of people if he had a truck.

Ben has not always lived a life of sacrifice. The testimony that comes from him is one that has a great impact on anyone who comes in contact with him. It was only 7 years ago that Ben went from a drug and alcohol addicted member of the occult to a radical lover of Jesus. Ben used to own a tattoo shop and a discotech. He was of the verge of suicide when a woman asked him to give God one more chance, and if God didn't come through he could kill himself. With his wife and kids rejecting him, and nowhere to go Ben decided to give God one last chance, but he wanted to prove God wrong. Instead Ben was proven wrong, and his life was radically changed. Ben was immediately freed of his dependency on drugs and alcohol and from that day forward has lived a completely transformed life. Little did he know that God was also doing a work in his wife's life as well. She also gave her life to Christ.
Together they started the ministry Mi-Reto. They give all that they have to serving. They don't even have a steady income. They live month by month, and God has provided for every month for 7 years and will continue to provide for them. All the money that goes into the church goes toward ministry or the church. They do not take any salary out of the church. This family is changing not only the community that they live in but the people that they come in contact with.
They have made a great impact on our lives over the month that we were there. They are family that we will never forget. While there we saw the need for the truck and what a blessing it would be to Ben's ministry. It takes Ben at least a year to pay for a power tool, imagine what a truck would be for him. Even though we can't be there we know God is changing lives through Ben. We hope that you consider being a part of this ministry and reaching out to the people that are making a difference.

A truck would bring:
-a way to transport materials
-a way to move families into new homes
- a way to transport missions teams

- a way to get to the city (Ben is trying to get his

residency and has to make trips to the city)

- a service that may not be provided otherwise
- a symbol of God's provision

- safety to him and the help beside him

To donate online, go to this site.

For the program drop down menu, choose Support a World Race Project.

In the box to fill in which project, enter "L Ministry Project."

If you wish to send a donation by mail, please make your check payable to Adventures In Missions and mail it to:
Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
Please indicate "World Race L Ministry Project" in the memo section of the check.

The last day to donate to this project is January 11, 2010. Any donations received after this date will go toward the overall ministry of the World Race program.

I want to stress this so there is no confusion - donors should not give to this fund via your personal world race blog page. If they do, it goes into your support account, not into the ministry fund.

25 Days of Blogging

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Since I have done such a poooooor job at blogging thus far, the ladies of Team 180 and I have decided to blog everyday for 25 days.

This is Blog #1.

Team 180 Ladies. Check out their blogs by clicking on these links.

Melina Orengo

Haley Smith

Justine Zins

Quinta stop-motion (Video)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This is a stop-motion film my teammate Mike and I created at The Quinta, the place where we are doing ministry. It is made completely from photos. Hopefully, more to come! Enjoy!!!

Coffee (Poem)

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Before the race started I was not a coffee drinker. At all. 26 years, no coffee. I'll save you the details and just tell you that I am at the point of coffee drinking where I am writing poems about it (and God's goodness). Written after a visit to a coffee farm in Antigua and originally an "assignment" for JME, I present to my blog readers- my coffee poem. Special thanks to RLR for making sure I liked coffee (and for making me drink a cup a day) before the race.

COFFEE

Coffee coffee strong and sweet,

How God gave it to us is quite neat.

The curious goats ate the red coffee berries.

It was apparent that these were no cherries.

They ran up and down and all around the town,

It was time for bed but they wouldn't lie down.

Their owner, a pastor, gave the berries a try

He did jump kicks and praised the Lord on High.

He had the idea to give them to his congregation

Those red berries would make them pay attention!

The people ate the berries and got into the Word.

They learned of God's goodness in a way they'd never heard.

(God then inspired someone to husk the red part, take the green part, roast it, grind it, brew it and turn it into a delicious breakfast, lunch, dinner, in-between and before-bed beverage.)

Shake Shake Shake

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Shovel Sand. Sift Sand. Shovel Sand. Sift Sand.

One of our activities this month was to help sift the sand that is used to make and fill the bio-sand water filters we were building. We spent countless hours sifting a large mound of volcanic sand into various grades of gravel and sand that in the end went through four different levels of sifting. Large gravel, medium gravel, small gravel, and fine sand were separated, washed and layered into the water filters.

Last night our squad leader Sean was speaking about how God continually wants to shake things off of us so that we become unoffendable. All I could think of was us shake shake shaking those sand sifters. Some of the things God wants to shake off of us are going to come off in the first sifting. They're large, easily removed iniquities that we could probably see and pick out without even being put through the sifter; but God doesn't stop there. When we believe we have something under control and are walking in obedience he puts another sifter down to reveal in us where we can be refined. He never relents in wanting us to be like Christ. When we believe we have mastered patience He will put someone in our lives to more refine our patience. When we believe we have mastered boldness He will place an opportunity in our lives that we want to shy away from. When we have something in our soul that is detrimental to our walk that we cannot shake off then He will help us shake it off. God is not after our begrudging submission but he will put pressure on us by reproof and conviction and bring us to a place of repentance so that we can be more fully spurred to obedience and life, all the while washing us in His grace and love. Shovel sand. Sift Sand. Shovel Sift. Sift Sand. Repeatedly sifted, continually made holy.

Hebrews 10:14

"Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect those who are being made holy."

Thank you to Haley Smith for the photos.

Sharing His Plan (Video)

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

One of the ministries we worked with this month was Sharing His Plan. They are a construction ministry that builds homes for people in Antigua and the surrounding areas. Here is a short video of our time with them.

Meet Team 180

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Team 180: Week One Interview
Team 180 is my 6 person family for the next year. Get to know them better...

Justine Zins
From: Prior Lake, MN

Siblings: 2 younger brothers

What were you doing prior to the world race?: "I was working in a coffee shop and working in youth ministry"

What does our team name mean to you?: "I want the transformation that God has done in my life to be a testament to transformation that can be done in theirs."

What Country/Continent are you looking forward to the most?: "Thailand"

What are you most excited for the year?: "to be more intimate with God; to go deeper"

Kelsi's First Impression: Big Laugh

Melina Orengo
From: Washington D.C./ Tampa, Florida

Siblings: 2 sisters and 1 brother

What were you doing prior to the world race?: "I was a third grade teacher in D.C."

What does our team name mean to you?: "It represents me changing my focus to God completely and not going back to my old life."

What Country/Continent are you looking forward to the most?: "Africa"

What are you most excited for the year?: "To see how everyone on the L squad transforms from where they were to where they will be at the end of the year."

Kelsi's First Impression: Big Hair

Haley Smith
From: Birmingham, Alabama

Siblings: 1 brother

What were you doing prior to the world race?: "I was in college at Birmingham Southern College"

What does our team name mean to you?: "That God can dramatically change peoples' lives no matter where they are or where they come from."

What Country/Continent are you looking forward to the most?: "The ones we don't know yet"

What are you most excited for the year?: "To share the freedom I've experienced in Christ with other people"

Kelsi's First Impression: Big Bubbly Personality

Mike Sanders
From: Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

Siblings: 4 older brothers, 1 younger sister

What were you doing prior to the world race?: "School on and off, working, playing baseball."

What does our team name mean to you?: "turning to Christ"

What Country/Continent are you looking forward to the most?: "It changes all the time"

What are you most excited for the year?: "Eastern Europe and Asia because it will be something I haven't experienced."

Kelsi's First Impression: Big Sweet Tooth

Mike also wants you to know: He loves playing sports and games and kids and playing games with kids, and dessert, and he gets to play catch tomorrow

Josh Woodmansee
From: San Francisco, California/ Boulder, Colorado

Siblings: 2 brothers, 1 sister

What were you doing prior to the world race?: "I was a finance software consultant."

What does our team name mean to you?: "daily surrender"

What Country/Continent are you looking forward to the most?: "Africa"

What are you most excited for the year?: "To interact with the locals."

Kelsi's First Impression: Big Smile

Myself:
From: Austin/Dallas, Texas

Siblings: 1 brother, 2 sisters

What were you doing prior to the world race?: "I was hanging out in my red chair w/ Rebecca in Dallas and working in a research lab"

What does our team name mean to you?: "Change, transformation, progressive sanctification to becoming more like Christ. It also reminds me of Hebrews 10:13 "Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."

What Country/Continent are you looking forward to the most?: "All of it"

What are you most excited for the year?: "to live out the year radically in Christ and all that entails."

My team's First Impression: Big Ridiculousness

Quick Update- Antigua, Guatemala

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

October 09, 2009

From every ending a new beginning.

After many months of preparation the beginning is here! For the last week we have been in Launch training mode in Antigua, Guatemala. Launch has been a time to come together as the October 2009 L Squad before we disperse tomorrow to various cities around Guatemala. The whole squad has been staying at Hostel Mochilero and we have been working out of the YWAM de Guatemala Coffee House and the adjoining church, Vida y Fe.

This week we were able to explore the city, attend a few meetings, and spend the nights worshiping, praying, and speaking life into one another. Being able to encourage, exhort, and comfort each other while on the mission field will be of most importance and learning how to do this well is something we spent a lot of time developing. The World Race leadership wants our teams to operate in the best way possible and that involves having healthy communication practices. Thus, we were able to learn the protocol for our feedback meetings, which will take place at the end of every day. In order to refine one another to become more like Christ we are pressed to encourage the great things we see in one another as well as use constructive criticism and suggestions with each other so we will be able to evaluate ourselves daily and see how we can improve our relationships with Christ, our team, and the people we our ministering to.

My team, Team 180, will have the pleasure of spending the rest of the month in Antigua with team Hot Mess. We will be wokring with Servants4Him, and our ministry will consist of building water filtration systems, giving a class on health and hygiene, and possibly working with at Casa Jackson, where we would be working the night shift feeding malnourished babies. We will continue to stay at Hostel Mochilero and will be able to enjoy Antigua-city-living for another month. Things are going great- looking forward to the rest of the month.

KDD

$20 on 8/20!!

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Update: If you are visiting this blog after 8/20/2009 it is still perfectly acceptable to give $20 to Mike, and please do! :)

So I was all set to click done/save/publish on this blog I was writing about my support need; instead I feel like God wanted me to to direct you to my teammate Mike Sanders, who has a far greater need at the moment than myself.

$20 on 8/20

I am asking that YOU give MIKE $20 on Thursday, August 20th so that he may be 20 to the world (20 = 10 fingers+10 toes = hands and feet). Our team will not be the same without him.

Once you give, please challenge others to do the same. If 50 people give and then challenge 10 more people, $10,000 in support will be raised for Mike in ONE day.

We leave for the race in 40 days and Mike must have $8280 (60% of the $13,800 needed) in his account to leave with us.

If 500 people give $20, $10,000 will be raised. Please lift this up and give!

With this $20 you will be...
Bringing love and hope to the poorest of poor in Central America
Building up relationships and churches in Africa
Sharing the name of Jesus in Southeast Asia
Hugging and feeding orphans in Eastern Europe
With this $20 you will be bringing hope around the world through the name of Jesus Christ!

To give your $20:
Click Here to Support Mike!
Thanks!

YOU make all the difference! Will YOU give $20 on the 20^th?

"The Spirit of the LORD GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our GOD; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion- to give them a beautiful headdress of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oak of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified."

Isaiah 61:1-3

Expectations of My Mission Trip

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We were asked to write a blog about how we felt before leaving on this mission trip...

I EXPECT
  TO:
   -sojourn, to progress, to change
   -stumble along the journey but be caught in God's grace
   -be joyful, loved, energetic and encouraged
   -at times be sad, lonely, exhausted and frustrated
   -make great friends with my fellow racers
   -make lasting memories and take lots of pictures
   -love and serve others, and to learn much from those I serve
To worship God through pilgrimage

TO:
   -live simply
   -miss my family and friends A LOT
   -be misunderstood
   -be challenged
   -be dirty, sweaty, and unable to shower as often as I am used to
   -eat interesting and exotic foods
   -encounter people I have never experienced before
   -have my heart burdened by the pain I will see in the world

    -to be broken and still have hope
To get out of my comfort zone so that I can extend God's comfort to others

TO:
   -need the boldness, courage and perseverance only God can provide
   -grow in patience, and kindness
   -to be continually humbled
   -think less of my daily rhythm and more of God's eternal kingdom rhythm
   -experience God in new and amazing ways
   -fully live in and trust the Holy Spirit
   -to follow Jesus; to be His disciple
To do the will of God

How I Was Called to the Mission Field

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip. I certainly never would have imagined that I would ever participate in something like The World Race but there has been a mosaic of events that led me here to set out on this wonderful adventure. Here is my story...

Christ, Jesus
It has been 7 years since I experienced, by the grace of God, the enlightenment that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. It's so interesting to me that I will be embarking on this missional journey because looking back I remember that for the first year of my walk I felt apprehensive speaking about Jesus or even saying his name. Growing up I never really went to church or knew much about God, but in the first 18 years of my life God was constantly revealing Himself to me.
A few of those instances:

I attended Vacation Bible School with my friend Courtney. I was maybe 10, and it was pretty much the first time I really took notice of the Bible. I remember the teacher asking us to turn to a verse and thinking I couldn't find that weird page number she had called out.
I started attending Fellowship of Christian Athletes in middle school because, well, I was an athlete and all my friends went. I am surely a testament that some/most people need to hear the Gospel more than once because I can only imagine how many times I heard it from 6^th to 8^th grade and pretty much dismissed it as having any relevance to my life.
In high school I was pretty much focused on two things: being the best soccer player I could be and getting the best grades I could get. It was a time of self-preservation, self-reliance, and prideful perseverance. Athletics and studies are certainly not bad things in and of themselves but God put those things in my life so that I would realize that, as idols, they could be destroyed. This led to a realization that He was the one true God and that in order to have a relationship with Him I needed to put my hope in Jesus Christ.

Awareness of the world
I initially found out about the World Race in 2006 after returning from a post-graduation backpacking trip around Europe. Although growing up I had always had a small amount of interest in travel and adventure, it was there in Europe that I learned to love international travel. Certainly, that was for 1 MONTH in EUROPE and The World Race will be a completely different experience, but God used that trip to show me that I wanted to leave, and give up all that I have for Him. In a combination of looking at the world and the Word together I came to the understanding that I was to GO!

So, you may be wondering, if I found out about The World Race in 2006 why am I just now leaving? Well, the short answer is fear and selfishness, and that God had a lot to teach me, so, I think it was a good idea He had me wait awhile. From my experience it is also a good idea to surround yourself with encouraging friends and people that love missions if you have even an inkling of a calling. They will keep you accountable to what God has placed on your life. Since 2006 I have been able to befriend people that were missionally minded, meet a few past racers, and discuss the opportunity with friends who only confirmed that this is what I am supposed to be doing.

Love for God, Love for people
I love that knowing and loving God more fully is a process. As justification through Jesus Christ allows us to have a relationship with God, sanctification allows us to more wholly understand Him, to be redeemed by Him, and to be continually ruined for anything but Him. I think in the last three years I have been more broken, stretched, and challenged to give my heart fully to God than in the whole time that I have known Jesus. I'm looking forward to this trip because I have never felt a real pull for a particular country or people, and The World Race will allow me to go where I am most needed, to be all things to many people, and to rely solely on God's power to love those I meet.

Eager for something new
I have enjoyed living in Dallas and love being with my friends and family, but I know something new has been on the horizon for some time, and I want to put more effort towards living above the sun. I want to do something a little unconventional and AIM posits The World Race as a time for adventure, ministry, community, self-discovery and growth. I am SURE it will be a challenging and rewarding year.

Directed
"And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20