When God calls, PICK UP THE PHONE!

My journey began almost one year ago from this month in Mr. Hill’s U.S. Government class in Tucker 128 at Central High School. My friend Thyme asked me if I wanted to adopt-a-box for a mission trip she was trying to raise money for. I didn’t have my wallet on me at the time but told her I would it definitely bring it the next day and then continued to ask more about this mission trip she was going on! Her and I had been on a week long mission trip to Guatemala together with our church the summer before but very soon after she started explaining, I could tell that this mission trip was much different. As she described the World race Gap Year to me I became more and more intrigued with every word and by the end I was IN LOVE! For the next couple weeks as she would talk about her fundraisers I would think about the race and thought it was an awesome idea but didn’t take any steps toward it. The next few weeks/months in church, YoungLife, and FCA seemed to all be completely centered around serving and loving and submitting wholeheartedly to God’s calling on our lives. I thought about the Gap Year for weeks on end but it still just didn’t seem realistic, the plan had ALWAYS been to graduate high school and then go straight to college. BUT I could not ignore the presence of this mission trip on my heart and in my head 24/7, it was way too constant for it not to be something I knew the Lord was calling me to. When people would ask me what the plan after high school was I started telling them about the Gap Year without even having talked to my parents about it, it just became something I was so set on. As the pull got stronger I knew I was going to have to address it with my parents soon but was so scared of them not understanding how much I felt called to it or not being okay with me not going to college right away. Come March, I had finally built up the courage to tell them, my mom was out of town so I was going to wait until she got back BUT, at church on Sunday while she was gone, one of the missionaries we sent out from our church was home and talking about his life on the mission field. I started crying almost as soon as he started talking just because I felt like the Lord brought him there to talk right to me, but I really lost it during this next part. They were showing a video of the missionary’s dad talking about how he feels about his son living in Africa and what that looked like when it was all getting started and the dad said, “I mean I had always told him growing up to trust God and go where the spirit calls him I just never thought it would take him to Africa!” and in that moment my dad squeezed my leg and looked over and smiled at me. Y’ALL, this was before I had told him anything! So of course I started bawling my eyes out and told him all about it the second we got home. A couple days later my mom got home and we all talked about it and I was so thankful the Lord softened their hearts to hear me out and was so ecstatic when they said, “If that’s what you know the Lord wants from and for you, then of course we’ll support you every step of the way.” MAN GOD IS GOOD! Knowing how expensive it is, I quit track after that season ended -one of the hardest things I’ve ever done- so that I would have time to work all of senior year. I had struggled with actually going through with quitting, mainly because of how much I love my coach, but kept looking to Luke 9:60-62 for encouragement and reassurance: “Jesus said to him, Let the dead bury their dead: but you go and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow you; but first let me go say goodbye to those who are at home. And Jesus said to him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” This past summer was full of growth in my relationship with Christ and preparation of my heart for the amazing journey he has set out for me. After getting everything turned in and my interview last week, the words “you’ve been accepted” drew more tears than every Nicholas Sparks movie combined! I have the incredible opportunity to love and serve God’s children in four third-world countries across the world for nine whole months! In less than a year I get to call Costa Rica, South Africa, Thailand, and Myanmar HOME!

I am now working part-time to save up for these nine months but it is VERY expensive, especially for a high school student, to pay for out of pocket. There are so many ways you can help support me both financially and emotionally but more than anything I’m asking for your help spiritually! I believe spiritual warfare is so stinkin real and Satan will do anything he can to stop me from sharing the love and truth of Jesus, so my biggest need right now and every day until I return is prayer! If you have any questions at all please feel free to contact me and ask away! Thank you so so much for your time and I will be keeping y’all updated through my journey! 

In Christ,

-Alex