I first heard about World Race several years ago after going on a mission trip to Honduras. One of the people I went with mentioned that a friend had just returned from a World Race trip. For whatever reason, it stuck in my mind. I looked into it a bit, but I wasn't really serious about.

Fast forward a few years to the beginning of this semester - the last semester of my college career. After five years of tests, papers, and projects, I was nervous but ready to jump into the real world. As the weeks went on, I realized that I wanted to do something that matters. I had been going through Beth Moore’s Chasing Vines study and I felt really convicted to use this new season to be fruitful. I wanted to find a job that would let me make a difference in someone’s life, a job that meant something. I started applying to all sorts of places – editing firms, the Denver school district, various nonprofits. One day, I randomly remembered World Race. I have no idea what triggered it, but now I can see that it was clearly the Holy Spirit nudging me. I started looking into it some more and began to feel giddy… Was this what God had in store for me? I mean, now would be the perfect time to go on an 11-month mission trip.

After exploring the site for a bit, I checked out the application dates and saw that the deadline for the next trip was coming up in two days. Immediately, I felt discouraged. Between school, work, and life, I didn’t think that I would get the application done in time. Was this really what God wanted? Maybe I was being too ambitious. But I decided to go for it. Why not? I’ll just go ahead, apply, and see what happens.

What happened was that I got another job offer. I was offered a position with Corps for a Change to work as a mentor in the Denver school district for the next school year. Right about this time, I also heard a great sermon about serving where you’re at – not everyone is called to travel the world on mission trips; most of us are meant to love and show Jesus right where we are. So, was this what God had in store? Did I just want to go on the World Race for selfish reasons? Was I meant to serve in my own community instead?

I spent the next few days in prayer. I asked God to make it very clear where He wanted me – if the World Race wasn’t meant for me, please don’t let me get accepted, Lord. A few days later I received a call from the World Race admissions team. I was accepted to go on the trip! Not going to lie, I was so overwhelmed by emotion that I almost burst into tears right there on the phone. Luckily for Megan, I kept it together long enough to get through the call. As soon as I hung up, I fell on my knees and prayed. Was this really my path for the next year?

I hoped so. I knew that this would be the experience of a lifetime and I really wanted to go. But I also knew that it wasn’t about what I wanted, but what God wanted. I needed to spend lots of time praying, listening, and getting advice. After taking some time to pray and a conversation with my mom, it was clear that this was what God intended for me. I was going on the World Race.