I leave in 9 days!

Hi family and friends, 

Thank you to all of you who have supported me over the last three years! It’s crazy to think that I first embarked on this journey three years ago in October of 2019. In only ten days, I’ll be on my flight to Georgia for a quick training camp before heading back out on the field to South Africa and Eswatini. This time I’ll be going for two months. If you’re not familiar with my story, I left for the World Race in January of 2020. The World Race is a mission trip that involves traveling to eleven different countries in eleven months. Month three of our trip was interrupted by the COVID pandemic. All Race missionaries were emergently sent home. The following months were not at all what I or anyone else had anticipated. Originally, I thought that COVID would dissipate within a week or two and everything would go back to some form of normality. I was hesitant to adapt to life in the States. I thought surely we’d be sent back out in a matter of weeks. The weeks passed and turned into months. Despite my desperate determination to cling to my sleeping pad and sleeping bag situation (if you know, you know 😉 ), I hesitantly began transitioning to a more normative U.S. lifestyle. One of my former roommates kindly offered me her bed that wasn’t in use and a friend of mine lent me her car. I then reapplied to the same nursing position I had left just two months prior. I began living with my former roommates and seriously dating someone. If I could describe 2020 and 2021 to you in a nutshell, it was as though I was aimlessly throwing spaghetti at a wall, hoping that some of it might stick. None of it stuck. Things were a blurred out gray color. All I wanted was for God to sharpie my next course in action on a wall or in the sky or just somewhere strikingly obvious. In frustration, I kept throwing the proverbial spaghetti on the wall. Maybe I could force it to stick. Maybe if I threw it long enough, I’d be successful and I’d have a trajectory. To my dismay, my plans failed one after another and the answer remained a steady “no.” As January 2021 approached, COVID regulations were lifted and the opportunity to go back on the Race was presented once again. I still felt a lack of clarity on how to proceed. Adventures, the overarching organization surrounding the Race,  designated a date at the end of September 2021 as the deadline for applying the remaining funds raised toward a route. After that date, my funds would become general funding & inaccessible for my individual use. I continued to pray for direction, that the Lord would make my path abundantly clear. All the while, I struggled in my personal life as I encountered continual redirection from intended plans. The deadline was nearing and I began panic-researching my options. I applied to three week-long, Beauty for Ashes trips (also under the same organization as the Race) to Costa Rica, Guatemala and India, two of which I’ve described in my previous blogs. However, I still had funds remaining and wanted to steward well. Two days prior to the deadline, I discovered a route to Kyrgyzstan for a month. I applied and immediately received acceptance. Not only that, but the amount I had remaining was the exact dollar amount of the trip. Finally, an open door and a clear direction. Despite the fact that I had nearly four trips planned for the upcoming year, I really wanted to go to Africa. Africa was the final destination of my original World Race route. So in December of 2021, I planned an independent trip to Kenya to visit family who lived there and serve alongside a nonprofit. Unfortunately, I came down with COVID only several days before embarking and was not able to go (See previous “Redeemed” blog post). Around March, Adventures emailed to inform me that the Kyrgyzstan route had been canceled due to lack of applicants. Nonetheless, they expanded the age range for their two month Africa route to South Africa and Eswatini. These countries were on my original Race route. When I heard, I knew instantly that this is what God had intended all along. Instead of one month in Africa, God multiplied and has now given me two.To all of you who just read through this lengthy explanation, thankyou for genuinely taking interest. Your prayers and support are very much valued. As a result of my time being doubled, I was in need of $850.00. Those funds have been provided and I am fully fundraised as of last week. 

All of this to say, God is faithful. It’s in His character and He never fails. A year ago, I really didn’t understand what God was doing. I didn’t have any clarity. It felt, to some degree, as though I was an Isrealite wandering in the desert, wondering if God’s promises were true. Maybe you’ve been wandering too, wondering if there is an end to the wasteland or to the slew of unanswered prayers. I know that the desert can feel like an eternity and that the unanswered prayers, broken promises. You’re not alone. I don’t have the answers but I do know the God who holds you. He is faithful and His promises do come to pass. For a more detailed report of my time in Africa, subscribe to this blog. While I am in Africa, I will not have access to my local phone plan or text messaging. Beginning on May 31st, the best ways of contacting me will be through Whatsapp, Email or Facebook Messaging.

Until next time, Steph 🙂