In August of 2019, I traveled with my youth group to the Dominican Republic for a week-long missionary trip. This week consisted of vacation bible school, construction, painting schools, delivering groceries to families in need, and playing with the kids at an orphanage we visited. This was my first and only mission trip I have ever gone on and since then, I felt led to do more. I wasn’t sure when another opportunity would come, but I was willing to get involved in any way that was possible. I prayed about this consistently, asking God what I could do to help others and lead more people to Him; that’s when I discovered World Race. I had no idea what World Race was, what they had to offer, and what their focus was, but after looking into it, I knew my prayers were answered. This was exactly what I had been looking for and was the perfect opportunity for me to go on another mission trip.
World Race: Semesters seemed like the best option for me, considering I am still in college and I wanted to be sure I got back in time for fall classes. So, I looked into the summer programs World Race: Semesters had available and that’s when I found a 2 month long missionary trip to Swaziland and South Africa. Right away, I knew this was the one I was supposed to go on. This trip primarily focuses on youth ministry, orphan care, and teaching which is similar to what I did on my last mission trip. I have felt passionate about helping children since then, so this program seemed like the best fit for me. With that being said, I applied, had an interview, and got a call back in October of 2020 informing me I had been accepted!
While preparing for World Race: Semesters, my love for God and the mission field grew even more. The way God was speaking to me, teaching me, and helping me during those months of preparation strengthened my faith more than ever before. For as long as I can remember, I have always struggled to fully trust the Lord. Meaning, it was challenging for me to surrender everything to God instead of bits and pieces of me. It wasn’t until I was accepted into this program that I truly understood what it means to trust God with my ENTIRE life instead of only PART of my life. As I dug deeper into devotion, deeper into prayer, and deeper into His presence, peace was poured over me. The peace of knowing I could trust Him with my family, my relationship, my finances, my job, and everything in between. That I could give Him all of me… not a little bit of me. It wasn’t until I began to fundraise and prepare for the race when the Lord spoke to me in ways I haven’t heard before.
In December of 2020, I sat down in Emmanuel Lutheran Church thinking of ways I could fundraise. This was the very first time I worked on preparing for World Race: Semesters. And honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know how to fundraise, what to do, or how to do it, but I knew one thing that I could and knew how to do, was to pray. So, I did. In that office, on my knees, praying that God would show me what to do. From that day, God has shown me everything. From t-shirts, to bake sales fundraisers, God was all over it. He sent the right people at the right time to help me, support me, and donate towards my trip and in just two short months, I reached my fundraising goal of $5,450 for my Semesters trip. But what I didn’t know was God wasn’t actually sending me on a two-month trip…
Fast forward to May of 2020. COVID-19 hit our nation and I was completely lost on what to do. My job was taking so much out of me, I was dealing with a lot of things emotionally, our churches were closing due to the virus, and my mission trip was possibly getting cancelled. I had worked so hard to fundraise and had everything ready to leave for Africa. In that moment, I was so upset and frustrated with the situation and had no idea what to do. The next day, I spoke with my advisor what our next step was, and that’s when he suggested I look into World Race: Gap Year. At first, I was like there is no way I would be able to raise that much money and be gone for that long. I had plans on going to college and finishing at a certain time to get my degree early. But then it was like God stopped me in my tracks and reminded me why I am here. What I should be doing… It made me question myself and say, “Am I willing to sacrifice everything for the Lord like He did for me?” So, I began to pray about this for such a long time. Then I finally said to myself, you know, if my Semesters trip gets cancelled, I will apply for World Race: Gap Year. That will be my BIG confirmation… and that’s what happened!
I got a call from my advisor a few days later after that and we talked about my options. That’s when I told Ronny I would love to be switched over to World Race: Gap Year. Going into that, I would need more interviews, probably another application, and I needed to decide what route I would be interested in. So, I continued to pray over my decisions for this new program and Ronny called me again! He said he had really exciting news and that’s when I got such a great feeling about World Race: Gap Year. He said I didn’t need to fill out another application, no more interviews, and there was a route going to Africa like my last trip, but… it was completely full. BUT, he said I could still go on that route…!!! How exciting is that!
From that day on, I have been working super hard on fundraising for this 9-month missionary trip. And I am going to be very honest with all of you, it has not been easy. Everything about this huge transition in my life has not been easy, it has actually been extremely difficult. I have had many doubts during this time and a lot of people telling me I should not go through with it. Comments like, it’s not safe, there’s no way you will raise that much money, I can’t believe you’re dropping out of college, are you even ready for something as big as this? And in the middle of all these questions, I go back to the one who I know will show me what to do. The one who is the answer to all of these questions. God says in Jeremiah 29: 11-13, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” This verse gives me so much peace knowing that my future lays in His hands. That I don’t need to worry about what others say or worry about my future at all, because God told me He would take care of me. That HE had a plan, not me, not my friends or family, GOD had one, and that’s the plan I wanted to follow.
And as I go through all these changes, the good and the bad, the hard and the easy, I see so much beauty in all of this. Even in my moments of hurting, I see the beautiful lesson in this situation. Before everything, so this past year… I was lost, wondering what my purpose was, what I should be doing, and if I would ever hear my calling on my life. And it’s so crazy to think that a broken soul like me, God chose me. God called out to me to go out and make His name known. To help others and be something to somebody. To be a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, the voice in a quiet room. To speak His word, pray for the broken and teach more people about who He is. The fact that He wanted me to do something as bold and amazing as this. For awhile, I did not feel qualified to do it. I didn’t feel like I knew enough to do this and didn’t feel like I would ever be able to make this happen, but here we are. If I did not give God all of me and did not trust Him fully during this process, I would still be down in the dumps. Broken, lost and doing something that wasn’t for me. And if I would have opened my eyes, my heart, and my mind sooner, I would have seen God’s hand leading me into this new chapter. Right around the corner from all that I was going through, God had this life changing opportunity that He was ready to reveal before me. But, until I surrendered everything to Him, I wasn’t able to see that.
I just want to encourage someone today to trust God even when you don’t know what’s going on in the moment, and even if you don’t know what will happen. Sharing this new chapter with all of you has already changed so many lives and redirected so many of you to Jesus which I will forever be grateful for. It’s amazing to see how God has been using me to help some of you, and also watching my life change for the better as well. Thank you all for following me along on this journey, and for wanting to be a part of it. God has been so faithful and so good to me. He has shown me how mighty and great He is especially right now. I can testify that even when I don’t know what I am doing and times where all I can do is call out His name, He has come down to help me and show me where I belong. He has blessed me with over $10,804 out $15,800 for this trip in a matter of only 5 months, brought the right people in my life to guide me and help me when I fall short, and taught me so much in such little time. I can honestly say, I never thought God had something as big as this for someone like me, but I am honored and beyond ready to take on this year with Him.
Prayer for tonight.
“Lord we thank you so much for all that you are doing during this time. For opening our eyes to new opportunities and opening our hearts to all that you have for us. We are so grateful to serve such a loving God. So grateful to know and look up to you. Lord, we know how good you are, and we know that you can do ALL THINGS. We know that you are making ways for this mission trip, we know that this trip is what you have called me to, we know that you have already poured a blessing over it, and we know, Lord, that you have already funded this trip in Jesus’ name. Thank you for using us to lead others to you and for already changing so many hearts in this town. We pray we continue to fix our eyes on you and to walk in the path that you have led us upon. Thank you for all that you do, for all that you are, and for loving us unconditionally. We praise you and thank you in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Love you all and thank you.
Your sister in Christ, Jamie Schroeder
