Hello! Welcome to my first blog, where I will be talking about my preparation for the race and why I decided to do it!
Let’s take a trip back to when I was in 8th grade. I went on a trip to Ímuris, Sonora, Mexico to Kids Kingdom Orphanage and it CHANGED my life. I had never seen so much joy in my life and truly experienced how Jesus views the world. Mr. G taught me so much on these trips about how to love others and how to create community with others all over the world.
Flash forward to Sophomore year, I had just gotten back from a trip to Mexico and I realized that serving was something that I would love to do for a longer period of time, and I remembered a former student from Northwest Christian (my high school) who did the World Race a few years back. I ended up looking into it, and felt like this may be something God had in store for me.
Then Junior year, I continued to pray about if this was the right thing for me after graduation. At that time, I met up with Alicia Young and her fiance, who did the World Race, and learned even more about the mission. I felt God was calling me to do it. After an amazing summer camp experience, I ultimately decided I needed to sign up for the trip. I met someone on Instagram named Jackson who had just done the Race and he inspired me and got me excited to sign up for the trip. I even was able to meet up with him, because he attended GCU after his Race. He now works for the World Race and he will be with me in Gainesville, Georgia for my training.
So once connecting with Jackson, continuous prayer, and many conversations about the World Race, I decided to sign up for the trip. When I signed up, I had to raise $17,000 to go on the trip, It felt like so much money. BUT GOD. With the prayer and support of my family and friends, in just five months I was able to raise $17,720! GOD IS GOOD! It was so cool to see the power of the Lord through this process and learn to depend on him throughout it all. It also made me so thankful for the community I have around me for all their endless prayer and support of me.
This July in Costa Rica while I was serving with Hope Partners they talked about the Hebrew word “Hineni”. This word is used throughout the Bible and means “here i am’. This is the response I want to have to the Lord with this trip, trusting in him with my whole life and giving him everything.
In late July, my family drove up to Prescott and met my friend Faith who just completed the World Race and we were able to ask tons of questions and talk about what happens on the trip. Talking to her made me realize that this trip is going from something that I talk about doing, to something that will become reality so soon. She also gave me so many packing tips and tricks for while I’m on the field.
Now I am just a few weeks away from leaving for Georgia where I will train for a few weeks before heading to Guatemala, South Africa, Eswatini, and Indonesia. I am starting all my goodbyes, not ready to leave my family, friends, and amazing community, but i’ve been praying off complacency and i’ve been praying for BOLDNESS. I am so excited to meet all my new teammates and leaders so soon. We are all bonding over our struggle with various vaccines, how to pack nine months worth of stuff in a 60L backpack, and trying to say goodbye to reality. But we are all so excited to meet and start this journey together.
Please be praying for me as I start this journey, please pray for BOLDNESS. Please pray for my family as we start this chapter of our lives apart for these next 7 months, before they visit me in Eswatini. Pray that when troubles arise I will respond with the “Hineni” mindset, and I will remember that I am just a man, being used by God for whatever He has for me.
Thank you for the love, prayers, and support,
Jackson Schlesinger
