Why am I going on the World Race? 2/28/25

2nd Blog 2/28/25 – Why am I going on the World Race?

Howdy y’all!

This is a very special blog entry because it is a personal testimony to the ways that God has been working in my heart. For the longest time I had always dreamed of going to college. My mom hyped up living in the dorms for so long, especially because her college friends are some of the best friends she has ever had. I wanted that. I wanted people that I could laugh with, depend on, and learn with in any and all circumstances. So for as long as I can remember (well actually about 2nd grade when my mom told me about the dorms), the plan was to go to college.

One day I was asked about what I wanted my major in college to be and I genuinely had no idea (age 16, April 2023). I knew that I was very passionate about my faith and loved to travel. The admissions representative that I was talking to suggested that I do international ministry, specifically missions. This made perfect sense, from that moment I felt called to this uncertain but massively important mission of sharing the Gospel to all the nations. I wasn’t sure what it would look like in any capacity but I knew that’s what I should be doing.

That following summer (July 2023) I was at church camp. The preacher was giving a talk about surrendering your whole life to God. I felt that I had surrendered my whole life to God, because I wasn’t going to live the traditional life, instead I’d be doing international missions. But at the end of the day I was still holding on to something and I hadn’t even realized it. I was holding onto that dream of college and living in the dorms that had been instilled in me for years.

That winter (age 17, February 2024) I was at church camp (yet again, I know, big shocker). This time it was my youth group leaders, not the preacher. They knew I had been called to missions, so they suggested a program that offers gap years. This is when I realized that I hadn’t given everything to God that previous summer. Even when I recalled that I was holding onto college, I still didn’t want to give it up. That was my life, it was my plan. For the next month, conviction overwhelmed me. Why couldn’t I give this up? Finally, I decided I would take a gap year.

I could not be happier with this decision! I know now that God is going to use this year to direct the rest of my life. Whatever happens during these nine months will be so beneficial to me and the Kingdom. And those people that I wanted to be friends with in the dorms, I’m now having my expectations exceeding with the other people going on my gap year with me.

With love,
Mieko 🙂