Hello Family and Friends!

This is my first official blog post for my World Race Gap Year Journey! On August 28th (in just 159 days) I will be heading down to Gainesville Georgia to begin my training for the race. I am so excited for all that God is going to do over the 9 months that I will be away from home and doing ministry around the world. This initial post on my blog is to let you all know what I will be doing and get family and friends connected to my blog so they can stay connected with my race journey.

Just want to give a quick rundown of what my time overseas will look like. My team and I will be working in Italy, Nepal (my second home), Thailand, Indonesia, and Australia. We will partner with locals, missionaries, and organizations to make disciples and share the gospel in all different places. We will serve locals and practice a lot of listening to the voice of the lord and how he might be leading us. Currently my team is made up of around 40 people, but a large portion of the race we will be split into smaller groups to do ministry.

I am so excited for this journey and I cannot do it without the prayer support of my family and friends! I am so grateful to have people behind me supporting and following along with me. Here are some ways you can pray for me in the following months of preparation:

1. Please pray that God would prepare my teammates and I for the ministry and experiences he has prepared for us. While we all are very excited there are also a lot of nerves for many of us about being away from home for such a long period of time and being on a team with so many new people. Please pray for God to unite us together and for him to work in and prepare our hearts for all that we know he is going to do.

2. Pray that God would provide all that I need for this coming race. Whether its the process of packing and preparing for the race or the fundraising process, please pray that God would provide all that I need and that I would have the funds necessary. While doing ministry full time for 9 months is such a gift it is also not very cheap. I am raising 19,700 for this race through working, fundraising events, and the generosity of churches and individuals. I know that when God calls he will provide, but your prayer in this area would be so greatly appreciated.

Thank you for following along with me and I am so excited to keep you updated as I continue to move forward and closer to the race!

Love,

Ruthie