What’s Happening with World Race Gap Year?

Hi there! If you find yourself reading this, you have probably been wondering what the plans are for my coming gap year. In the current situation we find ourselves in, I am sure many of you have also experienced hiccups in your plans, vacations, graduations, weddings and so much more. My heart goes out to each one of you who have experienced loss however great or small that this pandemic has brought on for you. 

With that said, I apologize for being so MIA these past couple months about my plans and how COVID-19 is affecting this gap year. Like most of you we have been facing so much unknown. Every time I sat down to try and explain what was changing and how things were going to be different another update would come out or more announcements and I was back to square one of having no clue what was happening. These past couple months have not been easy, the Lord has been challenging me to trust him and lean on him more than ever before.

However, I am finally here to give you an update on what World Race Gap year will look like this fall! I have to be honest writing this post is not easy, over the last couple weeks I have been faced with some big decisions to make and a lot to process. Nothing is the way we expected it to be 6 months ago. It’s crazy to think that all along however God knew this was how it was going to be as hard as it is to grasp, he knew I was not going to make it “home” to watch my class graduate in PNG, he knew I wouldn’t get the chance to walk through those hallways one last time or launch overseas in September. Although everything is changing I have been so encouraged these last couple months by the one who never changes, our Father God who always loves, always has a better plan and always knows what’s best for us and continues to reveal to me the many good things that are still happening, the blessings and moments of joy in a time when everything feels so unknown. 

Your probably thinking Abigail get to it already, if you are not launching in September what are you doing? Due to all the travel restrictions we are unable to launch to Romania in September as originally planned. Instead, the incredible World Race Staff has put together a training program for us gap year students at the base in Gainesville, GA. This means I will be spending 3.5 months at the headquarters for a semester of missional training, leadership development, discipleship and outreach in the Gainesville community. (Keep an eye out for another post coming shortly with more details about what this time in GA will look like!) Lord willing we will then be launching overseas to three different countries January-May. These three countries at the moment are unknown. Once we are closer to that launch date in January there will be a better idea of what countries will be open and what missionary bases can host our team for ministry. 

I am sure there are many questions about what all this entails I would love to answer any questions you have. However, a big one that I asked even myself was what about fundraising? The short answer is I am still raising $15,800. We will still be paying for the expenses of traveling to three different countries and it is more expensive to live here in the states than it would be overseas. With that said, I have been so blessed by those who have given so far and have been a part of my fundraisers. I still have over $6,000 to raise in order to reach my goal. Now that we have a more laid out plan for the fall I will hopefully be planning a couple more fundraisers and if you would ever feel lead to give I would be so blessed to have your support, the link to donate is on the home page of this blog. I would also love your support through prayer, not everyone can give financially and that is ok, but being surrounded in prayer supporters is just as important if not more. If you would like to know how you can pray for me or even like to receive specific prayer requests from me monthly please leave a comment below or reach out so I know who to send prayer request too! 

Again, if you have any questions please feel free to ask away! Thank You for taking time out of your day to read my post. Have a great day!