Onto New Seasons

Hey you! It’s about time we connected again.

I hope this update finds you well. The Vlog Video above is the final World Race Recap. It’s a video simply filled with photos that share glimpses of the World Race journey with you. Please enjoy.

Also, read below for many thanks, new insights, and exciting updates on what the future holds.

You are someone that believed in me through the thick and thin. You encouraged me more than you know this year and in seasons past too. You supported me in a life changing journey. Your investment in my life will have a positive ripple affect around the world forever. I am totally serious about this one. I could not have done what I did without your support. Thank you for your “YES” in my life. Thank you for partnering with me in discovering more and more of God’s heart for this broken and extremely beautiful world. Thank you, for being you.

Now, how do I sum up what this year was and all it entailed? I cannot. That will take a lifetime to truly understand what this experience allowed me to discover about God, myself, and the people of this world. But! I can share with you various highlighted memories on the race-some deeply life changing, and others plain fun. How does that sound?

15 highlights from this year

1) My good friend and brother named Rajat in India gave his life to Christ and it was such an honor to meet him and share the gospel with him one night on the porch of a Hostel in Rishikesh.

2) While in India, I had the chance to visit extended relatives who are Natives to India, running a school and long term housing for blind children and adults. It was a true gift to see that in action!

3) While in India I made a decision to get baptized and that happened to be in the Ganges River! A very awesome symbol of declaring that my understanding will always be secondary to the goodness of God. I am %110 in for Jesus my Lord and Savior over my life.

4) My team and I had an opportunity to go Yurt camping in the beautiful mountains of Kyrgyzstan. This was a refreshment and exhilarating having been surrounded by nature and nomadic lifestyle.

5) On the official last day of the World Race, I was given an opportunity to lead worship with the squad. This was humbling and such an honor!

6) As part of a birthday treat, I was able to fly over Mt. Everest. This. Was. Majestic.

7) Kangaroo chasing in Australia was one for the books! An early morning sunrise walk along the coast felt surreal. I couldn’t believe how close the kangaroos were!

8) In Kazakhstan I was able to hold a bald eagle on my arm. That was thrilling and heavy all at once!

9) In Australia I had an opportunity to meet a custodian at the Church we were staying at who was originally from India. In broken English he shared with me that he met Jesus in a dream in which directed him to come here! He left everything he had built up and made, including his devout Hindu faith in pursuit of following God with all his Heart.

10) In Greece a friend and I had an opportunity to stand on top of Mars Hill, where Paul the apostle once preached the gospel to some of the greatest philosophers in that time.

11) I was give the opportunity to help Baptize a new friend made from Turkey in the Mediterranean sea! We celebrated with a fish dinner afterwards.

12) My team and I endured a very bumpy (to say the least) 22 hour bus ride through Nepali mountains. It was a time of exercising the muscles of self control, patience, and JOY in all circumstances. That bus ride had us falling out of our seats constantly! Not to mention at one point it left a friend and I on the side of the street when we used the restroom so we had to hop on a different bus driving by to catch up with it!

13) In Morocco my friends and I had an opportunity to have several dinners at a neighboring Muslims house. There, we built friendships, worshiped, ate delicious food, and also got to share the gospel and pray for healing over the father of the house who was suffering from a paralyzing disease! After praying, the father was able to stand up and shuffle dance with his daughters. We were told it had been over a year since that happened!

14) One time, I got lost in the Jungle of Sri Lanka until I found my way back to a kind family that opened their home to me and helped me get home!

15) Upon traveling through China, my friends and I were able to make a pit stop at the Great Wall of China. Better yet, we were able to celebrate 4th of July together that day!

To be real frank with you, sending blog updates in the hopes it would make someone like you smile and be encouraged was one of my favorite memories year round. It’s you that I think of when writing, asking God to give me the words that would leave a person inspired, challenged, and full to the brim.

If you would like to chat more about my experiences on the race, feel free to connect with me via [email protected] or give me a ring! Would love to hear from you and share more.

For now, that’s a wrap with the World Race. But! The journey doesn’t stop there, it’s only begun!

Most Recently, I have started work for the She Walks In Truth Podcast.

A good friend of mine, Carrie Robaina started this podcast up as an encouragement for women to walk out their full identity in Christ, every day, everywhere. I am the content manager of this (meaning right now I do some of the behind the scene stuff) and have really started to enjoy the work! Check out She Walks In Truth to learn more! You can also subscribe to the podcast via itunes and Lybsyn by searching “She Walks In Truth Podcast on your phone or computer”. I would love to have you part of this journey as this ministry grows and believe you will be encouraged, no doubt!

Hold on, we’re not finished yet! There’s one more thing that’s been on my heart to share. It’s a project I’ve started that I hope you will be part of too.

It’s called “Joy Makers Project”. This is just the beginning of a platform organization that is intended to help spread genuine JOY to the world. Joy Makers Project is also a platform to encourage, and empower someone like yourself to be the Joy Maker you are capable of being in this life for God, yourself, and others all around. 

Yes, it’s that simple. Joy. True Joy. 

What does Joy Makers Project practically look like? Right now we are working towards getting a website launched to share real life stories of creative ways for spreading Joy and occasional resources for you to check out. Once things get on a roll with that, we will expand the Joy Maker’s Project into much more. For now, one step at a time, right?

In several weeks I will be sending you more information on Joy Makers Project website and ways that you can subscribe, plug in, and get involved too.

 

As part of Joy Makers Project, I am also currently working on getting a book ready to publish. This is no ordinary book though, rather it is an interactive journal with probing questions to help discover what makes you, you! It is full of fun, deep, reflective questions and exercises that will allow oneself to gain a greater awareness of what makes you unique, discover your God given passions, how to pursue a life of constant growth, and practical ways on how you can spread some serious Joy to this world too.

All I know is it’s just the beginning to something great & I want you right there with me. 

So friend, let’s stay connected. 

Though we may not be able to connect in person often, I promise you are the one that comes to mind as I pray for direction and pursue opportunities laid ahead. Thanks for being you. 

Stay tuned, more to come soon! 

With great Love, 

Kailey