Hi friends!!
It’s about time I give you all the update on what’s going on with my trip. Many of you have been asking and wanting to keep up, so thank you! I’m incredibly blessed with some of the best people.
As many of you know, the original plan was for me to leave this upcoming October on a route that took me through Central America, South America, and Asia. Of course, Covid hit and everything was immediately up in the air. All this time, the team of staff that’s been monitoring the situation has been so great with keeping us in the loop with decisions being made and steps in moving forward.
A few weeks ago, an email was sent out to us October racers with several different options moving forward, one of those being wait to launch until January 2021. For many different reasons, I have known from the moment I got the email, that waiting until January 2021 was best for me. So, January it is! The other 3 options were to leave in October (but remain stateside until international travel is more realistic), wait until August of 2021, or withdraw completely.
As of now, the team at Adventures in Missions is anticipating us being able to launch internationally in January. Woohoo! Of course we have no way of knowing what the future holds, especially in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, so we say that tentatively. If we cannot launch internationally in January, we will have similar options – launch stateside until international travel is open, defer until August, or withdraw. At this time I have no desire or intentions to withdraw if we can’t launch internationally, but if that were to happen, all donors would be able to request a refund.
The next thing – my route is completely different. To be honest, this has been the biggest disappointment for me in the midst of what Covid has changed. My October route was just about flawless in my eyes, and so the last few weeks have been a process of learning to let go of my desires there and trust in what The Lord is doing. With that being said, I’m still just so excited! Change is hard but it’s okay. And I know God is going to do a WORK in my heart to prepare me for all the amazing things He has planned for my new route – He already has been.
This time around, instead of giving us 11 specific countries, they have given us 4 different regions that we will travel within, and the starting countries we will start in. In each region, we will potentially be able to move around to surrounding countries depending on the state of the country at the time. Here it is:
Central America- Starting in Costa Rica
Southeast Asia- Starting in Thailand
Southern Asia- Starting in India
Southern Africa- Starting in Eswatini
As I mentioned before, making the decision to push my trip back until January was exactly what I needed. As many of you can relate, Covid has affected me in ways I wasn’t necessarily ready for. But life has gone on and God has been there all along, teaching me a lot about… a lot. It’s been a journey but I’m starting to see the true freedom that comes from my choice to trust in God’s promises. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for these next few months as I connect with new squadmates, attend training camp, prepare, and continue fundraising – along with spending a few extra months at home with my parents!!! (an unexpected blessing and high in my life) I. Am. Ready!! And so grateful for a God who offers us hope and life and sometimes even chances to travel the world 😉
More blogs and updates soon 🙂 Love you all!
Heather
