Mia Thermopolis and I

It’s about love. Love is what lead me to where I am and is leading to me to where I am going.

To give some background, most of you know I had the opportunity to intern at an organization called “Trans World Radio” (TWR) this summer in Cary, North Carolina. What most of you don’t know is that originally I had wanted to intern at the headquarters in South Africa. After much thought and consideration, the decision was made to accept an intern position here in the States. Little did I know that a few months later I would be accepted into a full time position with the TWR headquarters in South Africa.

The thing is, I don’t believe in coincidences. Everything that has happened in my life thus far has prepared me for this decision. When considering this opportunity, I realized that there were only two things holding me back from saying yes: money and fear.

Then I thought about all of these “coincidences” and opportunities that I’ve had that have prepared me and encouraged me and lead me to TWR. And I realized, what I have I got to lose? God has instilled in me a desire for different cultures and a desire to travel. I want to use these desires in a practical way that I believe God is leading me.

TWR is an amazing ministry that I have not only grown to love but is a place where I can use my skills and give me a purpose that I love. TWR is a multinational evangelical Christian media distributor- the largest Christian media organization in the world. I will be working with a ministry of TWR called Project Hannah. Project Hannah is a women’s ministry that desires to break the lie that a woman is worthless. Project Hannah offers compassion, encouragement and hope to suffering women worldwide through prayer, awareness and radio programming.

Another fun fact that many of you know is that I love Mia Thermopolis from Princess Diaries. In fact, she is my movie character twin. I was watching this movie just the other night and was able to really relate to her speech when she accepts her position as princess. Now, obviously, I am not accepting the position as princess. I mean, pretty much the opposite. But one thing she says is,

“If I cared about the other 7 billion people out there instead of just me, that’s probably a much better use of my time.”

In order to truly care about the other people in the world, God has called us to take risks. Not because he enjoys seeing us struggle, but because he wants us to know we can’t do it on our own. And through that, others will see his light shine through us. Isn’t that what life is about? Risk taking. Taking chances. Because it’s not about me. Sure, I can stay home and work but for me personally, I would choose that for comfort and security. I would be settling for something that I know is within my grasp.

TWR- this is big. It’s a big vision and with that is big commitment. Of course I wonder if something is going to happen, and raising support will come with a challenge. But my mission is already in progress and I can’t put off this opportunity. Because the next thing I know, I’ll be 55 and wonder why I never went. Now is the time. I am young and single and without excuse. What is my excuse to stay? Fear? There’s a quote that says, 

“Frozen in fear, you avoid responsibility because you think your experience is beyond your control. This stance keeps you from making decisions, solving problems, or going after what you want in life.”

That’s not what I want, and I don’t believe that is what God wants for me. I want to love people. That is all I want in life. To love people so that they may feel the love of God and to meet them where they are. Enough with politics. People are so caught up in what’s right and what’s wrong and of course that’s important but God’s law says to LOVE and when is it right to stop loving someone because they are lost? I choose to not judge people just because they sin differently from me.

My decision is to go. Because I can’t stand to remain in comfort because I’m concerned about money or fear. I choose to go in love.

I still have a long way to go and I appreciate all the prayer I can get. After graduation, I still have college loans to pay back, so I will need to be working full time in order to pay those back. Because of this, I will not be able to focus as much time on support raising that I need. If you could pray for this whole “paying off loans/support raising” process, that would be wonderful. I know this will be a challenge. I feel a sense of urgency in getting this process finished with as fast as possible, which will be hard. But I know God is with me and I know that I could never do it without the support and encouragement from you. Thank you so much for continuing to walk with me on this journey!

If you have any questions, or if you’d just like to chat, please feel free to send me an email at rachjoy@comcast.net. I would love to talk with you more about this opportunity God has blessed me with!