My other squad mates and I were recently told that our team would not be able to travel to Eswatini in September 2020 due to closed borders and health issues that came along with Covid-19. And with the way that 2020 has gone so far, I’m sure it comes with no surprise that I’m adding one more change to the list: I will not be leaving on a 9-month mission trip as previously planned.

As a result of this, the leaders at Adventures in Missions gave us all a few options as to how we wanted to proceed.

One- I could go to AIM’s headquarters in Gainesville Georgia for an extended time of training and then leave for 5 months on the mission field in January 2021

Two- I could participate in a 6-month semesters mission trip that leaves January 2021

Three- I could defer my Gap Year 2020, and participate in WR Gap Year 2021 instead

To say that I felt overwhelmed with my choices would be the understatement of the year. I spent a lot of time wrestling with God about what could possibly be the right choice for me. I prayed so many prayers, wrote out a lot of pros and cons lists (seriously, my mom was sick of me), and finally just gave it to God.

In the end I decided to defer my journey with gap year and participate in WR Gap Year 2021 instead!

This means that I will be enrolling at the University of Alabama for my freshman year and leaving for the World Race Gap Year in September 2021!

This decision was bittersweet and was obviously not how I planned this to go when first starting my journey with WR. But if 2020 has taught me anything, it is that God truly will not let me fall, and that He knows exactly what I need even if none of the answers are clear to me right now. I believe without a doubt that even though I had to push my plans back a year, God is going to find incredible ways to use me and speak through me. Whether I’m in a lecture hall, isle 5 of the supermarket, or a village in Eswatini. His light will shine always, and that is all I can hope for!

Love always,

Delaney