Sent :: Darcie Nicholson

This upcoming Sunday, June 16th, we will send Darcie Nicholson out as she works with The World Race for the next 11 months in international missions. Below is a letter from Darcie to The Paradox as she prepares to leave.Paradox FamilyI’m writing to you with a full heart! I'm excited to fill you in on how two of my God-given passions are colliding and propelling me into an 11-month adventure. Although this adventure is taking me away from The Paradox for a while, I'm confident that you as a body will have my back in this and send me out with encouragement.Earlier this month I graduated from TCU. The natural question I've gotten for the past year is: What's next, Darcie? Well... I won't exactly be using my degrees, but my college years have been essential to what The Lord has next for me. Throughout college, it became obvious to me that I feel most alive when I'm involved inhands-on, lets-do-this, Spirit-driven ministry. Studying abroad brought out another passion - the passion The Lord has given me for culture and the globe.About seven months ago, the Lord placed a little adventure in my path that combined these passions of mine: ministry and travel. I heard about this thing called the World Race. The World Race is a missional journey to 11 countries in 11 months to serve “the least of these” while living in real and raw Christian community with six other missionaries.Each month, my team will be in a new country serving and loving in order to share the Gospel. My route which leaves early July will reach Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, The Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya. In each country, we plug into ministries that are actively and effectively working to share Christ through serving the specific needs of the people in that country.This journey is something that I’m really excited about. There are things that The Lord wants to show me, teach me, and amaze me with that He’s decided cannot happen in the US. That’s why I’m going. My prayer in preparation for this adventure is that God would stir others to have my back in this. Whether that’s words of encouragement, commitment to prayer, or giving money, it would be a blessing to know that my Paradox family believes in the work Jesus wants to do in and through me. Practically, here's how can you help me out:

:: Prayer: Let's saturate this in prayer. Specifically, you can pray for the women on my team by name: Natalie, Ara, Markelle, Kelsea, Sara and Kim. Team dynamic is the part that I am most worried about because I think the enemy can use this against us far too easily. Health and safety will be big battlefields, too. Pray over the specific countries. Pray for what Jesus wants to teach me, and for my obedience to that. Pray for my concentration and mission-mindedness. Pray for boldness. Pray for wild trust in what The Holy Spirit is capable of accomplishing.

:: Giving: I'm only $600 away from raising my trip cost of $15,500. God is faithful! Amen? Amen. Although I'm almost fully funded for the base of my trip, my desire is to over-fund this trip so that I can bless people along the way financially, giving as Jesus leads. You can give online (it's tax-deductible) at www.DarcieNicholson.theworldrace.org.

:: Keeping up with me: If you want to keep up with my preparations and travels, I have a blog set up through The World Race: www.DarcieNicholson.theworldrace.org. Here, you can stay in the loop with my weekly entries, photos and videos. You can also find my team members' blogs.

:: Encouragement: For me, 11 months is a marathon - not a sprint. I'm aware that if I'm not being poured into, I could get burned out. Either via The City or e-mail, I would be thrilled to hear from you guys. Words from fellow partners would be a breath of fresh air

I anticipate the Lord working in and through my team in mighty ways – over language barriers, past uncomfortable circumstances and through joyful times. Thank you in advance for sending me out as a body.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19 

I love you guys,Darcie NicholsonDarcie is a partner of The Paradox and a member of the Tanglewood City Group.