His Riches In Glory

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

This is a post I wasn’t expecting to write until much later, but clearly God has always had a different plan than me. God has truly provided for me, and I am so excited to be able to tell you all that I am officially fully funded. Now these are words that I knew I would be able to utter one day, I just wasn’t expecting to say them so soon. 

You know $15,800 is a lot for a 17 year old to raise, but from the moment I sent in my application, that number didn’t scare me. I knew that God wanted me to do this, so He was going to provide, after all this is His trip not mine. My pastor likes to say “If it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill.” Even though I was completely expecting to get fully funded with ease because of the generosity of my church, family, and friends, I was still blown away at every donation that came in. It’s funny how you can be expecting something to happen, and when it does, you react as if you weren’t expecting it. God is clearly at work here moving in the hearts of everyone around me and moving them to support me, and I am eternally grateful for this. 

On Sunday May 15, I went on stage during my church service to have an interview with my youth pastor about the World Race and to announce to my church what I would be doing this fall and ask for support. At that time I only needed roughly $4,000 before I was fully funded. After each service I stood in the atrium to talk to people and finish selling my T-shirts. People that I did not know kept coming up to me to thank me, give me money, and purchase shirts. I ended up raising $1,384 in just one day. This amazed me once again even though I was expecting it. Then the following Wednesday night I discovered that one of my students and her family donated $4,000. Immediately I started crying. If this wasn’t God who was moving I don’t know who was. As I said before, I knew God was going to provide for me somehow, but I am still in awe of the way He did that. We follow a truly Sovereign God, and I cannot wait to share His blessing with the world. 

However, money isn’t the only way God has provided for me in this journey. After I first began selling shirts, a random girl reached out to me saying that her mom went to my church and saw that I was selling shirts to raise money for the World Race. She told me that she went on the World Race in 2020 and wanted to donate her gear to me. I was blown away. I did not know who this girl or her mom was, and I still can’t figure out how her mom found out I was going either. The Lord truly works in mysterious and wonderful ways. 

Today I was finally able to meet up with Rachel to get my gear, and I was still in awe of how God works. To make things better, I am the fourth person to be able to use this gear for the World Race. In fact the second person to use it was the girl who introduced me to the Race. You can’t imagine how excited I was when I found this out. This gear has been all over the world, helping young women spread the love of God, and I cannot wait to be another user.

Everyday that I prepare for the World Race, I become more in awe of who our God is. The way He provides for His children is incredible. I knew from the very beginning that I was going to be provided for, and now here I stand fully funded with all my gear, and I can’t thank God enough. I want to thank all of you as well. Thank you for all of your support. Thank you for listening to God’s whispers. Though I am now fully funded and have my gear, I still could use your support in prayer. I personally know how powerful prayer can be, and I ask you all to continue to support me and my squad through prayer as we leave for the World Race this August.

With love and thanksgiving,

Ali Goolsby