The World Race

Like the Amazing Race you might ask?

Kinda but not quite. So much went on in April before I left for Australia and one of those included my being accepted for the World Race in January 2012. More specifically it's an 11 month missions trip to 11 different countries. Pretty insane hey? But I'm pretty darn pumped. It's with a non-profit, interdenominational, American organization called Adventures In Missions (AIM) and they send out groups on different routes in January, June, July, August, September and October. Each larger squad group is divided into smaller teams of 5 or 6 people who essentially become family over the course of the year.

I've spent almost a whole year already praying about if this was the right thing for me and clearly, I came to the conclusion that yes it was and thus I applied. Some people think I'm crazy and others are really encouraging but either way God is calling me and I am being obedient. You can click here to access my World Race blog if you want to read more about why I am choosing to go on this insane adventure and choosing to be the hands and feet of God.

The countries I will be visiting while on the January 2012 Race Route include:

Phillippines
China
India
Nepal
Swaziland
Mozambique
South Africa
Moldova
Romania
Haiti
Dominican Republic.

Some of the activities we could be doing include, but are not limited to, running day camps, doing construction, building relationships with orphans, praying for the sick at a hospital or teaching others about God. Either way each day will be focused on doing the work of God's Kindom.

In order to participate on the World Race I need to fundraise $15,500 PLUS the cost of my flight into our departure city, a round trip flight to training camp in October, medical insurance, gear and vaccinations. Right now that seems like a huge and daunting number but I have faith that God will provide. My first amount of $3,500 is due October 1, 2011 and then another $3,000 two months later.

If you are feeling called to give a tax-deductable, monetary donation in support of my trip please visit my blog and click on the "Support Me" link under my picture (on the left). This will bring you to a page where you can donate using a credit card. Financial donations can be given as a one time gift or as a monthly donations where you choose the start and end date. Additionally, you may make any cheques payable to Adventures In Missions, PO Box 534470, Atlanta, GA, 30353-4470.

**Please make sure to include my full name (Dania Spillett) in the memo line so the money is properly allocated to me**

If you are unable to make a financial donation and would still like to support me I would greatly appreciate prayer both for the fundraising proccess, for strength against spiritual attacks as I prepare for this adventure as well as prayer while my team and I are out on the field.

From here on out I will be using the personal blog site provided to me for the next year. I will only be updated this blog while out of the country and will be loading pictures and posts while on my journey, as well as before. SO, click on the link, FIND my blog, and on the left hand side you can ENTER your email address to SUBSCRIBE for my blog updates.

All my thanks!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...

Oi, oi, oi!

Yup, that's right. Australia has sucked me in. I meant to write a post before I left for Australia on April 28, 2011 but time just escaped me or was sucked away by work and studying for final exams. Which means.....I'm DONE!! My business degree that is. I'm finally a graduate. Now on to real life. But first a couple vacations, hence Australia.

It was a family trip that we planned to last 6.5 weeks and we were going to cover the entire East Coast of Australia as well as both islands of New Zealand. However, as most of you may not yet know, we opted to come back to Canada halfway through our trip because my aunt (who is fighting cancer) became extremely ill and the doctors didn't think there would be much time. Either way, here I am back in Edmonton with lots of awesome memories. To many to tell all through my blog so you'll have to hear most of them directly from me.

For now I'll delve into the highlights. We started in Sydney, Australia on April 29 and spend about 4 days there. A pretty metropolitan place that is kinda like a combination of Vancouver and Hawaii (or so my dad says since I've never been to Hawaii). Because it is their winter, Sydney was a little chillier than we had hoped but it had also snowed in Edmonton a bit before we left so anything above 10 degree C was a nice change.

Soon enough we headed up north to Cairns. We actually stayed in an apartment in Palm Cove (30 min north of Cairns) for almost 2 weeks which was gorgeous. I loved getting to make our own meals, eat out on the patio and walk to the gloriously large beach. No swimming though, unless it was in the designated areas, because of stingers (aka. jelly fish).

My biggest dream for Australia was to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. So thats what we did. Janelle (my sister) and I signed up for our PADI Open Water Course and did two classroom days and then spent 3 days living on a boat in the middle of the sea. Freaking amazing. I can't even express how awesome this was. Just imagine waking up at 6am to put on your gear and greet the underwater creatures good morning. The sun was just rising by the time we entered the water and after getting out we would rinse off, pull on some clothes and go for breakfast. What a way to wake up!! After almost every dive we would remove our gear and I would just stand on the back on the boat in awe of the incredible sight that surrounded me. Essentially our routine for the 3 days was: Dive. Eat. Dive. Eat. Dive. Eat. Dive. Sleep. Dive. PURE AWESOMENESS.

After that both the weather and the experience was hard to top. It rained a lot of the rest of our time but we did get to see some other sweet things such as the Daintree Rainforest, Cape Tribulation, Whitsunday Islands and Fraser Island - entirely made of sand and you have to 4x4 down the beach to get around. PLUS I got to squeeze in a visit with my good friend Vanessa in Airlie Beach.

We missed out on Uluru (Ayers Rock), Byron Bay, surfing lessons and Brisbane but the country is just too damn big and I already know I have to go back.

Until next time!