South Carolinian Wins Free Missions Trip Around the World

Erica Kaufman of Charleston, S.C. is going on the World Race, an 11 month missions trip to 11 countries, this October -- for free.

The World Race is a ministry of Adventures in Missions (AIM), a Georgia-based interdenominational organization. According to Seth Barnes, executive director of AIM, the program is an "initiation process" that takes participants on an "epic pilgrimage."

Barnes writes, "they minister to the poorest of the poor, befriending those who have no friends and in the midst of the sorrow and pain, experiencing God in a new way without the trappings of success."

AIM offered the free trip this spring. To enter the giveaway, applicants submitted their story in 2 minutes of video or 500 words. Among ten finalists, Kaufman was the winner.

"I spent the summer with 100 students from my college ministry and I was in my hotel room with two of my roommates when I got the call," Kaufman recalls. "I fell to my knees and my roommates started jumping up and down screaming ... I think I cried."

Kaufman, who graduated from the College of Charleston in May, entered a video. In it, she says why she's going: "To grow in my walk with Christ, and to be pushed in ways I couldn't be pushed anywhere else, and to share the gospel with people who have never heard before."

Her route, subject to change, will span Central America, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa and South Asia.

Winning a free World Race has given Kaufman peace and confirmation. She admits that had she not won, she'd be "much more nervous if this was God’s will... " Of the many options available, she continues, "I wouldn't have been sure if this was the one He called me to."

"My family members aren't Christians and as I am the first person in my family to ever win anything it gave them a chance to get excited," albeit partially, Kaufman says. Winning "helped soften their hearts ... Also, because I grew up Jewish ... support-raising would have been very difficult."

But Kaufman won't have to raise many funds for the trip; she's also received some free gear. "God has made it pretty clear that He wants me to go on this trip, and that He will provide everything I need -- I just need to trust Him," says Kaufman.

" ... God has just spoken to me over and over again ... that He loves me, that I am doing His will, and that He is going to be with me every second of the [R]ace."

For more information on the World Race visit www.theworldrace.org.