Many students at Harding shared a passion for travel and a desire to show God's love around the world but found it difficult to engage in long-term opportunities. One student, however, decided to put school aside for a year and pursued her dream of entering the international mission field. First-year marriage and family therapy graduate student Leighton Teague applied and was accepted to participate in The World Race, a Christian mission organization that sought willing millennials to embark on a nine to 12-monthjourneyto different countries around the world to show Christ's love to those they encountered. Teague joined the "nnn" trip, which sent her to ll different countries over the course of n months from Sept. 2015 to Aug. 2016. Sophomore Nicki Onyeama also took a year off from her undergraduate studies to participate in the 9-month World Race campaign. ''I'm excited to see the vvorld from a different perspective without having school and deadlines to worry about," Onyeama said before her trip. ''I'm just excited to be able to spend a whole year focused on growing." Although Teague was used to traveling after studying abroad at both Harding University in Australia in fall 2012 and Harding University in Florence in summer 2014, she said before leaving she was still nervous about what the trip would require of her. "In some of the countries we have been told that we will not have comforts such as roofs over our heads or beds to sleep in," Teague said. Month-long tent accommodations and limited access to hot water were sacrifices Teague said she was prepared to make. Taking advice from one of Harding's American Studies Institute distinguished speakers, Dr. Kent Brantly, Teague said she realized Americans tended to make an idol of comfort and that these comforts were not promised in the mission field. Harding alumna Amanda Abla returned from the "111111" World Race in Dec. 2014. Abla said the trip made a huge impact on her. "This journey has opened my eyes to how God works in incredible ways, but He is also here, in Searcy, at home," Abla said. "The same God that I saw in n different countries is here, and we have the ability to grow just as close to Him without traveling around the world." It was in learning to live without the comforts of home that Teague said she grew most. She recalled a time she was asked to pray individually for the requests of a roomful of Muslims, but said she was able to fearlessly because of her faith. "Thus far, I've been learning a lot about the power of the Holy Spirit," Teague said. "Sitting in a home Bible study as the only foreigner with only my translator and choking back a cup of Turkish coffee because that's the polite thing to do, I felt so out of my element but completely at peace in everything I spoke to them because it wasn't me speaking ... I'm really learning that I'm prepared for anything because God is ready for it all, and he is our guide every day." Nathaniel Frccsrneyer Chithien Le Hong Phan .JP Baker l~va Balai Adam Bcllrnck Danny Brown
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