Winchester Fire burns 205 acres near Temecula on April 28 2009
MULTI-FAMILY YARD SALE
Funds will go toward Caitlin Buzbee"s World Race Fund.
When: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 2
Where: 32315 Via Cordoba in Temecula"s Redhawk neighborhood
Information: caitlinbuzbee.theworldrace.org
Caitlin Buzbee is taking a huge leap of faith.
The 24-year-old Temecula resident is planning to participate in the World Race, an 11-month traveling and missionary trip for young adults ages 21 to 35.
Departing in August from Atlanta, Buzbee and about 50 other people shes never met each of whom must raise funds themselves to cover the costs for training, lodging, food and insurance will spend one month at a time in 11 different countries in Africa, Asia and Central America.
(World Race organizers) already have contacts and partnerships with ministries in those countries, Buzbee explained.
The group will break into teams of six to eight people and live and serve together 24 hours a day, carrying their possessions in backpacks and sometimes sleeping in a tent.
Each group will have an alumni leader who previously completed their own 11-month mission trip.
The groups daily activities will vary.
They tell us each day will be different, Buzbee said. Some days we will be working on construction projects or playing with kids in an orphanage, and the next day we might be teaching Bible school classes or praying for the sick. The local ministries have different needs that we will help with.
Buzbees group is scheduled to visit Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic all places shes never been. The World Race organization selects the routes for each trip and applicants can request to go on certain routes.
When asked why she would leave her two great jobs for such a trip with so many unknowns, Buzbee, a certified athletic trainer, said in an interview, The reason why Im going is my life has been completely transformed by the love I receive from Christ and I want to be able to go and share that with people. When I heard about this opportunity it seemed like a beautiful way to do that.
A 2010 graduate of Great Oak High School and a 2014 graduate of Chapman University in Orange County, Buzbee previously traveled on youth group mission trips to Mexico as a teenager.
To prepare for the trip, Buzbee is leaving her two jobs in Aliso Viejo, where she works as the head athletic trainer for Aliso Niguel High School and also as an exercise specialist for Aliso Viejo Physical Therapy.
Ive been trying to keep up with my own fitness regimen. They recommend hiking with your pack, she said.
Participants have to carry a 40-pound supplies pack that includes a two-person tent and a sleeping bag, plus a smaller daypack.
Shelly Harris, of Murrieta, a family friend and a friend of Buzbees mom, is among Buzbees supporters. Harris called the trip a great opportunity.
Im jealous. I wish I was 24 and had an opportunity to do something like this. Shes incredibly brave to quit two jobs and do this. Everybody is jumping into this with blind faith.
The World Race organization sends hundreds of volunteers each year to dozens of countries.
Participants must raise funds to cover the costs of the trip. World Race encourages each participant to raise about $17,000; Buzbee has raised about $4,700 so far and has specific fundraising deadlines along the way. She needs to have raised $5,000 by May 13. If she doesnt raise the full amount by deadline, she can delay her trip or leave early, she said.
Contact the writer: community@pe.com
Source: http://www.pe.com/articles/buzbee-798558-trip-world.html
