Dear Family and Friends,
I hope you are doing well.
Good tidings to you, to you and your kin!
I wanted to share what has been going on in my life lately.
As you know, I spent this last year working in a variety of areas at AIM’s
home office in Gainesville, Georgia.
The past few months have been fairly rocky for me and in July felt the Lord leading me to leave my position with AIM and to pursue the Lord’s will fo
r my life apart from AIM.
As I prepared to do that, the Lord continued to walk with me and about a month ago he said, “Talia, you can move to Atlanta (my previous plan) and that will be okay, but your life will be about you. Or, you can choose to do the World Race, and your life won’t be about you, it will be about me.”
I’ve got to have a life revolving around the Father. I can’t have my life be about me.
My Future: If there is one thing I’ve experienced and want to know in its entirety, completely is Freedom. So I’ve adopted that as my mantra for this next year; freedom in Christ, freedom for the captives. There is wholeness in that word. That describes my
future as I know it: Freedom.
So, I am abandoning it all, jumping and taking a risk.
As a guest speaker in college once said, “No one ever gets to the end of their life and says, ‘I wish I’d played it safer.’”
I’ve decided to listen to my elders and do just that – play this game of life a little risky.
I’ll be selling the majority of my possessions, purchasing a backpack and living out of it for a year.
I have no doubt that God will use me this year, I know that He will change me. I am asking YOU to be used as well, to be radically changed. There are several ways you can join my team and be a part of The World Race with me, if you would like to get involved I have included a list of needs for the following year.
I love you all very much and am so blessed that you are a part of my life.
Love,
Talia
My needs and ways you can participate and help:
1) Encouragement – Please visit and subscribe to http://taliabarnes.theworldrace.org by clicking on “Subscribe to My Blog!”
Throughout the year I will be posting pictures and journal entries. Please take time to check in on me and to post comments, send me pictures from home, send your love and prayers.
2) Prayers – Please keep me in your prayers. Many of you are prayer warriors and have the gift of intercession. If that is you, please commit to scheduling one day per week to set aside time to pray for me in 2007. Pray for my team, for the people we have met, and the divine appointments still in front of us. (Please let me know what day you have scheduled)
3) Financial Support – I do need your help, it can be $5 or $5,000. Myself, and each of my team members, must raise a minimum of $6,500 prior to leaving on Dec 31st to cover basic expenses such as travel, food and housing.
We also need to raise an additional $650/month over the following year.
A number of you have expressed interest in giving monthly.
If you would like to do this, please contact me directly at
[email protected]
or 770-519-9186
To make a tax deductible donation please click on “Support Me” at http://taliabarnes.theworldrace.org. Or, you can fill out the enclosed card and send it in.
You can best support me by making donations as soon as possible, and please let me know the date and amount of your donation so that I may track all funds appropriately and thank you personally.
4) Other donations/items: frequent flyer miles, international cell phone/minutes, satellite phone/minutes, portable GPS, camping equipment.
Many of you are Christians and share my mission to follow in Christ’s footsteps. Please prayerfully consider your role in the Kingdom and how God is calling you to join this World Race with me by offering your encouragement, prayers or financial support.
Some of you may not share my belief in Christ, but you do believe in me, and share my desire to make a difference in this world! Those of us participating in The World Race will be a voice for so many who have no voice. Please carefully consider joining my team, add your voice, in whatever way you are willing and able.
Many of you have large spheres of influence; please pass this letter on to your friends, your family, your church, your colleagues so that they may all have the chance to join the race with us!
I assure you, what we are creating here will spread, it will be contagious, we are going to radically alter peoples lives… we will radically alter your life… if you will let us. Are you ready for the race, will you join my team?
