Hello!
My name is Maddie and I will be graduating high school in 2025. Later that year, I am going on a 9 month gap year program through World Race on a mission trip. I will be going to the Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, and Columbia. We will be ministering to the people we meet in each country and spreading God’s word around the globe, like the Great Commission calls us to do.
First, let me introduce myself a little. I’m 18 and I live in Spokane, Washington. I have lived In Spokane for almost 9 years, which is the longest I have lived in one place. I grew up as a missionary kid so I moved a lot when I was younger. My parents partnered through MAF to help spread the good news to people living in Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Indonesia. Though I was born in Ecuador, the only parts of missionary life I can recall, were in Indonesia. My family and I lived there for a little over 6 years. I loved living there. It is a beautiful country with amazing people and culture and I would love to visit again. It is a very cool and unique experience growing up in a different country and I think God has used that experience to give me a strong passion for missions. Ever since I was 7 years old, I knew I wanted to be a missionary. I’m so excited to be at an age where I can make this desire God has placed in my heart, a reality. I have wanted to do World Race ever since my Freshman year of high school. There was a Senior in an AP class I was taking, that told me she was going on a World Race trip, which is how I heard about it. I kept in touch with her and she helped me decide to commit to doing a 9 month mission trip! It is truly amazing how many people have influenced me and how many experiences I have had for God to lead me to World Race missions.
Now a little bit about the actual trip. As I have said, it is 9 months in 4 different countries. I still don’t know much about what I will be doing in each country; basically anything we can do to help out the people there or share God’s word is what we will do. It will be a very challenging trip at times; emotionally, physically, and spiritually. The trip starts with about 1 month of training camp in Gainesville, Georgia. During training, I will learn how to disciple and prepare for life on the mission field. There will be a quick, 1 week, mission trip somewhere in the United States to kind of “test the waters” and get a feel for what discipleship looks like. After that, I will leave the US and head to the Philippines. I will spend around 2 months in each country. I will travel to Vietnam after the Philippines, then South Africa, and finally Columbia. There will also be a debrief in Georgia, after my trip is over. My entire trip spans from August 30, 2025 to May 21, 2026.
The main reason I am going on the World Race mission trip is because I have felt God call me to missions for the majority of my life. I think it is one of the ways in which God will use me and the talents He gave me, to respond to the Great Commission. Typically, fresh high school graduates go to college to study and earn a degree in a field they are passionate about. However, I am taking a gap year in order to pursue God’s calling. Attending college is not out of the question once my trip is over, I am just unsure of what to study currently. I’m sure God will reveal things to me on my trip that I am passionate about. Whatever I pursue, I want to honor Christ and impact people through my future career. This mission trip is not something I randomly decided to do because I didn’t know what to do after high school. It has been a long time coming ever since God called me to missions when I was 7.
I am so excited to see what God has in store for me on this trip and the unique ways I’ll be able to disciple to the people I meet. I’d appreciate it if you could keep me in your prayers, as this is a big step and it will be a challenging trip at times.
Thank you so much for reading!
Maddie Cannon
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