been looking for a home in my neighborhood for eight months. And not only that, she loved mowing and landscaping. Her current lease ended at the end of July. I left on August 1. God had not only addressed all of my concerns, but He had blessed me more than I could have ever dreamed. In the middle of our conversation, I received a call from “The World Race” letting me know I had been accepted. I was speechless. But God wasn’t done yet. One more miracle was still coming.
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THE WORLD RACE 11 COUNTRIES 11 MONTHS
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” Hebrews 12:1
On Thanksgiving Day, 2008, I slipped while searching for “hidden treasure” in a river bed with my cousins, popping my arm out of socket. It eventually popped back in, after several deep breaths and a few replayed scenes of Mel Gibson in “Lethal Weapon” throwing his shoulder against a hard surface to knock it back into socket. I went to see my bone and joint doctor, Dr. Dukes, in mid-December, who took an x-ray that showed a growth in my left shoulder. “I don’t want to scare you, but you really need to get this looked at,” he said. A few days later, on my first visit to see Dr. Reinking, my new primary care physician, he looked at the x-ray and immediately ordered a cat scan. At this point I had only told Steve, Bobby, and Marsha about the growth in my left shoulder and asked them to pray about it. By the time February rolled around I felt like God definitely wanted me to be on this mission trip. All I had to do is remind myself of all the obstacles I had already overcome, but at the same time I didn’t understand why I had this growth in my shoulder. I couldn’t help but wonder why me. I knew whether this growth was benign or malignant, the doctors would push me to have 18 ASBURY TIDINGS
surgery to take it out for testing. If that happened, I knew I would probably miss the mission trip to Guatemala and the required training dates in late May for “The World Race.” The night before my cat scan, I was with Steve leading our group of high school senior boys. As the evening concluded and we were about to pray, Steve told our small group I had some type of growth in my shoulder and asked them to pray. The next day I went in for the cat scan. When the results came back a few days later, the doctors
couldn’t find anything in my shoulder anymore. I was blown away again. It was a miracle. Looking back on my life I can see some things very clearly. First, I know why I’m still single. I’ve realized that God has a plan for me. If I had married the last serious girl I dated, I probably wouldn’t be going on this trip. Or if I had found someone I’d probably be engaged or wanting to see where the relationship was heading. Second, I understand that God planted many seeds along the way, including that spiritual gifts test many years ago. Third, God knew when I became a teacher He could work on my heart and give me a heart towards missions. I never had opportunities to go on mission trips growing up, so by becoming a teacher my schedule allowed me to go on mission trips over spring break and during the summer. Editor’s Note: Currently, Paul has raised $7,540 for the World Race, but he needs $14,800. If you would like to donate or read more about Paul’s incredible story, visit www.pauliwanaga.theworldrace.org