Catasauqua native and Catasauqua High School Class of 2001 member Christopher Cronce is on an adventure of a lifetime.

Cronce and his wife Margeaux, of Latrobe, departed last month for The World Race, an 11-month service trip that sends volunteers to 11 different countries.

"Essentially, we will be traveling to a new country every month," Cronce told The Press.

Participants will travel to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Philippines, Thailand/Burma, India, Vietnam, Nepal, Botswana, Swaziland and two Eastern European countries, to be determined. Cronce and his wife will be traveling to each country with a group of around 50 volunteers. When they arrive, they will be split into smaller teams of around six or seven people and spread throughout the country to work on various projects.

According to Cronce, the projects will vary and the populations served will alter. In some of the countries, he and his wife will be serving victims of human trafficking and prostitution, teaching job skills or inviting them into safe houses. In others they will be serving in orphanages or helping refugees in relief efforts. Also, they very well could teach English or facilitate camps for children.

"It will all depend on the needs of the communities," he said. "Our route may change and our jobs are determined much closer to our arrival date in each country."

Cronce is the son of the Rev. Douglas Cronce, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Catasauqua.

The couple's desire to serve others in different countries was bolstered while both were students at Messiah College in Grantham. He said both he and his wife came to the conclusion they were not in need as many in other, third-world countries are. That realization drove them to want to help others overseas.

"We are so appreciative of where we were born and the childhoods we had," he said. "However, we also realize that we were certainly born into privilege. For no obvious reason, we were not born into poverty, which is the reality for so many people worldwide."

Their faith also has also played a factor in their wanting to devote their time and energy to others in need.

"Our Christianity has informed our feeling that every human being is of equal worth and our decision to give a year of our time comes from a desire to work towards the justice and love that Jesus Christ identified as the right for all people," he said.

The trip costs roughly $32,000 for both of them. The majority of the cost has been raised through fundraising efforts, he said.

"It's been the generous hearts of individual donors and local businesses that have constituted the bulk of our support," he said.

As far as what Cronce and his wife hope to achieve on their 11-month journey, both are open-minded to the endless differences they can make in others' lives.

"We are trying to remain completely open to the impressions that will be left on us by what we see, do and experience, in order that we may live authentic and passionate lives moving forward," he said.

According to Cronce, anyone can give back because each of us is born with an innate desire to contribute something larger than ourselves.

"I believe that there is an itch within each of us; a whispering knowledge that we could be and do so much more if we could manage to take the focus off of ourselves," he said.

Anyone interested in learning more about The World Race or donating to the Cronce's journey can visit croncemc.theworldrace.org.