Why? This is a
question I have been hearing a lot lately. Why the world race? Why do you want to go? Why would you
want to give up your comfort for year? Some even wonder why are you so excited to go serve Jesus? What is the big deal? So here it is: My
ridiculous attempt at answering these questions.
Three years ago I went to Rehoboth, Namibia to serve in an
orphanage, teach AIDS education and prevention, in addition to feed and pray
for those who needed practical care. On this trip, God broke my heart but also ignited it. The people there had very little by
Americas standards, yet were full of joy, hope, potential, and complete
dependence on God. The people who
had once only been statistics now have faces and life stories. Coming home from Namibia I had peace
because somehow I knew that I would be back. God was very clear to me in this matter.
I always said that once I graduated from CBU, I would spend
sometime in the mission field. As
graduation approached thoughts of Africa entered my mind nearly every day. I
began actively researching more and more ministry opportunities with no
success. To be quite honest, I
gave up and began to put it off in frustration that nothing was working out in
my timeline. God had a different
plan. I learned about the world
race through a seemingly random string of events that I can only see now as
God’s work. This trip is
everything that I had been praying for over the last 3 years and much more than
I had ever dreamed of. I see now
why earlier trips didn’t work out. God had something bigger, something better: He had the world race!
Why the world race? I want to be obedient to the things God asks of me. I want to live
Isaiah 61. I want to wake up to
the world around me and live a year in which my life is not about me. I want to share the love, peace, and
healing I have experienced through knowing our King. I want others to be changed by Jesus. I want my life to be so radically changed that I can’t
help but spread that passion to others around me. I want to see all of God’s children the way that He
does. I want my heart, desires,
passions, and ultimately life to line up with what God has planned for me. Most of all, I want my life to contain
less of me and more of God.
I’m done talking about being in the mission field. Its time to act. I no longer want to
walk in passivity with God. It is
time to serve, change others, and be changed myself. It is time to be obedient. It is time give God all areas of my life, and not just parts
of it.
That is my heart, my passion, and only the beginning of my
reasons why.
