Sometime in the past year, I’ve fallen head over heels in love with the Lord. I can’t tell you when or how exactly it happened; all I know is it has.
While in the Philippines, the Lord clearly reminded me of my purpose through the beautiful eyes and unforgettable smile of a boy from the slums named Michael. The Lord assured me, “Daina, just as you have poured your love upon this child of mine, I need you to pour your love upon all my children.”
By this point, I already somewhat knew what that could mean. It could mean spending the next 11 months of my life on one of the most unimaginable trips out there. Well, I guess someone had to have imagined it. This World Race trip that I had found was crazy though. It obviously was not simply man’s doing that put it together.
So here I am now, part of this crazy adventure known as the World Race. On August 11th, I will be departing New York City and the United States for pretty much the next year, taking with me only my backpack, a tent, and 84 amazing friends who have also sold out to God. If the Lord wills it, we’ll travel to at least 11 countries during our time, tentatively including Ireland, Romania, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Kenya, Uganda, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. We will be working both as small teams (goodness.gracious!) and as larger squads (K squad!) while over there and will be working hand in hand with local ministries already established in these countries, oftentimes even eating and sleeping there. We will be living as the locals and adjusting to a much more simplistic lifestyle than we’ve ever known so prayers would be much appreciated 🙂
We were strangers who soon became friends who’ve now become family. We have brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, all united because of our unyielding passion to serve our God.
In his book Crazy Love, author Francis Chan reminds us,
“John clearly tells us that ‘whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did’ (1 John 2:6). Are you ready and willing to make yourself nothing? To take the very nature of a servant? To be obedient unto death? If your honest answer to those questions is yes, how are those intentions manifested in your life?”
For me, the World Race is not 11 months of following Christ. I strive to do that more with each passing day. The World Race is merely the beginning of this next chapter of mine, the beginning of a life-long journey.
