How We Were Called to the World
Race
Race
“I
have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land
filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.” – John Keith
Falconer
Dustin:
I believe that the call to
missions is something that every Christ follower has on their life. However, I
also believe that the mission field is different for just about everyone, be it
the home, the church, the workplace, the United States, or the unknown
indigenous tribes across the globe. For me, even though I did not always know
it or admit it, it has always been international missions.
missions is something that every Christ follower has on their life. However, I
also believe that the mission field is different for just about everyone, be it
the home, the church, the workplace, the United States, or the unknown
indigenous tribes across the globe. For me, even though I did not always know
it or admit it, it has always been international missions.
I have been blessed
with two wonderful parents that raised our family in the church from the very
beginning. My granddad was a preacher, and as I was growing up if I was not
learning from him, I was in the church nursery or VBS or Bible drill or RA’s or
choir or youth group or any other program that our church had running at the
time. During that time, I watched as our church’s youth minister left so that
she could go to Africa and work with a tribe whose language had never been
studied or understood by any outsiders, and I was awestruck, even as a young
kid, about how amazing that was. Immediately, I wanted to do something like
that when I grew up, and the more people I saw and heard doing other missions,
the more I could not wait to pursue that myself. However, as usual, other
things that were obviously much more
important like popularity and self-image started to be the focus of my
pursuits, and I tended to forget about the passion for missions that God had
instilled in me.
with two wonderful parents that raised our family in the church from the very
beginning. My granddad was a preacher, and as I was growing up if I was not
learning from him, I was in the church nursery or VBS or Bible drill or RA’s or
choir or youth group or any other program that our church had running at the
time. During that time, I watched as our church’s youth minister left so that
she could go to Africa and work with a tribe whose language had never been
studied or understood by any outsiders, and I was awestruck, even as a young
kid, about how amazing that was. Immediately, I wanted to do something like
that when I grew up, and the more people I saw and heard doing other missions,
the more I could not wait to pursue that myself. However, as usual, other
things that were obviously much more
important like popularity and self-image started to be the focus of my
pursuits, and I tended to forget about the passion for missions that God had
instilled in me.
Traci and I were both fortunate enough to grow up in a very
Christian based community. I hope that I will someday be able to raise a family
in a place like that, and I am very thankful for all of the people that helped
shape our lives there. In spite of this, I found that my friends and I, having
grown up in the church our whole lives, began to fall into several different
traps that seem to plague the so-called Bible belt. We all believed the same things, faced almost
no persecution of any type, and did not really strive to reach out to anybody
else outside of our group, and we got devoured by things like complacency,
legalism, and self-righteousness. Unbelievably quickly, we began to judge each
other and everyone else by how well they could follow the rules that we deemed
important, and the ability to hide your sin at least as well as everyone else
became the most desirable trait. The Gospel and pursuit of Biblical community
evaporated before we even knew that it was gone.
Christian based community. I hope that I will someday be able to raise a family
in a place like that, and I am very thankful for all of the people that helped
shape our lives there. In spite of this, I found that my friends and I, having
grown up in the church our whole lives, began to fall into several different
traps that seem to plague the so-called Bible belt. We all believed the same things, faced almost
no persecution of any type, and did not really strive to reach out to anybody
else outside of our group, and we got devoured by things like complacency,
legalism, and self-righteousness. Unbelievably quickly, we began to judge each
other and everyone else by how well they could follow the rules that we deemed
important, and the ability to hide your sin at least as well as everyone else
became the most desirable trait. The Gospel and pursuit of Biblical community
evaporated before we even knew that it was gone.
For me, it took a mission trip
to Seattle, WA in my junior year of high school to really begin to open my eyes
to how wrong we had been. It was an opportunity, for one of the first times in
my life, to actually see, hear, and experience a worldview drastically
different from my own or any other that I had previously encountered. The
chance to engage with people outside of the confines of my same belief system
was actually a very freeing ordeal, and God really used that to just begin
speaking the idea of grace into my life, not just for me but for everyone else.
It was a fundamental shift in my beliefs, which I hope I never forget, that God
was not calling me to bring legalism or judgment but simply to try and share
His grace with as many people as I could find. The zeal for missions came
roaring back into my life, and I knew then that God had not idly placed that
into my heart as a child.
to Seattle, WA in my junior year of high school to really begin to open my eyes
to how wrong we had been. It was an opportunity, for one of the first times in
my life, to actually see, hear, and experience a worldview drastically
different from my own or any other that I had previously encountered. The
chance to engage with people outside of the confines of my same belief system
was actually a very freeing ordeal, and God really used that to just begin
speaking the idea of grace into my life, not just for me but for everyone else.
It was a fundamental shift in my beliefs, which I hope I never forget, that God
was not calling me to bring legalism or judgment but simply to try and share
His grace with as many people as I could find. The zeal for missions came
roaring back into my life, and I knew then that God had not idly placed that
into my heart as a child.
A few years later, at The Village Church that I
attended during college, I heard a sermon about loving your neighbor and
engaging culture. The one idea that really hit me was that our calling in life
is not to try build up walls or a Christian subculture and then force people to
come to us, but instead to go out and engage other people and cultures right
where they are right now. Even though it has been a few years since I heard
that message, I knew at that moment that I would be serving that calling
overseas in the near future. In that same series, Matt Chandler had a quote
that I will always have with me, especially with my background, where he said,
“And so our job is not to lean against the cross like
we’re something awesome and go, ‘You’ve got to come and be like us.’ But
rather, we’re to kneel at the foot of the cross and go, ‘We’re just like you.
Come join us.'” I hope that I can carry that message of grace with me as we go
to the nations and try to fight back the darkness.
attended during college, I heard a sermon about loving your neighbor and
engaging culture. The one idea that really hit me was that our calling in life
is not to try build up walls or a Christian subculture and then force people to
come to us, but instead to go out and engage other people and cultures right
where they are right now. Even though it has been a few years since I heard
that message, I knew at that moment that I would be serving that calling
overseas in the near future. In that same series, Matt Chandler had a quote
that I will always have with me, especially with my background, where he said,
“And so our job is not to lean against the cross like
we’re something awesome and go, ‘You’ve got to come and be like us.’ But
rather, we’re to kneel at the foot of the cross and go, ‘We’re just like you.
Come join us.'” I hope that I can carry that message of grace with me as we go
to the nations and try to fight back the darkness.
Traci:
The first time I felt called to missions was when I was
about 15 years old. I was at First
Baptist Church for Disciple Now, and we were discussing what it meant to be a
servant for Christ. God worked on my
heart that entire weekend, and I distinctly remember getting down on my knees,
in the third pew from the front of the church and praying that if God can use
me, I’ll go. I’ll serve and commit myself to serve Christ, wherever He chooses. Little did I know that it would take about
nine years to fulfill this calling for international missions.
about 15 years old. I was at First
Baptist Church for Disciple Now, and we were discussing what it meant to be a
servant for Christ. God worked on my
heart that entire weekend, and I distinctly remember getting down on my knees,
in the third pew from the front of the church and praying that if God can use
me, I’ll go. I’ll serve and commit myself to serve Christ, wherever He chooses. Little did I know that it would take about
nine years to fulfill this calling for international missions.
A couple
years later, I heard a pastor say the phrase “walk in the way of your bliss.” At the time, it was so appropriate for my
life, because I had a desire to serve God, but also to travel new places and
explore new things. This became a
defining moment when I realized that not only had God called me to missions,
but international missions. God had put
in me a desire for new people, new places, and above all to serve Him in any
capacity. As I have grown with the
knowledge that one day, on God’s timing, I would leave the country and serve on
the mission field, I began to realize that no matter where I am, God plans to
use me. I began to get involved with the
high school youth, building relationships with others, and serving in Sunday
school as a way to serve right where I am at this moment. I am by no means a special Christian, and at
time find myself questioning why God would choose ME of all people to serve
overseas. But all God needs is a willing
spirit to go and spread His word throughout the world, and I am ready to go.
years later, I heard a pastor say the phrase “walk in the way of your bliss.” At the time, it was so appropriate for my
life, because I had a desire to serve God, but also to travel new places and
explore new things. This became a
defining moment when I realized that not only had God called me to missions,
but international missions. God had put
in me a desire for new people, new places, and above all to serve Him in any
capacity. As I have grown with the
knowledge that one day, on God’s timing, I would leave the country and serve on
the mission field, I began to realize that no matter where I am, God plans to
use me. I began to get involved with the
high school youth, building relationships with others, and serving in Sunday
school as a way to serve right where I am at this moment. I am by no means a special Christian, and at
time find myself questioning why God would choose ME of all people to serve
overseas. But all God needs is a willing
spirit to go and spread His word throughout the world, and I am ready to go.
Us:
As we started dating, we both knew that we had been
called individually to go serve God overseas, but we did not know quite how
that was going to look in our lives. We never really imagined that we would end
up chasing this calling together, but it seems that God had it planned out like
that long before we even knew each other. We have been praying and looking for
an opportunity to serve over the last two years, and we really thought that we
would end up serving in one place for a couple of years. As we really began to
interact with a few organizations earlier this year, out of nowhere, Traci’s
sister, told us about a mission opportunity that several of her friends had
participated in called The World Race. We looked into it and prayed about it,
and it just seemed like the one thing that we had been waiting for this entire
time. The application, interview, and acceptance process flew by like a
whirlwind, and the rest is history. We are so thankful for this opportunity and
the stories that God wrote for us to get us to this place. We hope that above
all else we are walking in His will and bringing glory to Him in all that we
are about to do!
called individually to go serve God overseas, but we did not know quite how
that was going to look in our lives. We never really imagined that we would end
up chasing this calling together, but it seems that God had it planned out like
that long before we even knew each other. We have been praying and looking for
an opportunity to serve over the last two years, and we really thought that we
would end up serving in one place for a couple of years. As we really began to
interact with a few organizations earlier this year, out of nowhere, Traci’s
sister, told us about a mission opportunity that several of her friends had
participated in called The World Race. We looked into it and prayed about it,
and it just seemed like the one thing that we had been waiting for this entire
time. The application, interview, and acceptance process flew by like a
whirlwind, and the rest is history. We are so thankful for this opportunity and
the stories that God wrote for us to get us to this place. We hope that above
all else we are walking in His will and bringing glory to Him in all that we
are about to do!
