If I ever make The World Race sound like it’s really easy for me, then I apologize. Since the very beginning of signing up for the World Race I have been asked to do things that scare me. It took me until month four to let that realization set in.
It is one thing to talk about mission work or watch people doing it but to actually do them is a whole other ball game. At the beginning of this month I found myself wishing that I could be the person that watches all of these great things happen because of the fears and lies that were filling my head as I was taking in my ministry assignment. I was really tempted to do a slow fade into the background and let my squad do all the heavy lifting while I watched. I came into this month exhausted and on top of my exhaustion there was a lot of confusion with our host on what he wanted us to do, there was uncertainty of where my team and I were going to live, and from what I could gather from what we were supposed to be doing this month seemed like A LOT. A lot of things to do/get done in 20 days and a lot of things I have never done before. There was a part of me that just said no. That is when I realized I signed up for this. I signed up to say yes to the things that scare me, that challenge me and to do things with absolutely no idea of how the outcome will be. I signed up to be uncomfortable.
Thinking back since the beginning of my race I realize this feeling of wanting to say no has been a constant theme when I face the things that scare me and have never done before. However, there is something in my spirit that says yes and that is the voice that ultimately wins. That is the voice I listen to more than my own and more that the lies that take hold of me. Never for one second have I ever regretted saying yes. I got to see God show up in incredible ways because I said yes. When you say yes to the things that scare you, it’s a beautiful thing, God shows up.
This month I gave my testimony day after day to classes of middle school and high school students. I shared my testimony in front of a church. I became a safe space for college girls to open up to and bring hidden things to the light so God can begin the healing process. I spoke on a radio station about God and how I got to be on the World Race. I prayed over an elderly lady to be healed. I prayed over students who came to me for prayer at the end of powerful sermons my squad-mates gave. I learned a traditional Filipino dance and performed it (horribly) in front of a gym full of Filipinos. I played the role of greed in a skit that we performed at least 4 times. I lead someone in the “sinners prayer” for the first time. God worked in and through all of these things for his purposes and I am thankful I said yes and got to be apart of it.
At the end of this month we were given new teams to do life and ministry with for the next couple of months and I was asked to be a team leader. I said yes even though the thought scares me and doesn’t make a lot of sense to me but I know it’s going to be good. God is going to be in it all.
