A picture is worth a thousand words, but pictures do not describe everything. So much of my World Race is in pictures on Instagram or Facebook and so it is easy to expect to have a pretty general overview of what this journey has looked like for me, but that assumption would be off. So many of the moments on the race that have changed me cannot be detailed to a picture.
While in some of my pictures it looks like I am having the time of my life checking bucket lists items off and seeing wonders of the world and while I am having an amazing experience that I would not trade for anything, this trip is no vacation. It pushes me, it challenges me, it makes me mad, it excites me, it breaks me, but how do you encompass or express those moments? Some people see the pictures and wonder if we are even doing ministry some days, because a lot of the pictures posted are on our off days. The World Race can seem like an adventure of a lifetime because you get to bungee jump off one the tallest bridges in the world, or you get to ride and play with elephants, or because you see so much of the world, but that is not all it is, not at all. The real adventure is not on Saturdays but it is between Monday through Friday when ministry is happening. The world race is real life situations just 10,000 miles away from home.
So I am here to set the record straight and give you glimpses into some of those moments the good, the bad, and the ugly, because sometimes words and memories are worth so much more than a picture.
1. Instagram does not show you what community looks like.
It won’t show when the presence of the Lord shows up at a squad worship. It doesn’t show the life changing conversations you have with teammates. It doesn’t show the hard days when you are not getting along with your team. It doesn’t show the adventures you make up with your team when your in the middle of nowhere.
—Pictures cannot show that first month when your with your team and trying to find your place amongst these people wondering if you can live 11 months with them. Those first feedback sessions that can seem so awkward because you have no idea what to say. Community is hard, but it is also rewarding. You do not get to chose who you do this race with, God does. Sometimes he places you on a team where you may not get along with someone and trust me that is hard. Emotions run high. It can be challenging to prefer a teammate over yourself. On my first team, there were a lot of different personalities some meshed well together and others did not. It was really hard some days ( many days we wanted to give up and go home) and any of my teammates will tell you that, but we all agree on one thing God placed us on that team for a purpose.
—Community is a place for people to pour into you and for you to pour into them. I did not know these 38 people I am traveling with 11 months ago, but today I can go to anyone of them and know they would be open to talk to me. I can trust them to speak like over me and speak truth to me, even if that truth hurts.
—Community is family. Sometimes their crazy. Sometimes you do not like them. Sometimes they get on your nerves, but no matter what you have each other’s backs. You love them because their your crazy squad family.
2. Instagram will not show you what ministry truly looks like
It won’t be able to describe in a picture how much a child touched your heart. It won’t be able to describe the heat and the bugs you endured while doing manual labor. It will not be able to describe how some days you do not see the point in what you are doing. And some days you know exactly why you are there.
—Some ministries you are going to be doing hard stuff. You may be going to bars in the red light district talking and helping sex trafficking victims. You may be asked to pray healing over a little girl who has just suffered third degree burns in Africa. You may feed rice to over 150 kids and while they may not seem like much, it is all they may eat for the next week . You may find yourself talking about the love of God to a former Buddhist just praying God does the talking and not you. You may be the one Ray of sunshine in orphans life and it kills you when you have to say goodbye when his eyes are filled with tears.
—A lot of ministry may seem mundane and monotonous. Selecting over thousands of rocks from a river in Bolivia to build a pathway. You may chop vegetables everyday from nine in the morning until 3 in the afternoon. You may find youself painting every single ministry day. You may find youself mixing pig feed. It’s in those moments, you wonder what in the world is this doing to help build God’s kingdom.
—Ministry is what you make it. Sometimes God allows the monotonous and simple to prepare you for the hard stuff. A lot of times ministry is a work day. It is hard to encompass in a picture what a true ministry day looks like. Sometimes it can be boring. Sometimes, it can be the best day of the week. You may feel you can do more, or you may work until your dog tired. Instagram will not show half the things that occur in a typical ministry day because we are too busy to take a picture or we may be working at a place where pictures are not ok. But trust me, ministry is always happening and God is always working whether you snap it in a picture or not.
3. Instagram does not show what goes on in the mind of a racer.
Pictures do not show the changes that occur in people over the course of this year. Yes, physical changes are definitely noticeable, but there are changes in the mind and heart that no Instagram filter can portray. They won’t describe the excitement when you get on that first plane. They won’t describe the hole you feel month 5 because you miss home. They cannot describe that moment when God releases you or heals you from your past. A picture will not describe the anxiety a racer feels before returning home. It definelty does not describe the feeling when God places a dream on your heart and you are ready to chase it.
—Your view of the world will change. One day you love what you are doing, the next day all you can think of is home. You think of home a lot. You think about what you miss, your favorite food, what your friends are doing. And then, you feel guilty for missing home because you are on this amazing journey. On this trip, you are introduced to so many different cultures and ways of living. Some will make you grateful for your own culture and some will teach you valuable lessons. A racer’s outlook on life is usually changed because of being emerged into so many cultures. And even though you miss home, most racer’s have fears about returning home because they have changed but home has not changed.
—Your view of yourself will most likely change. Living in constant community you will start to notice things about yourself. Things you like or things you want to change. Your teammates will encourage you in these changes. But God will do a work in your heart and you start to believe the truths that God has spoken over you. No longer will you be a victim. No loner will you feel unlovable, defeated, ugly, or whatever else lie we may tell ourselves. The race is an opportunity for God to define you and when you allow God to define you change how you look at yourself and allow your identity to be found in him.
—Your view of God will change. The race helps you see God in a way you never saw him before. You may start to see him as your Father. You may start to see him as your friend. In a world away from home, you find youself relying on God a lot more. You learn more about him. And sometimes you have an encounter with the amazing gracious love of the father. Once you have an encounter with his love, your view of God is changed completely. All you see is love and all you want to do is love like he loves.
Pictures are great and they allow people to see what you are doing, but there is so much more going on behind the scenes than what meets the eye.
