Since getting back from the Race life has seem to both creep and fly by. As it often does when most get back from trips. There’s the daily reflection of what we were doing at this point x amount of time ago, what spectacular life we were experiencing, or potentially absurd decision we almost made (or did make). But also the realization that there’s a lot to look forward to and new to experience.
It’s weird to go from a life lived in monthly increments to a not-so-specific timetable of events. Instead of having things handed to me at the start of a month job and ministry wise – kind of like a syllabus – it’s taken a little extra gumption and thought as to what I want to do. I have to expose myself, put myself out there, a little more than I might have on the Race. On the Race it was easier. On the Race I was there to be a missionary (which we could say is always our job) and people often associate white American with Christ. That’s the primary relationship villagers had with white Americans. They know that people rarely travel to another hemisphere to visit a desert Hindu village, or remote transient city, or city dump.
No longer is life lived in those visceral moments of discovery, but life is still visceral. I just have to execute a little more patience now. Now it’s with the guy who walks by while I sit on a city bench and he mutters something under his breath. Or it’s with old friendships that get to start again after a year’s absence. It’s getting to be there day in and day out, waiting for an opportunity to extend grace and compassion, and possibly a loving kick in the butt, to those who have meant so much to me over the past 2, 4, 12, or 25 years.
And, while I do cherish these friendships and wish you would all just jump in the car seat next to me, I have also been extended an opportunity to once again move. This time to Gainesville, Georgia. Adventures in Missions, the organization that oversees the Race, has asked me to come on board and assist with project development for a department called Adventures Encounter where I’ll organize short term trips of one to three weeks for adults 18+ and/or church groups global. I’m really excited about this, as it will allow others to experience the beauty of missions, and potentially cause them to become indefinite missionaries. I honestly believe our greatest source for long-term missions begins from exposure through short-term missions.
If you would like to have further information about Adventures Encounter, or how you can get involved, either reply here, or send me an email to the address listed below. I’d also greatly appreciate your prayers for continued guidance on what my long term plans will look like and how it relates to where I’m at now (I’m a planner) as well as endurance to continue day to day with my relationship with the Lord and the ministry he calls me to.
If you would like to support me financially, you can also shoot me an email so I can provide you with more specifics about finances and what that looks like.
And please send your life updates and prayer requests so I can know what’s going on with you!
Thanks guys!
EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]
