The World Race is designed to be 11 months of complete
abandon; 11 months of laying down your rights and entitlements, and I would say
that by American standards I have abandoned much. For instance, this year I
have abandoned . . . .
- my
church and a style of worship
that brings me into God’s presence every time I submit myself to it. - the
comfort of seeing my family every day. - friends
that I have chosen, and the choice of when I see them or when I turn my
phone to silent and let the voice mail pick up. - my phone.
period. and reliable internet at my finger tips 24/7. - the
security of a stable job and steady income. - my car
a.k.a. my key to the freedom of going anywhere I want when I want. - my
thoughts about my body image (bc let’s face it, when your budget is $1 per
meal, you just can’t choose what food they serve you in Africa
. . . or anywhere else in the world for that matter.) - the
desire to wear high heels or pretty clothes. - not to
mention the ability to go to a closet and choose from more than 7 shirts,
2 pairs of pants, 5 pairs of underwear, 2 sweaters, 4 pairs of socks and 3
pairs of shoes. - my old
definition of beauty and what it is that makes me beautiful. - my
time and the freedom to decide when to abide by someone else’s agenda or
when to create my own. - my
concept of a toilet or what it means to flush toilet paper. - my
personal space and what constitutes an invasion of this space. - my
anal-retentive standards of what a “clean living space” is. - the
opinions of what others think of me. - the
constraints we, as Americans or Westerners, allow time to put on us. - my
inability to WAIT. - the
old prayers I’d pray for my husband. - the
former ideals and standards I held for men and dating (. . . they just
weren’t high enough.) - GOOD Mexican food, Italian food,
Indian food, Greek food, American food and Bubbe’s food. - the
idea that I need to shower every day or even every other day in order to
be/feel clean. - eating
6 small meals per day and traded it for eating whenever food is served me. - my
perception of alone time and
what it means to be “alone” (before:
it meant physically being alone. now:
I put my ipod on shuffle, turn the volume up, close my eyes, and WAH-LA!! I am alone.) - my
thoughts about what a missionary is and what a missionary does. - the
old vision of how I should be a missionary and what I should do with my
life. - my old
perceptions of who God is and how God deals with humanity.
I have behind me 11 months of abandonment. Some of the
things listed are superficial and material; some of them are deep concepts.
Some of those things I will only have to abandon for another week. Some of
those things I will never pick back up again.
But even in my 11th month, I still had more to
learn about what it looks like to live in true
abandonment, (because let’s be honest, even though it didn’t happen often,
I took advantage of every time I could eat a Mexican meal this year.) and I
stood before the Lord, yet again, humbled.
Sergey has been a Christian for about two years. Before this, (in the words of Andrew, our contact) if you could smoke it, toke it, drink it, shoot it, snort it or sleep with it, Sergey did. He was living in Moscow at the time. Because of the lifestyle he had chosen doctors told him he was dying and did not have much longer to live. He packed a bag and left for Ivankov, Ukraine where his brother lives, the only one of 11 siblings that he has contact with. He wanted to say one last good bye. When he got there his brother, who is a Christian, began ministering to him. He began praying for him and after about three months of living with him, God healed Sergey completely. A few months after this Sergey became a Christian. Now Sergey lives a sold out life.
As a construction worker, Sergey helped build the buildings for the Christian summer camp that Andrew and Jenny run in Ivankov for underprivileged kids. This last summer, Sergey opted to refuse construction jobs in order to volunteer his time at camp as a counselor. He says that he feels so incredibly called to tell these kids about Jesus because he wishes someone would have done this for him when he was a kid.
Because of his relationship with Jesus and his desire to share Jesus with these kids, Sergey is giving up his comfortable house in Ivankov to move into the village where the camp is located. But the only house available in the village is an absolute dump.
This past Friday my team and I rallied around Sergey. To
show our support, we went to his future home, put a coat of paint on the
exterior and weed-whacked the front yard. I was stunned when I saw the house; it was little more than than a 2 and half room shack. Grass
and weeds as tall as my knees. Side paneling coming off. No running water. No
toilet. No stove. No sink. Broken windows. Rat poop everywhere. Peeling wall paper. Sagging
ceilings. Cracks in the walls. Junk left to rot in the rooms. Water damage.
Spider webs in the corners. . . . The “house” was in complete disrepair;
unlivable by American and even, Ukrainian standards. But Sergey could not be
more excited! His words were futuristic as he spoke. He was dreaming. “Just think,
there is pond behind here that the kids at camp will love! We will build more
cabins over there and eventually . . . .”
Hearing him talk brought tears to my eyes. Never did he
speak one “I” statement about what he
wanted or he needed. He was
absolutely over-joyed to rent this dump at $12 USD per month in order that he could
introduce kids at camp to Jesus.
Am I really that willing to forsake all my comforts of modern convenience indefinitely and live in a complete dump if it means I will have the opportunity to share Christ with just one other person? . . . .
As I prepare to go home it is my prayer that every day God
will give me the grace and strength to decrease my “I” statements, consider
other’s needs ahead of my own, and continue to abandon the momentary comforts
of this world; to consider them all a loss, in order to give Jesus to every
neighbor that God brings into my life.
