Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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     Eight weeks have passed since I landed in the Atlanta Airport and anxiously rode up the escalator towards baggage claim. I knew at the end of that escalator a crowd would be waiting, and somewhere in that crowd would be my family. As we climbed higher and higher, my body shook with excitement at the reality of finally seeing the people I had missed so desperately all year. Stepping off the escalator, I scanned the crowd and immediately spotted my red-headed sister Elizabeth sprinting towards me. Despite being loaded down with bags, I ran with abandon into her open arms. I felt others join our embrace and soon I was in the center of a three-person-deep circle hug. As the pile pulled apart, faces came into focus, and I was overwhelmed by the group that surrounded me: my whole family and some of my dearest friends. Although the tears, squeals, and embraces happened in a sea of strangers, it was the most beautiful and intimate homecoming I’ve ever experienced.
 
 
                              Finally reunited at the airport! Together with my beautiful family and best friend Shanna.

     The eight weeks following this moment have been wonderful and busy. My days have been full of traveling to see friends, attending weddings, eating Panera Bread practically every day, remembering how awesome it is to use a washing machine & dryer, saying goodbye to my best friend Shanna who is embarking on her own World Race journey (click HERE to meet her!) and sharing my story. 
 
     During all this reconnecting, the main thing most people want to know is: “So, what’s next?”
 
     In transitioning home, the Lord has used this question to teach me a huge lesson. 

     When I left for the World Race over a year ago, I had this unspoken expectation that I would get to a certain country and God would call me to live there forever. I guess I thought that was just part of going on the Race; you travel to 11 nations and at some point God calls you back there as a full-time missionary. That’s what I wanted and that’s what I prayed for. Each month I would ask, “Lord, is this the country where you want me? Are these the people you want me to serve?” Yet, month after month passed, and I never felt the Lord say, “Yes, this is home.” I watched God call my squad mates to different nations, but not me. I compared my call, or seemingly lack of call, to theirs. Am I not good enough Lord?

 

     Little did I know, but the Lord had a different picture of what would come after the Race than I did. It was in Kenya that He began to reveal His plan for me.  

     While in Nairobi, I had the chance to see one of my dearest friends Michelle who had just moved to Kenya. I knew Michelle from our days in Rome, GA and I owe dear Berry College for our friendship. At the time, Michelle was on the Student Ministries staff at First Presbyterian Church. She introduced me to a world I fell in love with: youth ministry. Many of my blogs capture my heart for discipling girls, and that is the direct result of Michelle discipling me, and revealing the passion the Lord has put in my heart for the same thing. 

                          “Studying” at Berry

     
Michelle & I with some of the youth at an Atlanta Braves game.
    
 As we caught up in Nairobi, our conversation turned to Rome and the students we loved there. Halfway through the conversation, I felt the Lord lay His hand on my heart and burden it for those students. The girls I had spent two years with captivated my thoughts and my prayers were soon focused stateside. God planted and grew a desire in my heart to pour into that youth group again. At this point you can probably guess where I’ve ended up…

 

     You’re right–it’s Rome!

     I have stepped into the role of Assistant Director of Student Ministries and am getting to do what I love: build relationships with girls and talk about Jesus. How great is that! This next season is definitely not what I expected, but I know with all of my heart that this is where the Lord wants me. And, through the process of transitioning into this next season, God taught me a huge lesson.
 
     Christianity does not have a scale system.
 
     I am not a better Christian because I have ministered overseas, and I am not less of one because I am not going back for a while.  

 

     What made me realize this was the difficulty I had in saying yes to staying in America. I felt like it wasn’t good enough. Why? Was it because I had put missionaries on a pedestal? Because I felt like I had to be in another country to live radically for Christ? I realized how much weight I had put on outward actions and even locations of ministry. Why did I let that matter? My identity is grounded in Christ and what He has done for me; not what I do or where I do it. I had let comparison and condemnation steal the joy of God’s plan for me.

    
     This time last year the Lord asked me to follow Him to 11 nations around the world. Today He is asking me to follow Him to Rome, Georgia. Next year, who knows? But what I do know is that my identity doesn’t change because my location does. I also know that God is good, and He is faithful. He has walked with me all my days, and will continue to take strides with me as long as I am on this earth. I love Him with everything in me, and long for nothing less than all of Him. Although I am no longer overseas, I know my lifestyle as a missionary will not end. The Lord has simply put me in a new battle field.

     Whoever is reading this, the same is true for you. It doesn’t matter where you are geographically, your mission and your identity is the same as believers around the world. You are God’s perfect creation and He loves you with an everlasting love. Let us give Him our whole heart. Let us love Him above all else and say yes in joyful obedience to what He has for us wherever that may be. Let us open our eyes to the needs of those around us and be the physical manifestation of Christ whether that is in the grocery store, our work place, our home, or a 3rd world country. Let us bring the Kingdom of the Almighty God wherever we go.