10 months. It is hard to believe that 289 days on the race are over, gone, never to return. That leaves 34 days left with my squad, my community, my family. This has been my family for the last year and it daily blows my mind that we will soon be home, separate, alone.
This is a charge to racers of U, V, W, and X Squads as we head into month 11.
Let’s get off the Internet, put away the movies, and stop being so focused on getting home.
We need cherish every remaining minute on the race because it will be over, all too soon.
The X Squad started the race in South Africa and my team was placed with a contact who had recently hosted a team in month 11. On our first day of ministry they told us about the huge differences in them; and us.
we were clean, they were dirty(we all know that is inevitable!)
we had energy, they were exhausted
we were pumped to be involved with ministry, they were hooked to the wifi
THAT WILL NOT BE US!
I don’t want my squad or my fellow racers to be known as the tired and checked out missionaries. We signed up for an 11 month mission trip, not 10 months of ministry and 1 month of vacation. Many of us have already experienced the desire to go home and be finished with the race, so month 11 isn’t going to unveil anything we haven’t seen before.
We have two obvious options:
1-Choose in push in and make the remaining days count.
2-Check out and coast till it’s over.
the choice should be clear.
For me, the saddest and hardest realization is that the race is over in 34 days.
As much as I want to be home with family; sipping coffee in my kitchen, and running through my neighborhood ALONE, it gives me a pit in my stomach to think about how I won’t be traveling the world with 36 great friends and sharing the name of Jesus to the far reaches of the planet. We will be at home starting a new season of life and as exciting as that season will be, we are here now so lets take advantage of it.
Today was our last off day in month 10 and we spent it laying in hammocks, watching sermons, talking about the past and reminiscing on the experiences of the race. During the afternoon I walked up the road with 3 friends to grab some chocolate milk and Oreos (best snack ever!). On our way back we stopped in the middle of the road to take in everything around us. Never in our lives would the four of us be on that road, together, with the Dominican mountains in front us, walking through a hobbit door into our home, drinking chocolate milk. These are the moments that we aren’t going to get back, so why not make as many of those memories as possible! Instead it has become normal to sit on wifi, planning weekend trips back home, or have conversations about our first meals back home and the comforts we are excited to have back. Those weekend trips will be here soon enough and as soon as we get in the routine of life at “home”, we will be wishing we were on the field. The grass is always greener on the other side and as pretty and watered as the US grass seems, I am going to miss the Haitian dirt and the mud puddles outside my tent.
Also, I am pretty sure that Jesus wasn’t stumbling through His final days, checked out, looking forward to the dinner He was gonna be having with His disciples. He was bringing the Kingdom every minute until His crucifixion. If we are choosing to follow Christ daily, that means picking up our packs, putting down our laptops, and running hard to the finish.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and
let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. -Hebrews 12:1-2
So, MONTH 11 RACERS….lets be fully present and give it 150% in our ministries.
Our final host deserves the same energy, passion and commitment that we gave to first host.
To the U, V, W, and X Squads:
We started this crazy journey together almost a year ago in Toccoa Falls, Ga. Now the day has come where we will get our final World Race passport stamps and begin to close the door on this season in our lives. We may be in three different continents but we are all serving with one heart to see the Kingdom come! As we set foot in South Africa, Albania, and Puerto Rico, lets unite as one World Race family to share the Gospel, hug tight, laugh a lot, and cherish every day left on the race!
To my X Squad brothers and sisters: You are my family. We are pioneers; bold, determined and passionate. We’ve shared laughs, tears, tents, hammocks, and water bottles (#billswanapproved). We were the squad that rolled into training camp chanting, cheering, and dancing with a desire to praise Jesus, so let’s be the squad that finishes the race with honest feedback, intentional team times, and all out passionate, obedient worship. We may be small in number, but we are MIGHTY and BIG in our faith, so let’s ROCK OUT FOR JESUS in Puerto Rico!!!!
Update for family and friends at home: I have officially conquered Chikungunya for the second time. It was a hard two week battle, but I am now 100% and feeling more ready than ever to finish the race with a boom. Thank you for your enormous amount of love, support, and prayers during my time of sickness. You are an amazing family of prayer warriors and I give full glory to God for my healing and renewed energy. God Bless each one of you! See yall in 34 days!
with love,
sam
