Inside LESS- Kyle Crimi

Aliases: Chester, Captain Djibouti, Ky

Hometown:  Jordan (J-town), Minnesota

After the Race: Moving to Colorado to live life and “figure it out”

Support: Kyle still needs some support to be fully raised to get reimbursed for insurance, vaccines, etc…   This would be a huge blessing to get help get him started in his next step after the race.

You can bless Kyle by clicking here:   Support Kyle!

Overview of Racer:

            Kyle was one of the first people I met on the World Race all the way back in April.   I remember thinking “wow… he is really quiet.”   He was on my original training camp team (go green team) and he told us very early on that once he gets to know you he won’t stop talking.   That statement is a little extreme (sort of like Kyle :)) because he is an extremely deep thinker… but Kyle is also extremely great to talk to and whole lot of fun to joke around with. He’s a really great mix of deep thinking and goofiness… and he’s really sincere about both.

            Since last April we have seen Kyle go through an incredible transformation. In April Kyle was unsure of his faith and his place on the World Race. He was convinced that he could never pray in front of people.   By September he was sharing a message with our squad.   Now, he shares detailed devos with our team, writes really challenging blogs, and enjoys sharing messages with different congregations we’ve met around the world.

          One of the times I really saw Kyle “come alive” this year was in the Philippines working with Sherwin and his family on the gutter project. Kyle jumped into those relationships and really invested his heart there.   It was amazing to see the fruit of that… church with their family on Sundays, playing Chess with his younger brother (and “letting” him have the winning record), the little girls that just squealed with joy as they ran into his arms, ,seeing the look on Sherwin’s wife’s face when the two of them came back from haircuts with matching mohawks, and finally seeing them celebrate new years together in Manila.   It is such an amazing example of how we can invest in each other across all sorts of boundaries.

A few tidbits:

*   Kyle is easily encouraged to change his “look” for a few days before a haircut or before he shaves. We’ve been treated to flashes of mustaches and mohawks all year long.

*   In case you think Kyle has lost his “edge” this year… you should also know that Kyle is not just a missionary but also a fearsome pirate. He became Captain Djibouti last May and was seen pirating around all last summer at a Christian sports camp.

* Kids are obsessed with Kyle. Now, some of this has to do with his height (most cultures have never seen someone 6’4” tall), but there’s something else going on there.   Kyle has been a human jungle gym and great friend to nearly all the children of the missionaries we’ve met this year.

* Kyle brought his guitar this year so that he could learn.   At the beginning of the year he needed Danny’s help with everything… now we hear him singing away and he can learn a new song so quickly.   We were even treated to him leading worship in Mozambique.