I have just got back home from the training portion of this crazy thing called “The World Race.” The realization of this amazing journey really started to hit home over this time. My first thoughts of “training camp” were maybe bunk beds, several worship sessions, and teaching about how to become a good missionary. My expectations could not have been farther from what I walked into last Thursday.
There was training about how to become a missionary, but that was the absolute tip of the iceberg. The “in my head” bunk beds were replaced by the reality of a field where I slept outside in a tent. There was no running water. Showers consisted of filling up 5-gallon buckets and pouring cold water over your head. The training was just as much on experiencing what we would face on the field as it was what to do when we got there.
The food. Oh my, the food. Each day was a different area of the world. The first day was “Asia” day. This day we had no forks or spoons, just chopsticks, noodles and rice. I was about as good with chopsticks as you would expect someone who has never used chopsticks to be. Things got better on Africa day, when there was one bowl of food for eight people. And you could only use your right hand. (Yes, very sanitary!) It was cold. It was hot. Smelly. And overall, just plain hard.
This was probably the hardest 11 days of my life. But the crazy thing is, it was the absolute best 11 days of my life. Everything that was so hard physically was matched by teaching and challenging me mentally. We had sessions on women’s ministries, how to minister to orphans, how to preach, how to write a sermon, how to share our stories, and what it means to have the Holy Spirit live inside of us.
I met, for the first time, the people who I will be spending the next year of my life with. I saw people go from complete strangers to family in a matter of days. I met friends who will be in my wedding and will shape the rest of my life. There were 41 people on my team, all doing life together.
I think what I found so amazing about this whole experience is that we were all here because of the gracious gift of Jesus. This is not just a gift we are called to keep to ourselves. Each person around me is one part of a team whose entire goal is to tell people around the world about Jesus.
One thing I have always loved about Jesus is that He never promises that when you follow Him all out you will have an easy life. But He does promise to give life to the full. That’s what this experience was. I saw Him show up in ways that I never have before. And to think that this was just the tip of the iceberg!! I loved it.
