If you are somewhat like me, you have spent most of your discipleship
life within the American church system. Because of that, we are trained
to learn and grow through someone teaching us, preaching the word,
sharing stories. Basically, we have grown up learning through
listening. This is not a bad thing… it’s a very healthy way to learn.
However, over 11-month journey around the world, you may often be
looked to as the one doing the teaching, bringing the message, and
sharing
your story.
Sometimes you will have an AIM staff member or local ministry contact
who might give you some teaching time. However, their role is much more
focused in giving you hands on learning than it is preaching at you.
Because of this, many Racers often begin to feel a lack in their
spiritual life.
The first step in preparing for this is to examine how you have learned
and grown the best in your knowledge of God in the past. Where are some
benchmark experiences where you grew with the Lord? What “ingredients”
helped you grab that understanding? Did someone teach you? Did a book
speak to you? Was it more illustration and testimony based or was it
more inspired by logical explanation and reasoning?
Spend some time journaling about those experiences and ask God to reveal what He has used to teach you in the past.
Next, spend some time researching how you will have those teaching
tools available to you during the year. If books have been a large part
of your learning, you will need to make sure you have room in your pack
to bring a few extra books. Yup… that will make your pack heavier…
but it will be worth it if that feeds you along the road. If you learn
through teaching, research how you can access sermons online – podcasts
and websites like oneplace.com or sermonaudio.com are great tools. Also, be sure you have the electronics necessary for these things!!!
You also might find a supporter who is willing to send you care
packages that include new books or sermon cds that will help you along
the road. If you are having trouble discovering how to best feed
yourself, feel free to contact me and I will help you brainstorm. It
also may help to share your ideas as comments on this blog.
