In 2012, I had an incredible, life-changing year on the World Race. I served in 11 countries, worked with 11 different ministries, in 11 radically different cultures of the world. God shattered the box I’d put him in, healed me and freed me from so much of the junk in my past, and empowered me for a lifetime of serving him.
At the end of that year, God forever burdened my heart for his children living on the street in the Philippines, and in April, I moved here to start a ministry for them. Now, we have a drop-in center and an education program where 16 kids come every day for a shower, a healthy meal, clean clothes, they brush their teeth, and go to school. God has blown me away!
When I was on the Race, I never imagined that I would be the one to move overseas. And I DEFINITELY never imagined I would become a contact for future World Race teams. But here I am living in the Philippines with 16 kids who I love so so much and hosting teams. God has a sense of humor for sure!
For the past three months we’ve had three World Race teams here in a row. And I’ll be honest – I was skeptical about them coming at first. But God has really amazed me every time by how much of a blessing each team has been to us. I’ve learned a lot these past few months being on the other side of the World Race – things I truly never thought about as a Racer, but I wish I had.
So I wanted to share both the blessings and the challenges I’ve seen lately, and I hope it helps future Racers as you seek to make an impact on the places you go.
1. Be creative and find ways to join in the existing ministry. Don’t expect your contact to always be the one to find things for you to do. More than likely, the ministry runs smoothly without you there so don’t try to take over for the month. Instead, find small ways to help and encourage the people who are already there. Before the first team came here, I was super stressed thinking to myself, “what are they going to do?!” But I’ve realized the biggest ways they help us are usually in the small things. Pray for our teachers before class. Clean the bathroom after the kids shower. Give the kids special one on one attention. Help with homework. It’s not glamorous but it really helps!
2. Be thankful for what you’re given. When teams come here they stay in a TINY room with three bunk beds and not really any space for their stuff. It’s tiny and cramped and this is the Philippines so it’s always freaking hot. But it’s literally the only space we have right now. I’m always nervous before teams come because part of me expects them to hate it here because they have to sleep in such a small space. But y’all – I’ve never heard anyone complain. I know it’s tough. But when teams rough it and still have a smile on their face it really means a lot.
3. Make the most of the first hour after you arrive. Be careful about what you ask in the first hour you meet your contacts. I know (believe me!) how exciting it is to land in a new country. But when your first 20 questions are only about what there is to do on your off day and where to buy patches for your pack, it gives the impression that those things are more important to you than ministry.
4. Include your contacts in your community for the month. Some of the best parts of World Race culture are REALLY hard to duplicate in “real life.” Two of the biggest for me: community and worship. Community is hard here because I’m one of three Americans, and worship is just different because its not in my first language. One of the teams took a night to wash our feet and pray over us and invited us to join them for karaoke. Another team invited us over for worship one night. I nearly died. It was so great. I’m sure some contacts will say no to your offer, but I think it never hurts to try and include them! I really appreciated it.
5. Find a way to leave a blessing. This is something I don’t think my team did a very good job of when I was on the Race that I wish I would’ve thought about. One team that came raised money for us to buy all the kids shoes and new church outfits, and the team that just left used personal money to buy us some canned food for the kids and other small items they saw we needed. It wasn’t asked for. It definitely wasn’t expected. But when the budget is tight and money is low, things like that go a LONG way to help!
6. Show your contacts some grace. More than likely your contact’s schedule was jam-packed before you arrived. I rarely thought about it while I was on the Race, but this is your contact’s life. Their responsibilities don’t go away just because you’re there for the month, and they can’t clear their schedule for the next 30 days. So show them grace when they forget to bring you more toilet paper. And forgive them when they show up late with your dinner. They were probably just trying to cook dinner, switch the laundry, take a shower, and pay their overdue water bill all in their 30 minute break.
7. Remember that you’re leaving soon. This is especially important when you’re working with kids. By all means love them and play with them, but please be careful about how close you get. Keep in mind that in a few short weeks, a goodbye is coming. Some of our kids are really starting to have a hard time saying goodbye. On one hand it’s good – it means they were loved well. On the other hand it causes problems for weeks and months to come. The kids get depressed, angry, and don’t understand why you left. I know its hard, but try to find a balance.
8. Cover the place in prayer. I really have seen the lasting impact and power of prayer on our ministry. A lot of what you do in a month on the Race is short-term, but prayer isn’t. Ask your contact for specific ways to pray for the ministry. Go out onto the streets and cover them in prayer. It works. It changes things. It multiplies. I truly believe the more you pray as a team, the bigger the impact you’ll make.
Current or Future Racers: I hope and pray this challenges you as you go! The World Race is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Embrace it for all its worth!
