The World Race isn’t a typical, fly into a country, do all the things, exhaust yourself, and fly out mission trip. The racers, the people, that sign up for the World Race aren’t taking a holiday from their normal lives in order to go help and love people. We have come to the point that God has called our lives to be completely shaken and look completely abnormal from anything typical. We have packed our big packs and left everything else behind. Everything except all our baggage, hurts, fears, questions, hopes, dreams, and desires.
We have left behind not our real lives, just the things in them and the environment we were living in. Our lives are still being lived, and God is still working on our imperfect selves here. We aren’t Barbie Savior that comes into a country bringing all the answers. We are simply saying, “God, please use me and show up in my life.” Every Single Day.
So in these last three months/countries, our ministry has completely shaken up what the concept of ministry is. We haven’t been given a specific group to work with. We haven’t been told the city to go to. We haven’t been given housing to stay at. We have been given a budget, a start and end date, and a reminder: ministry is life and life is ministry.
In World Race terms, we have been doing ATL and UH.
ATL = Ask the Lord
It’s asking God for direction, or a picture, or a place. And most importantly, it’s asking the Lord to show up in crazy, awesome ways. It’s asking Him for divine appointments. It’s asking Him to let us be aware of the people He has placed in our path for us.
In Malaysia, that looked like becoming friends with an entire Starbucks crew and just getting to know them. It looked like going to a food festival, seeing a church, walking in, and making friends with a young 18 year old that has had a really hard life but loves Jesus. It’s photobombing people and then looking to the side and seeing you made a dad of 2 small children laugh.
In Thailand, it looked like being determined to make a woman who makes smoothies smile and going back every single day to show that she is important and seen. It’s going to lunch with women from a church and meeting the most fascinating woman, then spending a day with her, studying the Bible and building a relationship. It’s hanging out with elephants and Americans and showing that travel can mean more than just sightseeing.
I can’t point to a goal or a list of accomplishments from these two countries. I can say that I learned to let God have control of my day. I learned to be interruptible and see people, instead of walking around in my own bubble. I can say that I was exactly where God wanted me to be and that I felt more “in ministry” these months than being with an organization because it was all by God and not in my own strength.
UH = Unsung Heroes
It is going into a place and looking for a “man of peace”, a believer that God has placed for us to meet, and connecting them to our organization. And for us going to Sri Lanka, it was also pioneering a country that no World Racer has ever been.
We knew nothing about Sri Lanka, except that God called us there, and it is the heart of Buddhism. When we got there, the only direction came in the form of wanting to learn to surf. So we went South and trusted that God was doing something even when He wasn’t giving us a billboard direction.
While in a surfing town, we go to the only grocery store, realize they have a cross picture, we ask if they are Christians and then get directions for their church. The pastor of the church is amazing and has deep vision and desire to search out God’s heart. He also is connected all through Sri Lanka and is planting churches all in South Sri Lanka.
We were left in an unknown country with no direction, and that gave God the space to show up and show out in mighty ways. And it caused me to trust the sovereignty of God and to keep my eyes open for the impossible.
This has been our life for the last three months. It’s not typical, but it’s real. It was training for going home in November. It was a period of growing in very applicable ways. There won’t always be schools I can walk into and be given an hour to do whatever I want. However, there will be baristas that are questioning why they are living. There will be people of faith that asked God to give them a sign that He sees them. There are millions of opportunities to let God orchestrate beautiful stories in my life.
I’m grateful for UH and ATL and the fact that the World Race continues to let the Holy Spirit guide and have control instead of just creating a typical American mission trip.
