Have you ever wished you could go back in time? Have you ever been hit with the realization that you should’ve spent your time differently? Have you considered that if you could go back in time, you would?
At different points in my life, I have found myself wishing I could go back in time. Whether it be because I would’ve done something differently or I regretted not being more intentional with my time, thoughts have often begun, “If I could go back in time…”
As I begin the World Race, this concept has been on my mind often. I want to be fully present. I want to embrace what God has for me. The World Race is 11 months made up of thousands of little moments, and I desire to be a good steward of each and every one of those moments. I don’t want to wish for one single moment back because I could’ve been more intentional with it.
I have been blessed with such an incredible opportunity, and I commit to being present, intentional, and sensitive to the Holy Spirit. I commit to uphold what it looks like to be an Acts 2 church alongside my team. We will devote ourselves to teaching, fellowship, and breaking bread and praying together (v. 42). I want to get to the end of the race and be happy with the way I lived intentionally, cherished people and moments, and responded to what God asked of me. I commit to being present.
One of my favorite movies is called About Time. Basically a man learns from his father that all the men in their family have the ability to travel time. I mean, Rachel McAdams is in it, so obviously it’s about time travel. The man goes through ups and downs trying to protect people and sometimes trying to change the way things end up.
Spoiler alert: in the end, he decides to stop traveling time altogether. He lives each day intentionally, as if it were his only chance to live it. The ending of this movie, the fact that it’s about the beauty found in all the little moments that make up a day we’ll never get to live again, is exactly why it’s one of my favorites.
The race has been full of traveling thus far. My squad and I had a ten hour flight from Atlanta to Istanbul, where we had a nine hour layover. Then we flew another ten hours from Istanbul to Johannesburg, South Africa. Once we landed in Johannesburg, we drove eight hours to Maptuo, Mozambique.
We didn’t get to the home where we were staying for the night until 1am, so we were surprised to arrive to a home-cooked meal. As all 47 of us gathered in a small room and sat on the floor drinking sweat tea and eating rice, beans, and chocolate cake, I had the realization I will not be able to fully convey what we experience on the World Race. But I will try my best.
This morning we attended church where we participated in some of the most beautiful worship I have ever been a part of. I was so moved by the joy and faith of the congregation. I’ve been experiencing some nervousness about the ministry we will be doing, but as we joined together in worship, God brought peace to my heart once more.
Tomorrow we have a five hour drive to Chibuto, another city in Mozambique, where my team’s ministry is located. Our ministry is called Africa On Fire. The ministry is in the process of building orphanages on their land. We will be doing children’s ministry, evangelism in the villages, and anything else that comes up while we’re there.
To those reading this, our lives may look very different, but something we have in common is that God has great plans and blessings for us. We have in common that we can both commit to being present, and in response to what’s happening in my life, I ask that you reflect on what being present looks like in yours.
Update: Another country was added to our route! We will be doing some ministry in Malaysia in addition to the 11 countries that were already on our route!
