Let’s rewind.
I heard about the World Race through a good friend of mine while working at Washington Family Ranch (WFR), a Younglife camp in Antelope, Oregon. Three years later I was making plans for my own race, I was working at WFR, getting home only 10 days before training camp. Henry ended up working that summer too, and I was able to ask more questions about his experience.
I asked him many questions over the course of the month. But after all the small details and random stories, I asked him what his biggest piece of advice would be for me. He responded with a letter, on the envelope it read, “Read in a foreign country.”
I waited until I was just a few weeks into month 1 of the race. After reading his letter I knew this was the best advice I received coming on the race, and I’ll get back to that in a second…
I think one of the biggest misconceptions about the World Race is that it’s ‘one big spiritual high’ and ‘it isn’t real life.’ I disagree. Thinking that these experiences are not ‘real life’ is the biggest lie you could ever tell yourself.
These radical things we experience on the field of ministry are actually the realest interpretation of how God created life to be, how he intended community to be, and how he initially designed the world to be. It’s called bringing heaven to earth.
The advice I got from Henry was this: Create healthy habits.
The world race is temporary, but there are tools that you can take home with you and incorporate into every day life. These lessons aren’t just to teach us something for a season, they are to create new character within us.
I have this crazy opportunity to live in community with people from completely different backgrounds, and intentionally love them well.
I have this crazy opportunity to choose joy in the toughest, loneliest circumstances when all I want is to go home.
I have this crazy opportunity to read my bible every day, invite God into my day, and worship him freely.
I have this crazy opportunity to smile at every person I meet and give them space to be known and heard for maybe the first time in a long time.
I have this crazy opportunity to tell random strangers about Jesus.
Are these things restricted to only those on the mission field? Each day I want to continue to create healthy habits that will follow me far beyond the 11 months of the world race.
God doesn’t restrict us, we restrict ourselves. Anyone can make excuses, but God chooses all of us to run the race.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.
