Hello friends and family in Christ,
I’m writing to you today to inform you that I will be leaving the World Race on July 6th and continuing the journey on my own. Through this blog I would like to give a brief explanation of the reasoning behind this decision and what my vision is going forward.
I know this might seem unexpected to the majority of you that are reading this but the thought of leaving has been on my heart for quite some time now. Forgive me for not being fully honest with you in my previous blogs… the decision was not made until recently.
I will assure you that I do not make this decision with sorrow or with haste. I have spent many weeks contemplating/dreaming of the God given desire to leave the program and continue the mission of building Gods Kingdom on a different path. I am extremely excited to embrace the call that God has placed on my life and live in obedience to His spoken and written Word.
This desire began to sprout from two major sources.
#1: A deeper level of trust and a greater understanding of who God is.
#2: A growing discontent with the World Race lifestyle. I will elaborate this point in my next paragraph.
When I signed up for the World Race I agreed to abide to certain guidelines and precautionaries that were set in place for our personal safety and for the liability of the program. Unfortunately some of these precautionaries (I believe) have come to hinder certain opportunities to minister in certain situations.
An example of this is the buddy system. Through the buddy system we are obligated to have someone with us when travelling a certain distance from the group. This is a very reasonable and biblical system that has been put into place by AIM (Adventures in Missions) but has limited my ministry opportunities on many occasions.
Another restriction is being bound to “team time” and team decisions. Their are many pros and cons to travelling as a group, but for me the cons are beginning to outway the pros. Team time can sometimes interfere with ministry opportunities and take away from the freedom of an open schedule. All of the logistical decisions are made as a team and will quite often contradict what I thought I signed up for (faith/trust/abandonment/etc)
My intentions are by no means to discredit the WR program or my friends/family in Christ at AIM. My desire is to be obedient to God and His calling on my life. I signed up for the WR and agreed to it’s parameters. I made that decision and committed to it. God used the program to grow my faith throughout these 6 months and now He is calling me to take another step.
I’m sure this sounds crazy to most of you who are reading this (it did for me too), but Jesus is calling me to continue the mission/vision of the WR without the program. My goal is to continue to travel westward (by land) and seek out/partner with His church wherever I go. I believe this will allow me to utilise my God given gifts and serve Gods people to a greater measure. The only difference is that I will be travelling without the comforts of a team, a schedule, and the financial support/budget that came with the program.
I will definitely miss my team but I truly believe that God will provide many sojourners to join me on the journey and that He will surround me not only with His angel armies, but with communities of Christ followers in every place. We have already encountered many through our travels with the World Race.
In regards to finances; I will be funding the remainder of my journey through personal funds and operating on a very similar budget as the WR. If you made a financial contribution to my trip with the WR then I will inform you that it will remain with Adventures in Missions and used towards their ministry. If you feel inclined to be reimbursed then I will gladly reimburse you from my personal savings when I return home. If that is the case then I ask that you personal message me to discuss details.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding anything written in this blog than I encourage you to personal message me and I will gladly share more of my thoughts/experiences/vision with you.
I will assure you that my desire is to grow deeper in trust and obedience to my Savior and to see the Kingdom of God grow throughout the nations. I submit my every word and deed to glorifying His name throughout this journey.
We will be arriving in Almaty, Kazakhstan on July 6th (Lord willing) and from there I will be parting from my team. I plan to spend my first day in prayer and worship, and connect with Gods church on the following day (Sunday) to see how I can partner with them. Only Jesus knows how the rest of the journey will unfold and I am perfectly content with that.
Thankfully, I am able to keep this blog page and use it to continuously share my journey/experiences with you. I look forward to sharing the rest of my journey with you and encouraging you with the movement of Gods mighty hand throughout the nations.
I am very grateful for your support thus far and I ask that you would continue to support me and continue to uphold me in your prayers. Feel free to email me with any thoughts or concerns in regards to this blog @ [email protected].
Peace and abundance be yours in Christ,
Tristan Lensvelt
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalms 23
