Happy New Year!!
It’s 2019, which means this is the year I return from the World Race. Halfway through this month, I’ll be halfway done with the Race and I don’t really know how to feel about it. The Race has been going at a steady pace, not too slow, not too fast, and every now and then I think about what it will be like when the Race will be just a memory, a season that has come and gone. It’s weird to think about, but for some reason the Lord has continuously brought up what life could look like when I get home. He’s, in a way, challenged me to think through how I’m going to use the remaining six months left on the Race to prepare for the rest of my life.
Here’s what has been on my mind…
Before the Race, I put ministry in a box. There was a start time and an end time and a plan for what it was going to look like for time in-between. However, by putting ministry into a box, I was limiting God’s power within me. He brought me into his family as a daughter, seen pure and blameless by her Father and Creator, so that I would live life differently. I would bear his image daily, and live out his love to everyone I meet, every minute of the day, not just those minutes dedicated to scheduled ministry.
We have a phrase here on the Race: “Ministry is life and life is ministry.” I feel like I’m finally understanding what that means. On the Race, it’s easy to talk about Jesus. It’s easy to let the gospel seep out of you like a sponge that is saturated with water. We are immersed in this culture where everyone around you is either discussing God, talking to God, or sharing God’s love with someone around you. In addition to this World Race community we live in that is constantly pointing us to Jesus, our outward appearance holds a lot of weight on the Race and opens more doors than you can imagine to make ministry a part of your everyday.
Being a white American makes me a minority in the cultures we visit and it directs a lot of attention our way. This stirs up conversations addressing why we’re in the bush of Africa or a rural village in India. People are confused why we’re not where all the rich American tourists are. This ultimately leads to us telling the locals about the World Race, our 11 month mission trip to 11 different countries, and so on until we end on a question like, “Would you say you have a relationship with the Lord?” or “Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” Boom! Suddenly we’re praying for our taxi driver’s family and his financial issues or sharing our testimonies with the shop owner at the market we just bought souvenirs from or we’re leading a student through a salvation prayer after they’ve related to our stories.
Being a foreigner, being a stranger, having language barriers and cultural differences, standing out of the crowd instead of blending in, all of these things support our mission on the field of building the Church wherever we go through intimacy, mission and community.
And it’s been amazing.
But God’s been challenging me.
Am I letting these experiences on the World Race teach me useful tools in which I can apply to my life at home in America where almost 17% of people are unaffiliated with any type of religion. Or has it become a crutch I use during this season of my life to again put my life of ministry within the restraints of the start of the Race to the end of the Race?
Returning to America and applying these tools and experiences I’ve gained may be difficult, but it will be worth it. God has shown me that over and over again on the Race. Sharing about his love is vital and it brings hope to the lost, and there are a lot of people without hope in America.
