Introducing My Team!!!!

Hi!! Thanks to you wonderful, supportive people and the provision of the Lord, I’m back out with the world race leading a new team of racers just beginning their ministry. At the end of my eleven months, I felt the Lord leading me to this next step, and I knew that there were skills, knowledge, and gifts that I had learned and grown in that I wanted to pass along to others.

I’ve been in Mongolia for a week now, and we’ve been busy organizing children’s ministry events, learning to cook local foods, hiking with the church’s youth, pouring concrete, and spending time together as a team. Now that I’ve had the chance to hang out with these amazing humans, I can already see that this commitment of four more months serving around the world is so worth it! I have the privilege of living a season of life with this group so I want my community back home to meet them too! For the benefit of everyone, I forced my teammates to pose in this chair and answer some questions. Here they are!

Pictured above is Caitie Olson! Here are her answers to my questions!

1. “What made you decide to do the world race?” “I decided to do the world race because I wanted to serve others and grow in my relationship with Christ.”
2. “Which country are you most excited for and why?” “I’m excited for Greece and Romania. Greece because of the opportunity to work in refugee camps. Romania because of the chance to see how ministry works through a business.“
3. “What is the good news of the Gospel to you?” “The good news of the Gospel to me is that Christ is constant. He celebrates the good with me and suffers with me through the bad. God doesn’t leave when things get hard.”
4. “Describe yourself in five words.” “Caring, kind, adventurous, and always learning.”
5. “What are you passionate about?” ”I’m passionate about helping people learn and helping children know they are loved.“

Caitie is strong. She is bold and passionate, and she isn’t afraid to make sure herself and her teammates are pushed out of their comfort zones for the sake of growth. She walks in vulnerability and pursues others.

Introducing Eric Swiger!

1. “What made you decide to do the world race?” “I’ve always had a desire to travel and a heart for missions. The world race brought the two together.”
2. “Which country are you most excited for and why?” “I’m most excited for Uganda because I had a childhood friend who was a missionary kid there.”
3. “What is the good news of the Gospel to you?” “God loved us before we ever did anything so there is nothing we can do to fall out of his love.”
4. “Describe yourself in five words.” “Goofy, protector, son, creative, and ‘tuvshoo’ (the Mongolian name I received that means supporter/pillar).”
5. “What are you passionate about?” “Being the change you want to see in the world.”

Eric is a joy. He is always striving to be the best version of himself. He has a heart for challenging and encouraging others and a spirit that seeks to learn and grow. He’s also always making all of us laugh.

Hudson Janz, y’all!

1. “What made you decide to do the world race?” “I didn’t decide, God did. I had formal world racers in my church, and I think they sparked the fire.”
2. “Which country are you most excited for and why?” “Greece because it’s Greece.”
3. “What is the good news of the Gospel to you?” “My only hope and my greatest pleasure.”
4. “Describe yourself in five words.” “Saved by grace, radically loved.”
5. “What are you passionate about?” “Fun things I’m passionate about include driving trucks, swing dancing, basketball, kids, time with my family, and the next adrenaline rush. As far as spiritually, I’m passionate about going across the world, serving the needy, and learning God’s heart.”

Hudson has a huge heart. He loves the people in his midst with a pure, self-sacrificial love. He can be seen being used by kids as a human jungle gym or speaking life into his teammates.

Everyone, meet Jo Lowry!

1. “What made you decide to do the world race?” “I was asking God for something to do after I graduated college, and he showed me the world race through an advertisement on Facebook. I decided to do it because I want to share the love of Christ with people who might not know it yet.”
2. “Which country are you most excited for and why?” “I am most excited for Bulgaria because I’ve never really heard anything about it.”
3. “What is the good news of the Gospel to you?” “I think the good news of the Gospel is just a sense of compassion and love. It is something that is used to bring people together and to unite them with one faith; it brings peace and joy.”
4. “Describe yourself in five words.” “One word is ‘tsetseg’; that’s the name some of our Mongolian friends gave me. It means ‘flower’, and I think it describes me because I love to be continuously growing. The other words I would choose are passionate, loyal, joyful, and curious.”
5. “What are you passionate about?” “I am passionate about creating and about the people that I’m surrounded by.”

Jo is a unique creation of the Lord’s who creates safe spaces and artwork alike. She knows what the people around her need to hear and she doesn’t hesitate to speak those things out. Jo radiates kindness and joy.

Here‘s my new friend, Shannon LaRocque! 

1. “What made you decide to do the world race?” “God said yes. I was praying about the next step, and he opened the door by showing me the world race and getting me accepted within six days.”
2. “Which country are you most excited for and why?” “I am excited for each of them. Honestly, there isn’t one that I am more excited for above another.”
3. “What is the good news of the Gospel to you?” “He is my everything. There is nothing worth living for than for him. He will never stop running after my heart.”
4. “Describe yourself in five words.” “Intentional, perceiving, joyful, encouraging, and patient.”
5. “What are you passionate about?” “I am passionate about helping people come alive in the fullness of who they are, to help them break down walls, heal, and come alive to who God created them to uniquely be.”

Shannon has a gentle spirit and a special heart that feels deeply and exalts the Lord above all. She leads our team in worship with her trusty guitar and is intentional in speaking out what God is teaching her.

And our team wouldn’t be complete without thee TJ Capps!

1. “What made you decide to do the world race?” “When I became a Christian I just wanted to do something more so I looked into service-oriented things and the world race popped up so I decided to do it.”
2. “Which country are you most excited for and why?” “I am really excited for China because I think it will be very cool to see how Christians worship in a country that persecutes them.”
3. “What is the good news of the Gospel to you?” “For me, it’s that God loves me and accepts me and that even though I’m not perfect, he still loves me and can use me.”
4. “Describe yourself in five words.” “Loyal, dependable, caring, teachable, and practical.”
5. “What are you passionate about?” “I’m passionate about the Gospel…and also hot drinks, like coffee and tea.”

TJ has a mind filled with wisdom, a heart eager to care, and eyes made to see others in a unique way. He seeks people out and uses his words intentionally to build trust and lift others up.

I figured some of you would be happy to know a little more about me so I decided to take myself through the interview too. 

1. “What made you decide to do the world race?” “Like I said before, the Lord taught me so much through my experience with the world race. In the past year of my life, he strengthened my leadership skills, showed me how to increase my intimacy with him, changed my perspectives of what matters in life, opened my heart to new depths of freedom, taught me how to live in community, showed me what it looks like to live for the Kingdom, and so much more. There is so much in me that God has called me to give away through discipling others.”
2. “Which country are you most excited for and why?” “I was really excited for Mongolia because I know there are a lot of diverse people groups here — such as reindeer herders, people who practice falconry, and other nomadic groups. We haven’t met any of these people yet but soon we will head out of the city and into the countryside to minister alongside a nomadic church. Mongolia has already stolen my heart, though, with its beautiful mountains and hospitable people.”
3. “What is the good news of the Gospel to you?” “The good news of the Gospel to me is the Father’s unconditional love. It is a love that is indescribable, a love that exceeds all things, and we did absolutely nothing to be worthy of it, meaning that there’s nothing we can do to be less worthy of it either. Through this love, we receive freedom — we are free from fear, free from expectations of achievement, free even from death!”
4. “Describe yourself in five words.” “Lighthearted, caring, determined, positive, and pursuer.” 
5. “What are you passionate about?” “I am passionate about living a life of worship to God. I also have a heart for kids who have been through trauma and am passionate about helping them be set up to heal and have the opportunities to experience all the goodness that life does have to offer.”

 

Thanks so much for following along! Please pray that all the funding comes in for myself and my teammates, for the nomadic Mongolian people that we will be meeting next week, and that my team is able to get their Chinese visas for next month!