What is the World Race All About?
For the last nine months, people have asked me this question in all its forms as I prepared to travel around the world on an eleven month mission trip. When I signed up, I wanted to see how the rest of the world lives, help people suffering in different situations, and spread God’s love. Sure, I thought that would come with some leadership opportunities and personal growth, but I felt compelled mainly by the brokenness I saw in the world and wanted to fix, by the relief I wanted to provide.
Now that I’m finally on the field and in our first country, Nicaragua, I have a better understanding of what the World Race is all about.
Over the last two weeks, we have been immersed in daily training both at the Adventures in Missions headquarters in Georgia and on the ground in Nicaragua. Our group jokes that we don’t know if we have been together for two weeks or ten years with all of the content we have learned and all of the experiences we have already shared.
Truth be told, I thought the main focus of our training would be the “practical” aspects of the race. What did we need to know about the cultures we would encounter, the work we would be doing, the safety aspects of each country? While we have covered some of those aspects (and more, like how to sleep in a tent and keep your stuff dry during three days of pouring rain), the bulk of our preparation has focused on something else.
Before I tell you what we have been focusing on in training, I want to ask you a question. What would you say is the point of a mission trip? To paint walls and build houses? To convert people to Christianity? To have an excuse to travel around the world?
What if I told you that none of those things are the point of the World Race?
Have you ever heard of the Great Commission? There’s a passage in the Bible often quoted when people are going on mission trips:
Matthew 28:19-20: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Growing up, my understanding of the Great Commission was fairly narrow. In my mind, “go and make disciples” meant to go tell people about Jesus and hope they would become Christians. To be honest, I wrestled with that idea and wondered if that was just being pushy and forcing my beliefs on other people.
When I got to training camp, I wondered how leadership would define the point of the World Race. To my surprise, our training did not focus on my traditional understanding of mission trips. Instead, we talked and talked and talked about this one word:
Kingdom.
You might not know it, but you encounter different kingdoms every day. Your home is one kingdom; work or school is another kingdom. Any time people are united by a common purpose, you see a kingdom, whether it’s made up of a sports team’s fans or a political organization’s supporters.
During training, we talked primarily about God’s kingdom. I didn’t realize this, but Jesus talks about the kingdom over and over again throughout the gospels.
Training camp helped me to see that the message Jesus spread was not to convert people, but to share the “gospel,” the good news of God’s kingdom. He focused on inviting people to be in relationship with him, to be part of God’s kingdom.
What is God’s kingdom? Spoiler alert- I am still wrestling with exactly how to define it. As far as I can tell, it’s more than just heaven and involves life as we know it right now, too. In many of his parables or teachings, Jesus describes what God’s kingdom is like. In the “Our Father” that he taught his disciples to pray, Jesus says “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”
If Jesus encouraged his disciples to seek God’s kingdom (which he did, over and over again throughout scripture), then I figure it’s important for me to seek as well. This year, I want to spend more time learning about how Jesus describes the kingdom, and I hope to share more with you all as I piece it together.
In the meantime, I am glad that my squad and I are not focusing on converting people or forcing our beliefs on anyone else. Instead, we intend to bring the kingdom wherever we go. They have already inspired and encouraged me as we push each other to “bring the kingdom” in the marketplace, at the airport, to the people we meet on the streets.
To put it another way, what is the World Race all about?
“We’re about God’s business!” – per Megan, our squad mentor.
I’m excited to see how we get to be part of bringing God’s kingdom this year, excited to see what “God’s business” entails. I can’t wait to share stories of how he works throughout the year!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for following along and feel free to subscribe at the orange link to get e-mail updates with new posts! I hope to include more pictures soon.
Blessings to you all!
