Have you ever seen a movie trailer so amazing that after it was over all you wanted was to go to see that movie? That everything else paled in comparison to what you just witnessed and all you can talk and think about is how awesome it was and you have tell everyone that will listen?…
Thats how I feel about the World Race. I talk about it, I think about, I pray about it…eventually I will live and breathe it.
This past winter my youth pastor had posted a vidoe on the youth group facebook page. something called The World Race. I clicked on the link and was immidiately hooked. it completely blew my mind, i had to know more. so i hopped online started to dig for some more information. i started reading blogs, testimonies, and montages from racers in the field. I was soon consumed by this idea letting go of comfort and embracing difficulty. To leave my life behind and live another, one that is not my own. A life that proclaims the name of Jesus.
I have gone on mission trips before. As a freshman and sophmore in high school our church was involved with a couple trips to the Pine Ridge Native Amarican reservation. We built relationships and served the community while teaching the Gosples. I made some awesome friends and even better memories. One involving snow in July! they were all week long trips and weren’t far from home but enough to get my feet wet. After college, i went on a mission trip as a leader to Mexico with our senior high youth group. That was lot of culture shock. It’s a completely different world there. I wasnt really prepared for what I saw. The climate, the poverty, the quality of life(or lack there of), the brokenness, the helplessness, but most of all the hopelessness. It was an eye opening and humbling experience. To think that in my neighborhood where the garbage truck comes once a week, where the only harzards on our sidewalks are the occasional stick or dog droppings, where yards are green and well kept doors have locks and no threat of violence or destruction I would be upset when my parents didnt have the right kind of chips in the pantry or when when a sibling would use all the hot water in the shower, complain about the air conditioner being turned off, when I cant watch the show I want to watch. While they have trash(broken glass, sharp metal, rotting food, dead animals, dirty stagnant water) covered streets because no one will take it way or they have nowhere to put it, yards consist of dirt and weeds homes are made of scrapmetal and scrapwood( most no bigger than a living room in the States), no locks or windows, violence everywhere outside your doorstep, where most of the people weren’t going to eat everyday, they didn’t know when they’re next bath would be, their AC was sitting in the shade where it was slightly less hot, their only form of entertainment was throwing rocks down the street or making another dirt pile. the kind of stuff you see on tv and movies. I wanted to do everything I could to help them. but there is only so much i can do. It made me feel helpless.
At the time I didn’t know what the point of all of it was. why would he send us to a place where we were powerless? why would he send us to place where all we had were words and a book? how much can that accomplish? why dont we bring food, water, or medical treatment? why dont give them what they actually need?
I should mention that on this trip I was just a baby christian. still very new to my faith
Looking back on that trip and who I was then…those thoughts, while understandable, where completely missing the point and doubting the God that I believed in. The point wasn’t for us to bring them everything they wanted, but for us to show them that God was everything they needed. To give them a chance at new life and renewed hope by relying on God’s Power and not our own.
All that to say that it helped lead me to this point. A chance to be someone who brings hope and love with the strength, Courage, and Word God has given me.
It’s been quite a journey thus far and I still have so much farther to go. getting everything done and put together. vaccinations, passport, support letter, not to mention equipment, various accessories and utilities. On paper it may not seem like a whole lot, but in practice it’s a ton. However i have no doubt that God will see me through. No matter how hard it gets.
Thanks for reading
