The night I discovered the Race, I didn’t sleep. I went home and looked up the website and read blogs till 4am. I couldn’t get enough of the stories, the pictures, or the adventures. I was overwhelmed with excitement, and overcome with a desire to fight against injustice worldwide. From the night I discovered this, my heart roared, “Alex, we’re doing this,” and it was solidified.
The World Race website has a blog section where you can check the latest 100 blog posts and the top twenty blog posts. I didn’t know anyone personally who had done the Race, so I would just scroll through the top twenty.
Each blog title had its author pictured across from it, and it was here, in the midst of my euphoric discovery, that I came to an unsettling realization.
“White girl.. white girl.. white girl.. white girl.. white girl.. White girl… White guy.. White guy.. White girl.. White guy.. White girl.. White girl.. White girl.. White girl..”
I stopped scrolling, rubbed my eyes, and asked myself if this was only for white people, which is funny, because that was a question I used to ask myself about Christianity.
Each picture I had seen and training camp video featured a sea of white faces.
Yes, World Racers are predominantly women. And there are also men that take this on, no doubt. And there is some diversity on the Race. There are Spanish women, Indian women, black women, etc.
But men, that are also minorities; That’s extremely rare.
Marlin, the only black man on our squad, and I met at training camp and hit it off. A fellow Virginia native, we talked for hours about our lives and bonded while throwing football and rapping songs back and forth to each other.
I can’t stress enough the importance of men coming on the Race. Put simply, the world desperately needs strong men. Where bad, weak men have ruined relationships, devastated families and destroyed so much in their wake, the world is clammoring for good men to step up and be better. To lead the charge. To battle.
Men need to step up and offer their strength to the world. To fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. To empower women, to point others toward noble things, to stand for something greater. To give the women who are fighting someone to fight beside.
I’ve encountered and served alongside some of the strongest women I know on this journey. Their dedication to The Lord is inspirational. The women I’ve been around have pushed me to be a better man.
But for men of color, it’s even more important.
A Filipino friend of mine approached me last year about his experience on the Race. He told me being brown would be advantageous to me building relationships and spreading love on the Race.
“People will look to you as someone they can relate to just because of how you look, whether that’s right or wrong.”
Many white American missionaries are looked down upon, especially in nonwhite countries. The stereotype is often so negative.
“And because you don’t fit that mold, people will be even more inclined to look to you.”
It’s been so true.
One night in Argentina, some friends and I were playing basketball at a local park. I came across a young guy with the logo of a rap group tattooed on his arm. I came over, introduced myself, dapped him up and complimented his tat. He was shocked that I recognized it and laughed at how many times he’s had to explain it to people down here; refreshed that for once someone was hip to it.
We hit it off and talked between games. Toward the end of the night, we were discussing the Race, and religion, and he remarked, “You’re Christian?”
“But you’re not white.”
It’s like this in South America, and most definitely in Africa.
If all people in these countries see are white people, of course they are going to associate Christianity with white people. Why wouldn’t they??
In Africa, people see white missionaries coming into their countries.
What color is Christianity to them? White
And what color are they? Black
Do you see the predicament? Men who are minorities have the power to come into these places and illustrate that men in Africa can indeed walk with the Lord. That people who look like them follow the Lord, too. The Lord can use our masculinity, and our race, for global good. To bring others to him. Isn’t that crazy?!
The conversations I’ve had with men all over the world about this scream this out.
And for men who are also minorities, who happen to be the majority of people we encounter on the World Race, it’s even more imperative. Don’t you ever wonder why it’s mostly white people who come and evangelize to black and brown people!?? It’s crazy. It makes no sense. We as men, and minorities have to step up!!
Fair or not, you will be looked at differently. For better or for worse. Marlin has been given dirty looks in several countries, and inquisitive ones in others. Some people in Vietnam really hadn’t seen a black man before. But Marlin has also touched countless lives and been allowed entrance into the hearts of men, and women, and used the color of his skin as a weapon against the enemy. How cool is that? He’s using the way the Lord created him to draw others in, and bring them to the Lord. He’s using his skin, his masculinity, his race, to glorify the one who made him a man and a minority.
Girls need men to be men. To be adventurous, chivalrous, kind, understanding, compassionate, gentle, but aggressive, and wild, and dangerous.
They need a safe haven. A place where they can fully be themselves, and have the freedom to grow into more.
In Vietnam, women we encountered in massage parlors and dance partners were astounded to be in conversations with men who didn’t want anything from them. We came in with no agenda beyond getting to know them and letting them know that they were loved, and worthy. And once men do that, they set a standard. They set a precedent for other men to reach. To be apart of raising the bar for women, worldwide, has been one of the most tremendous honors of me being on the Race.
That gives women hope that men are better than some of the men they may have been wounded by in the past. It literally puts hope into the hearts of women. Who wouldn’t want to be apart of that?
In Cambodia, the men were unified for a month. Together, we labored under the scorching sun every day laying grass, building playgrounds, and digging trenches for water lines, as we worked to make the land on which we labored sustainable and safe for the girls who called it home, and the girls to come.
These girls, who have been wounded at the hand of men in unspeakable ways, which infuriates me to no end and beyond explanation, see us. They see what it looks like for a man to not only fight for them, but to love them. To play with them, to spend time with them. To help them with their homework, to dance with them, encourage them, make them laugh, and show them they’re special.
The night we left Cambodia was one of the most emotional on the Race. But we left something in the hearts of those young girls. Even through our mistakes and imperfection, we can paint a picture of how a man should treat a woman, or a girl, and that’s beautiful beyond words.
It’s a powerful thing and I’m so passionate about it I have goosebumps thinking back on it. I would kill to protect those girls. Stepping up to fight for them, to stand up on their behalf, and to plant seeds of hope in their hearts on what they should expect to find in the men who will step in their live in the future, that’s incredible. It’s life changing stuff, and they needed MEN to demonstrate how MEN should conduct themselves.
Working here with a community of believers in Santiago, Chile, we’ve been active in the community through an array of activities. We’ve conducted health clinics and taught English classes, and also held youth events in rough neighborhoods. We blow up balloons, bring the music speakers, the costumes, the puppets, and invite the children to an afternoon of fun and escape from what’s often a tumultuous family environment.
On one particular afternoon, I was sitting down while a woman we work alongside lead the dances. The kids were giddy and full of energy and I thought she was doing a great job. She then beckoned for me to come up in front of all the kids and join her. I smiled and leapt up, embracing the playful nature of the dances.
Both boys and girls were in heaven. They shrieked with joy, twirling around as the choreography instructed, and exploded with laughter at every game we played. Everyone was so happy.
I thoroughly enjoyed the day and was glad to be apart of such a special event for the children. Then another man we’ve been working with made the satisfaction of the dance participation even more tangible.
“You know, in this neighborhood, the boys won’t even come to events like this,” he told me. “They won’t come out and dance unless a man comes. And they never dance. Until they saw you up there dancing. If you dance, they will dance.”
Boys need men too. They need examples, and they need leaders. They need to see what they can become.
They need to see that even as a man, it’s strong to be silly. It’s okay to let loose and not be cool and dance. Before the dance party, a couple of the young guys were skateboarding outside and so I joined in. To show that it’s cool to be skateboarding one moment and then singing songs about Jesus the next; that’s a tremendous honor. It’s a lesson that I didn’t learn until my twenties, so to show young boys what they can aspire to, and empower them to become all they are born to become, is powerful. And being a man is contagious. The boys want to be like you. If you dance, they will dance.
We need men to do the World Race.
I’m in Chile right now writing this and it’s 4am. And maybe somebody will be up late reading this blog, just like me the night I discovered the race. And maybe my face will be the one that pops up next to it. One that isn’t white, or female. And maybe a man, or a minority, will be inspired to take this on. And when they do, they’ll impact and touch more lives than they ever thought possible. And the Lord will use their masculinity, and the color of their skin to unite his people. To redeem the hearts of wounded women. To show young girls that it’s safe to let their guard down and be the princesses they were born to be. To give young boys someone to look up to.
So to men, and minorities, the world needs you. You have the power and the tools to shift hearts and change lives. This battle needs warriors. This battle needs men.
You in?
