The World Race has been many things, often what we did not expect. This is probably why The World Race staff pushes us, at the beginning of the year, to drop all expectations and to be willing to embrace the journey that lies ahead. There is not much formal training before the race and many on our squad now comment that the entire year is training or better yet a catalyst for life.
Through out the year we have seen many people experience the love of Christ, learning about Him (often for the first time), we have seen many people healed both spiritually and physically, we have had the opportunity to love on orphans and the less fortunate around the world, we have done much construction (literally building the church), we have loved with the love God has given us; from the women in Thailand who are being sex-trafficked to the illiterate poor farmers in the Malaysian jungles. Overall we have given our lives for a year to help build God’s church and I believe, make this world a better place.
Some of the Gypsy kids we hung out with in the villages around Bucharest, Romania.
However, what I didn’t expect was how much I would grow and be extremely challenged by the community of people that have done this journey right alongside me. I didn’t realize how big of an aspect community would be on the race or how little I truly knew about what Godly community looks like and how important it is for growth.
Starting out this journey I didn’t know one person on my squad, Q Squad! Now, I know more about them and they know more about me than most people in this world; my life story, my desires, my struggles, and the purposely hidden parts of my life that I never volunteered to talk about before.
World Race community has been different than any other community I’ve ever experienced because we literally do life together and highly value communication and “speaking truth in love� as a means to help one another grow. We are almost never alone and quite the opposite always seem to be surrounded by people, noise, and “something going on.� We have done team changes 3 different times, and Tricia and I, as you probably know, have been bouncing around from team to team all year so naturally we all know each other pretty well.
Youth Retreat in Eforie Sud, a beach town in Romania
This has been a good and healthy challenge and we have come to realize that different people and different types of personalities bring out different things in us, both good and bad. We as people are always “giving off something� through our facial expressions, tone, words, etc. that cause us to have thoughts about that person, which can in turn control how we act. For example, I’ve learned about myself that loud and confident people have much of my life caused me to retreat, be less confident, and actually act different; in a way that I didn’t enjoy. However, other personalities can bring out a really fun and goofy side to me.
I noticed in the beginning of the race that my identity was not as secure in Christ as I had thought it was; that I could still easily be shaken up and think/act like an emotional roller coaster. Different people and situations caused me to retreat and feel insecure many times in the beginning and to run to God, but He always seemed to tell me to embrace the challenge, to run towards my fears and insecurities, to not give up. I realized that it was not the fault of the “loud and confident people� (who will always be in my life), but it was an insecurity in myself that that person was exposing.
Community that loves well… Ashley and her team cooked dinner for Tricia and I before we left for another team.
This is just one example of how God has used the community to ultimately strengthen me in Him, by painfully exposing my weaknesses; something I’m not sure would have been worked out (at least this quickly) if I hadn’t lived so closely with other Godly people.
While there are too many examples to go into here, regarding how living in this community has been beneficial, I am so thankful to have experienced this. It has given me a greater appreciation for the need for Godly community. Their have been countless times when people on this squad have come alongside me to strengthen me, speak life into me, call me out on my “junk�, motivate me, laugh with me…all of which have formed and are forming who I will become. They have all played an instrumental part in this season of my life, which I will never forget, and have set me up well for what God has next for me.
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE Q SQUAD
We always have a LOT of fun…BON JOVI CONCERT
