What you see:
It takes a week for me to respond to emails. Sometimes ministry looks like yard work or playing with kids. Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua could all be home to destination weddings–even now in the heart of the rainy season, sunburns run rampant throughout the squad. It’s also true that if you peruse the Instagram or Facebook of most World Racers (myself included) you would find an ample amount of vacation-type activities.
Panama featured a visit to an archaeological site, hot springs, a few afternoons spent by the riverside. Costa Rica had a hike to some ruins, an overnight waterfall trek, never mind our debrief (retreat) a stone’s throw from the beach at one of the country’s premier hostels–mind you, made possible out of the generosity of the owner. Nicaragua has just been two leisurely days, one jumping off a platform by a lake nestled in a volcanic crater, the other jumping off the top deck of a barge on Lake Nicaragua. Looking back, it even surprises myself a bit seeing all that we have done.
Another Perspective:
Back home in Seattle, my weekends are just as packed with soccer games, visits to extended family, going out to celebrate birthdays, hikes, football, and ski season is right around the corner. Plus the holidays and long weekends, some weddings scattered here and there.
Life is busy back in the States just as I keep it busy here abroad. The activities here just so happen to be in exotic places and of a more flashy, “Instagram-worthy” nature. Me communicating that I am watching a football game (Go Dawgs) is far less interesting than say: me failing at a back flip from a barge on a tucked-away cove on Lake Nicaragua. The barge trip and a meal was less than $20. How much for the pizza I would have eaten during the game? God forbid I splurged for something not-Dominos, some bread-sticks, or added a soda to the mix.
All of these vacation-type activities are what I do with my time off. My “weekends” are spent in extraordinarily beautiful countries with impoverished communities in need of our service and work. I fill my free time just as I would at home, the opportunities for doing so are more exotic than what I’ve been doing for the rest of my adult life.
Work.
Apart from the leisure? Ministry. Building housing, marketing for businesses in a city plagued with prostitution/drugs, feeding the homeless, evangelism, children’s ministry. I just learned I’ll be working with a foster-care ministry in Honduras, we’ll see exactly what that door holds in a few weeks.
Being a missionary is my job. I don’t quite get to clock out. On my off days I’m still asking the taxi driver about his faith with my broken Spanish. Ministry rules for conduct still apply, we are emissaries of God and anything we might do to “turn someone off” from our message must be avoided at all costs. That said, living with a constant “yes” in your spirit (or my best human attempt at one) is quite exhausting, and it is important for even us, as missionaries, to choose into reflection and leisure.
Presenting #11n11
11 countries in 11 months sounds like a joyride, don’t get me wrong. It’s a part of the package and the appeal of the program. For someone hearing about it for the first time I’ve always quickly followed up with a “but we will be working with local ministries in each country on projects to be passed on to the next group of missionaries.” I want to stop people from settling on the conclusion that it’s just a world tour. It is to a point, but at the core it’s more focused on serving across a variety of ministries and understanding these new cultures in a context of novelty, discomfort, and self-abandonment. As soon as you get to know a ministry contact, some locals on a deeper level, you move. It’s not always easy, and I’ll write a post about all the good that you can do in a month later on in this journey, and how to do it correctly. The knee-jerk label simply jumps to “see as many places and cultures as you can in a year” while the reality is something closer to “challenge yourself in abandonment while experiencing and empathizing with a variety of global cultures”.
Instagram.
It’s a highlight reel. You don’t put just any subject matter up there, you don’t put the blurry pics (unless it was a “low quality pic, high quality people” kind of night). You also don’t post the photos you don’t have. I don’t take a picture with each child I interact with, each person I evangelize to. My ministry last month looked like a lot of me sitting on a computer mooching off the Wifi of a local hotel, not a “I’m going to take a photo now” moment. In that spirit, I’d mention I take a wildly disproportionate amount of photos on adventure days. It’s more event driven, it’s a more acceptable place for it, it’s with other World Racers who frankly love being photographed (myself included). In other words, please don’t be surprised if my Instagram continues to feature adventure day scenes and shenanigans.
The Final Word.
Okay, this has dragged out quite a bit, apologies. I trust you understand my take on why the World Race sometimes appears to be a bunch of leisure and adventure stringed together. Let me assure you, we are first and foremost missionaries. If anything the structure of the World Race pushes me beyond what I “feel like”. As a coach or trainer would push you to do extra laps or repetitions, this program calls you to new ministries, longer days, and working with people you disagree with. See 3-hour street church service at left, after I had been to Mass earlier in the day. I wasn’t in the mood, but it was a one-of-a-kind experience.
To those considering the World Race, please don’t be put off by someone’s highlight reel, wherever you find it. You get 1-2 days off each week, that’s consistent. The bulk of your time is spent at ministry or preparing for ministry. Then you have the “silver lining”–the fleeting hour or so in the evenings, the quick break after lunch. This is where you really get to choose to either escape, be present, or to reflect. I’ll leave there until my next post, I’ll try to work in some anecdotes so you have an idea of what life is actually like here on the ground of a politically tumultuous and impoverished country.
Until the next.
