My experience with the World Race so far is that it has been full of beginnings. Each day has been the start of something new. We started our week of Launch together on Jan 3 as a full squad. Then it was the first time our team had been on its own as we departed Launch. Yesterday, it was the start of our first day of ministry. My team, which is made up of six other young adults from all over the US, is spending the rest of January in Gisborne, NZ. Gisborne is unique in that it is the first city in the world to see the sunrise on a new day. New Zealand is just across the international date line, and Gisborne is the most eastern city in the country on the coast of the South Pacific. On Jan 10, Jordan, my only male teammate, and I got out of our tent (which is about 75 yards from the water, and I can hear the waves crashing ashore as I type this) to be one of the first people in the world to see the sun come up for that day.
The symbolism is meaningful as I’ve been learning about the importance of relying on the Lord’s strength for today…just today. Transitions and constantly experiencing new things have the potential to wear me out over 11 months. Lamentations 3:22-23 states, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Praise God that I don’t need the strength, patience, and grace for tomorrow yet. He provides me with what I need today. I have a feeling I’m going to be continually learning that lesson throughout this trip. If you’re wondering how that strength was put to use today it was through chasing kids around all day at a YMCA program. Our ministry for the month is to partner with the local YMCA to give kids in this town a positive alternative to some of their other summer options. The YMCA offers them sports. I love the combination…sports, kids, and opportunities to share our faith with the kids and staff. I played a lot of basketball, cricket, and learned how to play touch rugby (they love that sport here!!) for the first time…and let me just say that kids are great about not telling you all the rules until after you’ve made a mistake that costs your team dearly!! Here are a couple of the guys I’ve been hanging out with.
I’ll update the blog again soon and really appreciate the support from all of you! Enjoy the video our team made at Launch!
