So far the World race has been unexpectedly ‘easy.’ Month one my team and 3 others lived in a Large house together and our ministry contacts were amazing people. They welcomed us into their family like we truly were part of their family. Our ministry was very relational and our time it felt like we really made an impact in the area. I learned that daily time spent with God in the AM was important to my daily walk with the Lord.
Month two we were in Haiti which is still a very devastated area since the earthquakes hit. There are still many ‘tent villages’ throughout Haiti and it is still a poor and underdeveloped country. I was expecting to be staying in ‘harsh’ conditions and ‘roughing it’ for the month. However we were pleasantly surprised when we found out where we were staying, Mission of Hope International, a beautiful ‘Oasis’ by the beach. Our ministry was very tangible, as we helped build a an orphanage/school. Physical labor was something I was missing from month one and I relished exhausting myself physically for the Lord.
Month three I had no clue what Romania would be like, where we would be staying or what we would be doing. We were once again surprised to be living in a huge building meant for 50 people or more with wifi, a large kitchen to cook, soft beds and hot showers. We were in ‘Romerica.’ It was really like stepping off the race for an entire month. We had all the comforts and amenities of home. Our ministry was helping families who take in 12-14 orphans and helping to build new homes for these families.
It was not until the end of this past month(Romania) that I realized how hard the month has been for me. It has been a month of blessings….probably the best things you could ask for on the race…hot showers, comfortable beds, Grocery stores, free wifi, movie theaters, malls etc… and while all these things are great, it has really been detrimental to my spiritual walk/growth with God. I didn’t realize this until the end of the month. It was an amazing blessing to be in this place but I realized that while we had all these blessings, for me they became distractions. It has been the hardest month on the race for me yet. I feel like with the growth that I experienced in month one and two(leading my team, being stretched through all my experiences) did not happen in month 3…that I had taken a step backward in my faith walk. The entire month I felt like I had not heard from the Lord at all…and it was not because he was not searching after me, but because I had neglected Him. It was not until the end of the month that I heard from the Lord in our last worship session and it was like taking a long draught from a glass of ice cold water after being in the desert for days one end. It brought me to tears because it was not until that point that I realized how detrimental that month had been with my walk with the Lord. How much I missed hearing his ever guiding voice in my life, getting visions from him for my teammates and my team, and for just whispering in my ear as I read his word.
Psalm 73:23 – ‘Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
Looking back I realize what it was that God was teaching me this month. He was teaching me that after my experience on the World Race is over, going home will not be easy. Home will have all the comforts of ‘Romerica’ and more. I will be around friends and family again, be able to go where I want when I want, have access to everything I had before and have the choice to daily walk with the Lord. It will be my choice to be on the internet and watching movies for hours on end, stay up late and then sleep in till the late hours of the morning , or to intentionally spend time with the Lord, wake up in the AM and read my bible, spend time talking and listening to the Lord and asking Him daily what He wants for my life and my future.
I think to myself that if I were to go home now, after the first three months on the race, I would be back and realize that I had not actually grown that much in my walk with the Lord. And it is my biggest fear that I will come out of the race after 11 months and realize that I am the same person I was before I left and that I had not grown very much…and I am determined to NOT let that happen. This is what the Lord has shown me this past month, and I could not be any more grateful for the insight He has given me.
Isa 40:31: but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
