Back at training camp last October, we were told about something called Keys for the Journey.
Keys for the Journey is a really cool ministry run by a guy named Austin who works for Adventures in Missions (the parent organization for the World Race). Basically, as a world racer, you can order a prophetic key necklace that he can give you at launch.
Once you place your order, Austin prays over each key without looking at any info of the person whom it’s for and then prints a word, verse, or whatever God says, on that key. It’s a prophetic message for the racer over their upcoming year, and it’s something that they should press into and really dig to understand what God is trying to tell them through it.
Later, while the racer is on the field, and once they’ve learned what God was highlighting through the key, they are to give their key away to someone God highlights to encourage, teach, and uplift that person. There are so many cool testimonies and stories that have come from this.
This is mine:
We have to go back to training camp for the beginning of my story.
I’ve been a Christian since I was seven years old and really started following Christ whole-heartedly when I was 20. Even then, going into training camp last October, I still wasn’t aware of just how much more there is to my faith and walk with God. But, praise the Lord!, that was when God started shaking my world.
I remember that the concept of identity and who I truly am kept coming up over and over; and even more specifically, the word “Mine” came up in my prayers, reading, listening to speakers, prophetic art (that’s another story), and more. I had visions and dreams with God speaking into me about who I am and it changed my world.
This was something I held onto as I went back home for a couple months before launch in January. During this time, I ordered a key and was excited for it, but eventually I didn’t think about it as much with all my other preparations and goodbyes going on.
Anyway, I arrived to launch in Atlanta, ready to go, and our squad leaders were handing out the key necklaces. Again, I was excited but wasn’t sure what to expect. But when I opened the bag, what I saw blew my mind.
The key said, “Mine.”
Remember, I had never met Austin, and he had absolutely no background or any info on me at all.
As the Race began and progressed, God led (and is still leading me) on an incredible journey of identity and confidence. From beginning the race with the responsibilities of a Team Leader to reading books such as Victory Over the Darkness (A MUST read!!), He showed me the deeper meaning of my key and what Jesus truly meant when He said to the Father, “…All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them…” (John 17 – specifically verse 10).
Fast-forward now to Month seven in Uganda. As the month was wrapping up, I was praying into what God had for the next month and one of the things He told me very clearly was that I would give my key away in Kenya. That excited me, but I kept it in my heart for that moment.
A week or so later we pulled up to Grace Family Orphanage in Kaptagat, Kenya and that’s when I met Allen Kepchumba. Allen is an energetic, inquisitive, 11 year old boy living at Grace Family who walks in so much wisdom for his age. I can’t really explain it but from the moment I first met him, I knew I would be giving my key to him.
Over the next several weeks, I got very close with the boys there, especially Allen. He would ask me about my key and what it meant (he remembered every bit of it), play with my hair (I gladly took the free head massage), and just hang out with me whether I was reading or playing soccer.
The night before we left Grace Family to begin our trek to Ethiopia, I pulled Allen aside to give him the key, and it was one of the harder things I’ve done on the race. It’s so hard to create deep relationships with people around the world, only to have to move on at the end of the month, never knowing if you’re going to see that person again; and that’s what hit me that night.
In a way, the grief of leaving is so beautiful because those relationships are amazing and un-forgettable, yet, it doesn’t take away any of the pain. All I could do in that moment was give Allen the necklace, encourage him to find his own meaning for it, and tell him how much I love him; all the while being asked if I would stay, or at least come back, not knowing if I ever will…
That’s the end of that story.
I know it doesn’t have a movie ending (at least not yet), but that’s the life that God has blessed me with and the love that He’s capable of pouring through you. Life is painful sometimes, but as I’m learning, not all pain is bad. Sometimes pain is the evidence of something deeper and more beautiful than we can see in the moment.
As Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Rev. 3:20a).
I’ve made the choice to open to love and hurt.
Jesus did too when He took your place on the cross.
Are you ready to open yourself to pain in order to experience beauty and love?
God Bless!
-Ben
