Some
of you may be thinking, what do you mean?
I’m talking about
being used in the context of “being used” by God. I’m talking about how it
feels when you return from the race, and you’re spent. You’ve spread yourself
thin for the cause of Christ, and you don’t have regrets but you’re tired from
the traveling, sickness and community.
You’re unmotivated because let’s face it, you’re overwhelmed at
re-entry. You’re overwhelmed by all you’ve experienced and you haven’t
“processed” everything. There are
so many dreams, ideas and visions not to mention the reality hits of getting a
“normal” job and not living on support. The desire for earning money and
spending it freely comes quickly and so does the guilty feeling that we should
give every penny to the poor. The
questions come like, how do I go
back to normal life? How do I fuse my experience on the World Race with my life
back in the states? Should I stay and do normal life or should I go back on the
field cause that’s all that makes sense? You feel torn and indecisive. All the
dreams and visions you had on the Race seem to go on the back burner, because
“real life” hits and you don’t have a plan, yet. You find yourself in a dilemma and one of the hardest
things is you’re not in community anymore.
All of this happens,
and for any missionary that’s spent an extended amount of time on the field, we
know those feelings, questions and thoughts all to well. There’s no shame in confessing the
truth of your experience, with all the intense details. What I learned about my post race
experience was that the fire did dwindle down, the passion subsided and the
memories began to fade. I had to work at remembering all that the Lord had done
and what I had seen. It took effort to integrate my World Race experience into
my life back in America. The goals I had before I got home from the race were
not realized and I found myself forgetting my commitments. Let me just be
honest, I didn’t know what to do with my life when I got back, and I didn’t
prepare myself for apathy or indifference. I’m confessing that I forgot about
the poor, the hungry and the thirsty. It’s like I came back home to all the
comforts and made sure that I was taking care of myself. I look back on it now,
and see how I could have kept the passion and love going for the “least of
these.”
What did I need? I
needed a call to action. I needed
a plan. I needed a dream bigger
than myself to attach to. I had the
experience and the heart change, but didn’t know how to transfer it to a way of
life here. I’m still learning that the Lord doesn’t just
want our experiences; he wants a heart change that leads to a natural outflow
of living sacrificially. Don’t get
me wrong, I came back excited to share my experience, and I kept in touch with
the WR community. I just wish I could go back in time, and get plugged
in immediately with a tangible way to live out my heart change back in states.
One
of the biggest things I have realized since returning home for the WR almost 2
years ago, was that an experience isn’t enough. You need a plan when you come home that is in alignment with
God’s heart for the poor. You need
community to keep you accountable. In the U.S. we are not constantly reminded
of extreme poverty (people living on $1.25/day), because we’re so privileged. We have all our comforts and our dreams, but if we don’t have an outlet for our visions then they go on the back burner
of our hearts. I don’t want that
to happen to you like it happened to me.
There is hope!!!
About
a month ago after years of praying for God to use my WR experience, my passion
for the poor and love for relationships. The Lord gave me a job working with
the Live58 team as Executive Assistant/Relationship Manager here in L.A. Live58‘s mission is to END extreme global poverty
in our lifetime by forming alliances with reputable non-profits that have the
same vision. The truth is that, extreme global poverty has been cut in half
since 1981 so that means the CHURCH could actually change the course of history
by living out the principles of Isaiah 58. In Isaiah 58, God calls us to Pray, Fast and Give, and he will hear our
prayers. We’re all familiar with
the ONE campaign and they have 40 of the top celebrities in the world declaring
that the government will solve this problem. The church has NO unified voice on
ENDING extreme global poverty. That is embarrassing. Jesus is obsessed and crazy over the “least of these” but the
church as a unified body, has turned away because we don’t know the truth about extreme poverty and we don’t actually believe that together we can END it. Here at Live58 we are educating the
Church on the truth of extreme global poverty and calling forth an army to
Pray, Fast and Give.
We’re not just another non-profit trying to raise money
for a cause. We are a movement that is chasing after God’s heart for the poor,
because without a true heart change, nothing will change. We want people to first
see that the way to END this is through living Isaiah 58, and spreading the
word about the opportunity we have to END this thing. We believe that the more people that know and live this, the
more lives will be saved and the dreams of God for this generation will no
longer stay on the back burner.
The great thing is that, God is not giving us a choice (so indecisiveness goes out the window). He’s commanding
us to care for the poor!!! The other
great thing is that it’s a sacrifice that is worship unto Him. We fast one
coffee a week, or one meal a week and add that up at the end of the month, and
that is about $25 (depending on where you get coffee or food). We barely blink an eye at that, but
that amount could change someone’s life forever. We really can’t say that we can’t afford to miss one of our
comforts each week. We all get
asked to support missionaries, give to church, non-profits and
fundraisers. I admit that there
are many times I’ve thought, what is my $25 really going to do for such a major
need? Well, my thinking is all
wrong because my $25 won’t do much, but my heart and God’s economy with $25
will make an eternal impact. Where are we placing our faith?
Yes, I’m
passionate about this and yes I’m telling you that you have a call to answer
and it’s to the poor. This is the
first time the Church has come together to fight this problem and we’re doing
it with the Spirit of God and sacrifice.
Join the Live58 movement and tell your friends, family and churches. Remember, what Jesus said, “I was hungry and you fed me, I was
thirsty and you gave me water, I
was naked and you clothed me, whatever you have done to the least of these you
have done for me.” As World
Racers, pre, current and post we have a greater responsibility because we’ve
already seen HIM in every country we set foot in and we have no excuse.
This
is what you need to do next:
Watch this youtube video on Scott Todd (Founder
and CEO of Live58) sharing eye-opening truths about
extreme global poverty. Isaiah 58 | The poor will NOT Always be with us. If you have a few minutes, here’s a quick video on how the Church can step up, and why Jesus did NOT endorse our apathy towards the global poor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uZV90fsoCY
Then watch this short video on who we are at Live58 and how to get involved.
Our website
is http://www.live58.org and you can click on
the global action tour (12 countries, 12 months, 12 projects-sound familiar?)
and sign up for a fast of your choice and watch your contribution change lives.
What are you waiting for? He’s already given us all we NEED. Make the investment people have made in
you worth it with giving right back to HIM, because being used by God should
never make you feel useless. Take it from me it’s only true when you see the talent He’s called you to invest in is your experience. Make a wise investment that will make a difference now and for eternity and remember WE WIN THIS THING!!!!!!!
Join the movement at Live58!!!!
