Greetings and Blessings
ñJesus
said, ïWho is my mother, and who are my brothers?Í And pointing to His
disciples, He said, ïHere are my mother and my brothers! For whoever
does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and
mother.Íî –Matt. 12:48-50
Jesus
talks about the people who are doing the will of The Father, following
the teachings of Love and Truth that He spoke of so often in the
gospels. These people feed the hungry, house the homeless, visit the
sick, clothe the naked. And I thank God so much that all of you reading
this now are these people of whom Jesus is speaking. Praises and
rejoices rise up in my spirit for the people (brothers, sisters, entire
families) that have supported me in the past year and have raised me up
for the glory of The Kingdom of God. I pray favor, grace, and glory
upon all of you reading this now. 
What I have experienced on The World Race
After returning ñhomeî from an intense
eleven-month trip to more than eleven different
countries/cultures/peoples, after spending literally every moment of
every day with five other people who are joining me in serving The
Lord through blood, sweat, and tears, there are very few words that can
even begin to explain what I have experienced. Even after less than
three weeks of being back in the United States, I am not completely convinced I actually saw, touched, heard, smelled, and felt the things I encountered in the past year.
After
Jesus sent out His disciples to do ministry for the first time, giving
them authority to cast out demons and to heal the sick, all of them
returned practically dancing with joy and excitement that they got to
experience that. They rejoiced and praised The Lord for what He had
done in their lives. And Jesus partied with them! ThatÍs kind of how I
feel right now. God called me to go out and to make disciples of all
the nations, and I saw darkness fall from the sky. God used me to usher in righteousness throughout the world, and I just want to shout with praise and excitement for all that The Lord has done in the past year.
God allowed me to see His face in the eyes of an orphaned newborn baby in the Philippines, and I was blessed enough to be baptized in Hong Kong, China by some strong men of God. Despite the governmentÍs
fear of Christianity and the illegality of practicing the teachings of
Christ, my team worshipped Jesus in a public park in mainland China. When the enemy stopped precious water from coming into the pipes of our house in Kenya,
we saw the faithfulness of GodÍs love for His people when, after
praying for hours for the floodgates to be opened, the living water
flowed freely. The cries of a wife were heard in Uganda
when her husbands eyes, closed for months from sickness, were opened to
see her beautiful face. God let me experience selfless hospitality
through the families we met in Tanzania, and I learned that ñin the heart of Calcutta (Kolkota) thereÍs the heart of a King!î I gained new brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children, and homes in the hills of Moldova, while I came to understand the importance of all that family in a village in Romania.
Though most comfortable in Budapest, Hungary (the most ñAmericanizedî
place I had been on the trip), I learned how much God calls us to put
others before ourselves. In beautiful (and hot) Guatemala, I learned how to serve with a joyful heart. And in Nicaragua I learned that Joy can flow past even the hardest of times, and become a great river of Life.
I learned that family and community, though difficult and distressing,
are pertinent to the growth of any man or woman. And I learned what it
means to be a Man of God. 
And after all of these things, I simply want to Rejoice!
ñWhoever
welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who
sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will
receive a prophetÍs reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in
the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the
righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these
little ones in the name of a disciple- truly I tell you, none of these
will lose their reward.î ÐMatthew 10:40-42
All
of you who have supported me in any way- prayed for me daily, prayed
for me once, given me $5000, given me $1, read all of my blogs, read
only this blog, sent information about me to all of their friends, told
one person about me- God promises all of you rewards in this life and
the next, eternal life. You have all supported me not as a family
member, or as a friend, or as a co-worker, or as a kid you watched grow
up, but as Christ. You all let me into a part of your hearts because
you saw Christ in me, and you wanted to see Him glorified. But not only
did you help me go on the trip of a lifetime, but you helped touch the
lives of many people around the world- Mario, Peter and Laura, Eugene,
Maxwell, Abele, Shandar, Andre
and Larisa, Sandu, Alex, Antonio, Sonja- all of these people have felt
your prayers and have felt the affection of your hearts caring for
theirs. So thank you for being a huge part in the Kingdom of Our God! I cannot say it enough, and words can hardly express it. But thank you from the deepest parts of my heart.
Read Part 2…
