This being my second blog post, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about why I am doing the World Race in the first place.
Picture being in a room worshipping with about 2000 youth ministers, A.K.A. really big kids. Jeremy Camp is on the main stage and everyone is singing their lungs out when you start to feel really funny. Almost like the way the Grinch started to feel when his heart grew 3 sizes. Lots of pain, lots of emotion, joy, relief, sadness, passion, but most of all, desire. You look down and in your hand is this pamphlet that says on the cover "The World Race, 11 Countries, 11 Months." And you look inside, reading the description, looking at the pictures, and hearing something. You hear something that is as clear as if you were in a quiet room and someone was screaming at the top of their lungs to get your attention. The only difference is, you are not in a quiet room but in a room full of people. Thousands of people. All screaming their lungs out to God but what you hear is different. I can only describe it as the loudest whisper and the softest yell, or maybe as the closest thing to the very voice of God without standing face to face with Him. And He is telling you something that pierces to the very depth of your heart and soul. "Go. I want you to do this."
That is what happened to me in the very best description that I could possibly provide. I was at the national youth workers convention, in the exhibit hall, and I came across Adventures in Missions. Never heard of it before in my life nor was I really that interested in cross-cultural missions work at the time. But regardless, I started talking to the reps there. We hit it off pretty well and struck up good conversation and then I said the magic words. "I am graduating college in a month so I am kind of a free agent." I kid you not, it is like they could all hear me through the crowds because out of nowhere these reps just appeared and started throwing pamphlets and dvds and papers and websites at me. I had clothespins hooked on me for another event and they started sticking these things on me. I am not even joking about that part. They even took a picture like I was a walking advertisement! Something must have stuck because when I walked into that big room with those 2000 ministers and worshipped, God responded with a resounding and piercing desire deep within me to GO!
Nothing has ever been more clear in my life honestly. Sometimes it takes years to understand a calling from God and it took me all of two minutes. Now, though I knew what I needed to do, that didn't stop me from having a good long sit down with God to ask Him what the carp he was thinking. I prayed. I asked God, "Huh?" and "Is this real, or is this the Devil throwing some evil scheme?" I was seriously in a short state of denial really. You see, I have never been the first one to jump up and down with my hands thrown in the air saying, "Ya, I want to do overseas mission work!" I was never unwilling, but that was never my cup of tea. I was always a stateside guy. But, the more I prayed and thought, the more I realized something. I was asking for this all along!
Whenever someone would ask me what I was doing after college, I would always say, "I'm not really sure yet. I am just waiting for God to show me what I need to do at this point because I really do not know yet." Seriously you guys, I asked for it and at that moment, I knew that God gave me a purpose! And as promised, a tangent…If there were two things that I have always tried to figure out in my life that were always unclear, it is Value and Purpose. Not only are these two things that this trip is sure to help me realize, but even now, I am realizing this purpose and living out the plan that God has for me. And one of the coolest things about it is Joy.
To be completely honest without hopefully sounding weird, since the day that I decided to do the World Race, I have experienced an unending joy. Now, I am not talking about happiness necessarily, I mean I have had some unhappy days, but JOY. The kind that just helps you keep going in all situations and it is all because I have been realizing the purpose that God has given me and His will in my life is being accomplished. I hope you don't think I am getting too preachy here, well I guess I do hope, because I am getting preachy and I don't really care; but when we understand that God's will for our lives is nothing short of GOOD then we will experience nothing short of JOY. My life is becoming more full everyday and I can only expect great things to come out of The World Race!
So that is how I came to know about this race and why I am doing it. For those of you who made it through to the end of this post, a hearty well done, pat on the back, and thank you! For those who didn't, bummer. 😉
I'm gonna try a new sign off call sign because I appreciate Isaiah's humility and hope to emulate that attitude…tell me what you all think!
The Man With Unclean Lips
Brandon Barnum
