I want to give you a glimpse into a part of my life on The World Race as a Logistics Leader and how the Lord has showed up in amazing ways logistically.
I was appointed to this position at training camp and honestly I was surprised. I made sure that the World Race staff new that I had never been out of the country, on an airplane, or spoke any foreign languages. Their response…”that’s ok.” In addition, I was blessed with a logistics partner. His name is Jeff Wickham and he happens to be a logistical genius.
The story I want to tell you is from Ecuador at the end of month two. At this point, logistics is still new to Jeff and myself. What we knew was we were traveling from Ecuador to Peru and we’d be taking busses to get there. That was it. Jeff and I were given some details about the border crossing that were meant to help, but they were negated when we arrived because our bus totally passed up the Ecuador passport office…let the logistics begin!
Let me be honest with you. I was worried. I remembered a logistics conversation I had with someone from WR staff…”if logistics doesn’t get done…no big deal…the squad just doesn’t move.” I was beginning to think that this might be one of those times. Immediately, Jeff and I asked for prayer from our ministry contact and squad. Then Jeff and I both had our family and friends at home praying about our travels. We left the next night and arrive at the Peru border in the morning…or at least what we think is the Peru border. When the bus stopped and told us to get off, one of the squad leaders turned to me and asked “Is this where we’re supposed to be?” Remember what I mentioned earlier…my first time out of the country…my response was…”I have no clue…I hope so.”
I realize my answer didn’t inspire much confidence, but at the moment my confidence was riding a little low. I just started praying. What happened next amazed me and still amazes me. The Lord showed up….and He showed off. We got off the bus and were unloading all our packs when a man approaches me…seemingly out of nowhere and asks if I need help. “YES!” This man gets us a dump truck of sorts to take us to the Ecuador passport control office that our bus passed up, then has two small busses that he offers for us to use and that will take us across the border into Peru to their passport control office and then to the first big border town. I have no other way of explaining this…except God. He is in the business of coordinating and bringing people together…which is what logistics is after all.
This story isn’t over yet. At this point I thought it was though. I was thinking that we had smooth sailing ahead. I arrive at the ticket counter of the bus line that is supposed to take us to Trujillo and the bus company says that they don’t have a bus for us, that all their busses were being used and the one that was supposed to go to Trujillo that night is broken down…then they just walked away from the counter and left me standing there.
Now there are 50 people behind me in the bus station waiting area with all their belongings…what am I supposed to do? I pray. I take one of the team leaders with me who has been translating for me this whole time and go in search of a new bus line that can take our squad. What do you know? The first bus station I go to (which looks more like a mom-n-pop store) has a bus that will take us to Trujillo and for a very reasonable price….we just have to wait until 9 pm for it to leave. Only an 8 hour wait. Wow…ok…let’s go for it. After a trip to the ATM…we’ve got ourselves a bus.
I tell all this to share with you one of my most memorial experiences on the World Race. This is one of many times when God has shown us miraculously. This is an instance that shows how much of God’s favor I have. I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to succeed. Worried that I wouldn’t be able to get my squad to our next country. What I realized is that I would have failed. I would not have succeed had I not turned to the Lord for help. I learned about dependence. I think about the stereotypical example of men asking for directions. I’m not that guy. I need help…especially with international travel and accommodations.
I’ve learned so much and been very blessed in this role over the past 7 months. And this is just one of those times. I’m blessed with squad mates who are very laid back and go with the flow very well. When informed that we’d be waiting in a random Peru border town for 8 hours they were pumped. They explored the city and it was there that we found out Peru has some of the best mangos in the world. I’ve learned a ton…about people…myself…the Lord. I’ve seen the Lord work so mightily….and I have learned that if you want to see the Lord working in your life…all you have to do is ASK…
