Three months ago, before I came to the Race, I thought I was “spiritually healthy,” and I would just be involved in ministry work. God has shown how little I know about His Kingdom and myself. I am a baby learning to crawl again before I can walk. Additionally, God has shown me that ministry is nothing like what I expected, and I have experienced His love more than ever.
Three months ago, I thought a life of travel and ministry was the best combination. Later I realize my journey was meaningful because of God’s guidance. What have I learned? I’ve learned God is full of surprises, and I praise Him with all of my heart because He isn’t a common God. Amazing things happen when you allow God to take you on a journey.
Community
I knew that I would spend 11 months in a community. I had some ideas what community would look like, but it was different than I expected. Spending every day in community means that I don’t always get to live however I want. Some days we’ve spent two hours in team time because we can’t agree on a ministry location, or even a place to eat. We need to work together and continue to keep God as the center of every decision. We learn to be honest and respect each other even when we individually think our way is better. We learn to be honest when there is tension. We learn to love one another unconditionally when we don’t want to love. The Bible says that in the early church, people shared everything. I now understand that passage wasn’t just referring to food or money, but also to honesty, desires, and struggles.
God speaks vs I speak
I love to tell stories. Sharing testimonies of what God has done is great. However, for the longest time, I’ve desired for people to focus on me than on the Lord. Often I would find myself adding extra to my stories so they would be more interesting. In the beginning of the Race, a teammate told me, “Speak only when God gives you words.” God is the creator of all my stories. I tell my stories in order to lead people to Christ, not to me. Moreover, I also learned to listen first before I speak.
Freely receiving
The verse “freely receive, freely give” has always been my motto. However, I didn’t know that I focus so much on giving and ignore the importance of receiving. Growing up, I was taught to be humble when receiving compliments, but I’ve learned that being humble isn’t denying the gifts from God. Now, when people compliment me, I thank them for noticing and thank God for loving me so much to give me gifts and talents. This isn’t boasting. I cannot truly and freely give until I accept who I am. I am God’s creation and His child. He has given me good things, and I gladly receive it. I enjoy using His gifts to serve others and glorify Him.
Dealing with conflicts
I grew up avoiding conflicts because I’ve been in many of them. Usually, I make peace by not dealing with problems and I don’t realize how dangerous it is when problems or resentments add up. Since I am constantly meeting people, and working with my team, conflict is unavoidable. Yet conflict can be healthy if I seek solution from God. Strength is built when people are willing to accept criticisms and meet in the middle. A peace maker fights for righteousness.
Dream vs Reality
It’s easy to hear people say they love traveling. I said it a lot before the race. After the discomfort of the past few months, I now view traveling differently. In my previous travels, I didn’t worry about food, water, communication, wifi, transportation, money, safety, etc. There are times I’ve struggled getting home because I forgot to write down the address and the taxi drive and I have a language barrier. I’ve had to choose the cheapest food because of my low budget, and even slept on a bed with bed bugs.
Some days I wish I could go home, and then others, I think that I can do this forever. Traveling is fun, but it has taught me flexibility. I’ve also learned the blessing of a good night’s sleep with no mosquito.
Thank you for reading. I pray that wherever you are in your journey, you will allow God to shape and teach you. He has a specific plan just for you! His teaching is only a small part of everything He wants you to experience.
“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14
