During training camp and lunch, the amazing World Race staff spend days and days trying to prepare you for this crazy trip thing called The World Race.
They warn you about the food, and the bugs.
They tell you stories about traveling for days at a time, and about how nearly everyone poops their pants.
They tell you about the amazing sights, and caution you against expectations.
What everyone (wether in a blog, or during WR training) forgot to mention however, was what I consider the hardest part about The World Race; and that is saying goodbye.
Not saying goodbye to ones family and friends, but saying goodbye to the amazing people that you work with, and live with and laugh with all month long. 
You spend an entire month pouring into the same people all month, encouraging them, challenging them, and most importantly loving them. And then you leave, knowing fully well that this could very possibly be the last time that you might ever see your new best friend, your new mother, your new brother again. You have to leave them trusting that the Lord will look after them, and will love them long after you have left.
You spend all month loving them unconditionally, pushing the end of the month out of your mind, but then on the last day there it all floods back, and you remember that you were only called there for a season. So you say your goodbyes, and you pray over your new loves. You pray blessing, you pray provision, and then when you begin to pray for their future it hits you. 
You will very well never know what will become of this amazing person before you. You will never know if they eventually become a pastor, or if their parents become christians. You will never know if they graduate from college, or if their ministry gets all the support that you have been praying for all month.
Every month I have found myself dreading the last day, and the goodbyes. Some hit harder then others, but all are hard. I have become closer to the people I have worked with in these countries then I ever thought possible. I love them more then I ever knew I could, and miss them more then I ever wanted to. My heart breaks time and again, as I remember all the people who I have loved, and then left behind. Their faces flash across my memory as I try and fall asleep at night, and I am terrified as their faces begin to blur around the edges. Forgetting things is inevitable, but none the less hard.
I remind myself time and again that the short time I had with them was ordained by the Father, and that there was a reason that I was blessed with getting to live with them for the time I did. That He used me to change them, and mold them into who He is calling them to be, and that me leaving was always part of His plan.
Even though I know that me leaving was part of His ultimate plan, it is still hard. Leaving is the hardest part of The World Race, and knowing that I have to do it 11 times is terrifying. My first goodbye was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life, doing it 11 times is overwhelming.
To you future Racers; be warned. You Will fall in love this year, and you Will leave them behind. But thats ok. We are called to go to the other side of the world, and show those around us how much the Father loves us. No matter if its only for a short time, or how much it hurts. Its worth it for the month of love. Its worth it every time. Don’t be afraid to dive in. Don’t be afraid to love mightily.
