We are an artist, youth leader, salesman, recent college graduate, public health consultant, urban ministry leader, and journalist.
We come from all over the eastern United States: From New York and Pennsylvania to Arkansas and Mississippi; from Illinois to Washington, DC, and North Carolina.
We never went to college for ministry, and most of us had never been on a missions trip before flying out of JFK on August 11.
If you had told any of us in 2008 that we’d be walking down dirt roads in Romania in 2009, we would have laughed.
Some of us applied for The World Race moments after being introduced to it. Others, like myself, were intimidated by its scope and waited months before taking that proactive leap of faith.
We listen to rap and country music, metal and dance, alternative and screamo. We like movies (well, all but one), and most of us watch The Office religiously.
We like sports … some of us more than others, but hey, it means more in Philadelphia (home of the defending World Champion Phillies). We play sports … some of us better than others, but I’m going to put it out there and say our team could hold its own against any World Race team in any sport. Basketball, field hockey, football, rodeo, softball, soccer, track … you name it, we do it.
We are loud and quiet, blunt and contemplative, fun and serious. We have good days and bad days. We get tired and moody.
We are not perfect. We have flaws, whether you see them on the surface or not.
We are seven ordinary people … average Joes like you talk to every day of your life. But for some reason, God brought this group of seven ordinary people together to do extraordinary things for 11 months and beyond. We’ve bought into the process. During the last 30-some days, we have laughed, cried, celebrated, mourned, invaded personal space, prayed, fasted, and sacrificed … together. We hold each other accountable, and we have each others’ backs.
Jesus said in John 14:12-14 that if we have faith, we can do what he did. Actually, he says God will use us to do “greater things than these.” He loves doing extraordinary things with ordinary people. That’s why He turned a shepherd into a king, and helped a stuttering murderer free an entire nation. So we can give Him the glory.
We are Proclaim I61, and we can’t wait to see what God will do through us.
