This is going to be a new type of blog for me. I want to be very real with some stuff that has been going on this month.
I have some fun news for you. Once you go on the World Race you aren’t instantly closer to God. You don’t just miraculously have this intimate relationship with the Lord. Wherever your were at before the race is exactly where you will be at with the Lord when you leave for the race. I know this is very shocking news for everyone because it came as a surprise for me.
An expectation that I had for the World Race is that my relationship with the Lord would be on another level. I expected God to talk to me daily, heal the blind, and have me pray over everyone. None of this was happening this month. My relationship with the Lord was very similar to how it had been at home, which was also frustrating. I don’t recognize God talking to me and that is one thing that I constantly pray for. I got up every morning, back at home and here in Colombia, about an hour before breakfast and I do my devotional as well as read the Bible. I feel very stagnant with my relationship with the Lord.
**Story Time**
On our last adventure day in Bogota, Colombia we went to the market/mall. As a group of 6 girls we loved going to the market. We spent the whole day wondering and enjoying all the products of the vendors. We were getting ready to head back and we were getting everyone back together. I went and sat on a little wall to wait for everyone. I was watching all the people pass by. I was struck with extreme frustration. I am a World Racer, and we are a team of missionaries and nothing we did that day showed that. Yeah we pray before we eat but I wanted to pray for the old man playing a clarinet for money. I want to see miracles happen and God moving in big ways.
**Side Note**
One thing that I think stopped us from doing what God called us to do was a lingering spirit of fear. On our very first adventure day one of the girls on my team got their phone taken out of their pocket. The overwhelming grief and fear not only effected her but our whole team. I would notice us out and about ignoring people and situations that God may have been trying to put in our path.
**Back to Story Time**
This feeling of discomfort and frustration would not go away, so that night I voiced it with the team. It turns out the one of my beautiful team mates was feeling the same way. She actually prayed in the market that someone on our team would feel as frustrated as she felt. The craziest thing is that she prayed and then about 5 minutes passed and I began to get frustrated. As a team we took this to the Lord and asked for His boldness and guidance in these situations.
**Flash Forward**
As a team we didn’t really get to see this boldness come out in us until we left Bogota. After a long 10 hour bus ride from Bogota to Medellin our team made camp in the bus station. We packed a bunch of food that we divided up between everyone. While getting settled I noticed a man with no shoes sleeping with his face in his hands on a bench. I instantly wanted to give him food. I knew we had enough to spare and even if we didn’t I could go with less. Looking through our bag of apples I counted to see how many we had, we had 7 and there are only 6 of us. With that small conformation we packed a bag of food for this man. Danielle and I got to go give him the food. Thankfully Danielle speaks Spanish and got to really talk to him. His name is Benjamin. After giving him the food we asked if we could pray for him and he said yes of course.
This moment would not have been possible if the frustrations that God blessed me with did not come to light that day with my team. I am so excited for what is to come and the power of God to move through the next 10 countries we journey to.
