Before I decided to commit to the World Race I made a list of reasons why I shouldn’t go. Some of these reasons were based on logical thinking; others were based on relationships. I was haunted by these reasons, and I couldn’t let them go.
One time during a sermon I jotted these reasons down on the church bulletin. I convinced myself that I was making the right and mature decision to not go on the World Race. But, as the pastor spoke in the background, I stared at my list and made a realization: all my reasons for not going were based on fear.
That’s how I made my decision to go. It didn’t seem right to let my fear win over my faith. After all, the phrase “do not be afraid” is used nearly 400 times in the Bible, so I guess that meant I shouldn’t be afraid.
I know I’m not the only person who has been doubtful or skeptical of the World Race, so I’d like to share with you my original reasons for not going, and also share what I learned about these reasons while I was on the World Race.
And so, In no particular order…
REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD NOT GO ON THE WORLD RACE:
1) The World Race is just a year of adventure and travel – and that’s all, really.
I was so worried that the World Race was about being “cool” more than it was about being like Christ. Backpacking around the world for a year…in the name of Jesus? I wondered if Jesus was being used as a selling point to make it seem like you were doing this awesome thing for Him, therefore making it okay to ask people to financially support you. When one of my anti-Christian friends heard about the World Race, he said he might as well convert if it meant people would pay for his travel. I couldn’t help but wonder…did he have a point?
He didn’t. After having been on the World Race, I can say for certainty that it is all about JESUS more than it is about anything else. It is about sacrificing, serving, and surrendering. It’s about faith, hope and love. It’s about the Acts 2 community. It’s about believing and living out with faith that with God all things are possible. It’s about the poor, the forgotten, the brokenhearted. It’s about bringing the kingdom of heaven to Earth. And sure, you live out of a backpack and travel to different countries, but trust me, that’s not what’s important or even cool. Everything about the World Race points straight to JESUS.
2) The World Race is a hindrance; it’s just another short term mission trip that takes a bunch of well-to-do Americans to a foreign country so they can paint a church building, pat themselves on the back, and then leave.
I had a pretty strong anti-short-term-mission trip stance when I was considering the World Race. You know, the whole “give a man a fish and you’ve fed him for a day. teach a man to fish and you’ve fed him forever,” or whatever. I didn’t want to be a part of something that didn’t have sustainable results. And how could moving from country to country and ministry to ministry every few weeks prove to be sustainable?
The great thing about the World Race is that there are squads constantly on the field. Many of the ministry contacts we served with had already hosted World Race teams, and would continue to host more teams after we left. So it’s not like we are doing something, patting ourselves on the back and peacing out. it’s more like we were a part of a bigger project.
When we arrived in Romania, Turkey, the Philippines, and Thailand we saw pictures of previous World Race teams and heard about their stories, and we went on to continue the work they had already begun.
We were the first teams to serve with our ministry contacts in Kenya, Tanzania and Cambodia, and our contacts were eager to host more World Race teams as soon as possible (another World Race team arrived mere days after we left our Cambodian contact, and I know that another team has already servied with our contact in Kenya.)
Trust me, the World Race is a part of sustaining the ministries with which we work, not just giving free handouts and calling it a day.
Our ministry contacts showed us again and again how thankful they were to have us, and how much of a blessing we were to them (though we argued they were more of a blessing to us.) Our months often ended in tears (on both sides) – I’ll never forget when we all lined up to hug the Bishop Maurice in Kenya before getting on the bus, or when we sat with the Cambodian ladies at our last supper and shared tearful stories of how much our lives have been changed because of one another.
The World Race may not be perfect, but it’s definitely not just another short term mission trip that helps Americans feel good about themselves.
3) $13,800 !?!?!
Oh man, if there’s one reason to not go on the World Race – it’s MONEY. Sure, God provided for other people, but that would never happen to me. $13,800??? That’s like a bajillion dollars. And with the economy these days? Sheesh. There’s no way.
I can tell you this much: I am no one special, I don’t have a wealthy grandparent, most everyone I know has a ton of college loans, I don’t like asking for money, I haven’t been a part of a church long enough to know anyone or be able to qualify for any kind of mission fund…
and yet God provided me with more than enough money. MORE THAN ENOUGH.
No, it didn’t happen easily, and it didn’t happen immediately. But it happened. During this economy crisis and everything. Enough said.
I wrote an entire blog entry about God providing the money – if you are interested in hearing more you can check it out here.
And really, $13,800 for 11 months of food, lodging and international travel is a dang good deal.
4) I don’t want to miss my best friend’s wedding.
While I was on the World Race I missed my sister’s graduation from high school, my other sister having a baby, and two of my best friend’s weddings. The weddings took place four days after I left for the World Race, and three weeks before I returned. It was painful. I have been friends with these girls for years, and we have experienced so much together.
After getting out of an ugly long term relationship, I was so excited when Lauren went on her first date with Eric. He sounded great. He went out to lunch with the clique of us girls from high school, and put up with our incessant questioning with charm. We loved him. More importantly, we loved him and Lauren together.
I’ll always remember sitting on the stairs outside Alie’s apartment as she described her dream wedding to me, or that time she visited me at college my freshman year. We slept in the same tiny bed and she told me about this guy she had a crush on. Six years later she ended up marrying that guy – and I wasn’t there. I have been there from the beginning, and I missed their wedding day.
I’m not sure about guys, but the friendship between girls can run so deep, and the wedding day is one of those beautiful moments we dream of sharing together. After standing alongside each other through heartbreak after heartbreak, it’s such a feat to stand next to your best friend and support her as she commits to the man who won her heart.
I wasn’t a part of that, and it broke my heart a little bit. But then I reminded myself that a wedding is just a day, and the marriage is a lifetime. So what – I missed out on a day. I’ll be around for everything that happens after the wedding, and that’s what really counts.
Most importantly, Jesus commands us to leave everything behind for the sake of following him – this includes family, best friend’s wedding, even those who are about to die.
When a man in the Bible says he will follow Jesus after he says goodbye to his family, Jesus pretty much says that man isn’t fit for the service in the kingdom of God.
Another man says he will follow Jesus, but only after he buries his father. This reminds me of my squadmate Shannon, who left for the World Race knowing her dad would die when she was gone. And he did die – just a week after we had left for the World Race. Shannon did exactly what Jesus commanded that man in the Bible to do – “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
It’s a hard message, but so is a lot of what Jesus preaches.
5) I’m in a housing lease. I can’t get out of it, and my landlord won’t let me sublet (or, in many of my squadmates cases, they had houses/condos/cars they had to sell)
My lease wasn’t up until December, and the World Race trip I was considering left at the beginning of August. I knew I couldn’t leave my roommates high and dry…so how was this supposed to work out?
I felt called to this August World Race trip, so even though I didn’t have an answer to my housing predicament, I committed to go (I wasn’t going to let my fear win over faith!)
And then I prayed. I prayed and prayed and prayed. I prayed that my grouchy old landlord would let me sublet after all, even though she said she wouldn’t. And finally, one day I called her. I asked if I could meet with her in person to ask her a question, but she told me just to ask her right then. I wasn’t ready for that – I fumbled over my words and sounded like a complete dolt, “Umm, well. You see, I’m like, going on this trip – well I know you said we couldn’t sublet, but I was wondering – the trip is a mission trip, we’re going to Africa, and you know, it would help me a lot if you could, maybe, uhhh, let someone else move in when I move out?” There was a long pause. I held my breath. “I’ve been to Africa.” she finally said. And then we talked about that for a bit, and in the end she said I could let someone move in when I moved out. It was all God.
As for my squadmates, they have pretty cool stories too. One married couple was trying to sell their house – they tried and tried and tried and it wouldn’t sell. They couldn’t afford to go on the race and make the mortgage payments, so it looked like they weren’t going to be able to go on the race after all. But then, someone offered to make their mortgage payments for them while they were away – it was this person’s way of financially supporting their trip.
Other people from my squad have interesting stories of trying to sell their condos, but not being able to. But still, it worked out for them in the end – even though they weren’t able to sell their condos. God works in ways we don’t alway understand at the time…
6) I’m not hardcore enough.
This wasn’t actually one of my reasons, but I want to address it because I know it comes up a lot. One of my friends was recently considering going on the World Race, and we’ve had many conversations about her fear of cockroaches and peeing in a hole and sweating so much you can’t sleep.
The funny thing is, when I was telling her about the cockroaches in Tanzania and the suffocating heat in Kenya, I realized those things aren’t even what I remember when thinking about the World Race. I remember the people, the beauty, discovering God in a whole new way, the constant sense of urgency, the community…
There are hard moments on the race. Your back will hurt from sleeping on the floor. You won’t be able to sleep sometimes because of the heat. You will have dozens of mosquito bites. You will wear the same clothes day after day after day. You will pee in a hole (and sometimes on your foot.) You will be hungry and grumpy and homesick.
But it’s all worth it, and like I said, when I think about the World Race I don’t even recall those things. Also, those things easily become normal to you. We humans are adaptable creatures, and I think as Americans we tend to forget that. But really, peeing in a hole is no big deal once it becomes a habit. It’s normal.
When I think back to some people from my squad, there were a few girls who were worried about not being able to wear makeup, and another girl who at first appeared so well put together she should’ve been J.Crew model – not a world racer. Another guy had never been out of the country, and one girl had never even been on an airplane.
But we all made it. And you can too…
I hope this was somewhat helpful to anyone who is considering going on the World Race. If you have any questions please let me know! I love talking about the World Race, obviously 🙂
