The Story I Can’t Really Tell

The World Race has been more than I ever could have imagined.  It’s not even as if my expectations have been exceeded.  It’s more like my expectations have been blown out of the water.  I’ve seen the impact of the Race in my life in places I didn’t even know existed.  I have changed in areas of my life that I didn’t even know where affecting me.  It’s hard to dream up what an experience like this will be when you are sitting in the A/C back at home with DSL internet, reading the blogs of others who have gone before.

I could talk about conditions.  I could tell you how I was scared to use a squatty potty all through China, but that I came to prefer it in some ways by the time I was concluding my stay in Kenya.  I could tell you that in some ways I have come to enjoy using a bucket shower, and truly appreciate how much less water it uses than our shower at home.  I could tell you how much I have come to love rice and beans, especially when the beans are fresh as they always are in Africa.

I could talk about ministry.  I could tell you about how I couldn’t break 20 minutes in a sermon for the entire month of December, but that now I can’t imagine how our pastors had home keep their message to 20 minutes or less each week.  I could tell you about how door-to-door ministry works with incredible consistency out here, about how our team saw a Muslim woman convert to Christianity after they simply walked up to her door and spoke to her for an hour and a half.  I could tell you about how we simply walked up to a market and began to preach, and that people actually stopped to listen.

I could talk about community.  I could tell you that some people cried for days when our teams were reorganized at the last debrief.  I could try to describe the way I learn more about love every time I see one of my teammates do something that simply makes me smile.  I could tell you how excited we all are every time the squad reunites at debrief.  I could tell you how I have seen firsthand the way God’s anointing is released when we begin to minister in true unity (Psalm 133).

But I don’t believe I can make you understand what’s happening out here.  I hope it doesn’t sound too condescending, but the experience is so unique that it can’t be described in words or pictures or video.  I’m not sure that you would understand that the conditions are actually pretty bearable.  They are trying at times, but eventually are just part of life.  The incessant travel begins to be normal.  The ministry becomes a way of life.  The community feels like home and I don’t know how we every live secluded, individualistic lives.  You have to do something to get you out of your routine before you can see the way God really wants to change you.

I think the most important story of this year is that all of the traveling and the ministry and the community are simply a backdrop.  It’s a backdrop to the incredible work the Lord is doing in me.  The Lord is filling me with his spirit in confidence and love and power.  He’s showing me new parts of myself and teaching me to walk in them.  The true story this year is the power of God in me.  And I really think that is the hardest thing to convey.  I know it was the hardest thing for me to understand coming into the Race.

As we apply we are all tempted with the allure of far-off lands and the experiences of preaching the gospel to areas unreached.  Ultimately though, it is the work the Lord is doing inside of me that is the greatest reward.  That is the coolest thing to see.

I’m not sure what else to say than that