100 Things I Have Learned Being On The Race For 100 Days - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

It’s been 100 days since I’ve been on the mission field!
It seems so weird to say that.
100 days!

It feels like yesterday I was hugging my mom at the airport, saying goodbye with tears in my eyes. And now I’m here on the floor of this Filipino church, celebrating 100 days of being a missionary. God has shown me so much since I’ve been on the Race, and in honor of being here on the mission field for 100 days I have 100 things I’ve learned! Hope you enjoy!

I trust God. No matter what happens, good or bad, health or sickness, spiritual growth or spiritual attacks, no matter what, He works all things together for my good according to His will and purpose.
I will lack nothing good in Christ. If I have it, it’s because God sees it good for me to bring Him closer to me. If I don’t have it, it’s because God sees it as bad for me and it won’t bring Him closer to me. That even means things I think would be good.
It’s okay not to be okay.
“If we don’t see each other again, we will see each other in Heaven.” – Said by one of the orphan boys we visited in Guatemala. There are no goodbyes among those who are children of God. We will see each other again one day.
I don’t need five years of seminary or a degree to realize that when someone knocks, I should open. (Matthew 25:31-46)
Don’t wrest with God, nestle with God.
When I don’t feel the strong desire for the glory of God, it’s not because I haven’t drunk deeply and was satisfied. It’s because for too long I’ve nibbled on the table scraps of the world.
The enjoyment of God is the only joy with which my soul is ever truly satisfied. Everything that the world can offer is just scattered beams. But God is the sun. They are just streams of still water. But God is the overflowing ocean.
I must constantly increase my steps and advance further into the hidden treasure chambers that are the wisdom and knowledge of God so my heart may be able to comprehend the things I cannot now comprehend.
When I begin to fathom the weight to the reality that the Word of God is the only way in which I can conduct my life and see what I ought to see in regards to the person of Christ, I can begin to walk with humility towards destroying all my presumptions, Americanized ideologies, and preconceived notions, so that I may deeply and fully understand and manifest the commands to love God and my neighbor.
When I’m scared and timid to preach “hard” Theology and instead never mention certain truths in an attempt to not trouble people, I openly bring a charge against God (consciously or unconsciously) as having inconsiderately allowed something to escape from Him which is hurtful to the Church.
Preach the Gospel. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Be humble when preaching; we are finite preaching about a God who is infinite. I am not a professional.
Esteem and love go together. High views of God birth mass volumes of love for God.
Trusting in God is not just saying “God is sovereign.”
Covetousness blinds the heart from seeing what grace has already been afforded to me.
Falling into temptation is a lack of trust in the reality that God knows what’s good for me.
Worship supersedes our circumstances.
Extra biblical literature is not the Gospel. When I focus my attention on that instead of the Scriptural texts themselves, I lose sight of what God is trying to say.
Missions exist because worship doesn’t.
God is glorified in my life when He is more precious than all that life could ever give and all that death could ever take.
The answer to being consumed with sin is not yelling “fight, fight, fight” and “stop doing that.” The answer is falling in love with Jesus over and over again.
The human heart is a God-shaped vacuum, designed for God to fill, and if the view of God in the eyes of my heart is small, than my heart will never be filled with what, or Who, it was created for, God.
Delighting myself in the Lord is an all-consuming, day-by-day journey to bring all of my desires into one great desire, the satisfaction only found in Christ.
Sin is forgiven, but forgiven does not mean the absence of consequence.
Spirit-led intentionality reveals the spirit-led works in Spirit-filled times of regeneration.
God did not only appoint the awakening of our souls, but has appointed the divine opportunity for the awakening of other souls by divinely equipping us to be in that particular place and time to be ambassadors of the Gospel.
“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” The Christian life is not the good life.
The missionary life is one of the loneliest life’s to live, but in the midst of loneliness, there is rejoicing, because we have found a Hope that does not put us to shame.
The modern atheist is driven by faith; faith that their minds are capable of comprehending truth through the process of science.
Preaching is the reason I have breath. In some cases, I will use words.
Community is difficult, but a necessity for any spiritual growth.
I influence everyone I encounter. Whether I cause growth or stumbling is dependent on how dependent I am in abiding in Christ.
Women, my goodness, are complex creations.
Women, my goodness, are the most important created things men need in their lives.
The only way Chivalry is dead is if we decide to bury it away from ourselves.
Women need men, not to bring them men, but to bring them Christ.
Communication is vital in a unified community. Without communication, there is no unity, and soon after that, no community.
There can be unity among one another, when Christ is central to the objective within the community. Without Christ, there is no unity.
Not everyone from Texas is bad (shout out to Travis and Hayden.)
Men, there is hope. You can overcome lust.
Everything is a blessing.
Jesus said that there will always be poverty and suffering in the world. Why do I feel like I need to change that? I can only do so much. The rest, and even my best, is in the hands of the Lord.
Women use the bathroom a lot.
It’s gross, but rejoice in your suffering when you have to pick up a girl’s used tampon for her.
It is finished, so don’t try and finish it.
You can fall in love with people who you never thought you would have fallen in love with.
Theology is essential, but not a necessity.
Laugh often, especially with someone else.
Memories are made every single second of every single day. Make the most out of them.
My family is so supportive of me, in ways I will never know. I’m thankful.
I can show love in the simplest ways; a smile, a hug, a gesture.
Bunk beds can hurt a lot (poor Shari.)
You can cry a lot. And some more. And even more. And it's okay.
Some people just simply won’t get it.
Living a life following Jesus brings some of the most random, amazing moments in life. If your life is boring, it’s probably because you’re not following Jesus.
Girls don’t like it when you take photos of them asleep.
EVERYONE HAS FACEBOOK.
Having a rat crawl on your face isn’t as gross as it sounds.
If there is water, than there is a shower.
If there is a hole, than there is a bathroom.
If there is a floor, than there is a place to rest.
If there is wifi, than everyone is on it. Wifi is gold.
Some of the most dangerous people, drunks, murderers, drug dealers, are the nicest people. They’ve just been hurt and take it out in difficult ways.
There is no such thing as an unanswered prayer. The answer is either no, yes, or maybe later.
Guatemalans know how to care.
El Salvadorians know how to serve.
Nicaraguans know how to be intentional.
Filipino’s know how to pray.
I watched a church worship passionately with only an amp and a guitar. Sound systems aren’t as important as souls.
Serving others is not based on your own preferences, but on the person’s particular position.
Pain is inevitable. It’s what you do with it that matters.
Don’t put your face in the pathway of a Nicaraguan cow’s tongue. It’s not pleasant.
Language differences, national borders, cultural diversity, and economical climates can never come between God and man.
The children of God are not captives trying to be set free, but are free people coming to an understanding that they’re already free.
Some people just can’t do what you can do. And you can’t do what they do. Instead of causing division, be unified in your freedom to do what God has allowed you to do.
Men need men. It’s not Western ideology or stereotypical masculinity. It’s simply the fact that God has created brothers in a way that aren't like our sisters. Therefore there is a vital need for the encouragement, the equipping, and the challenge by other men.
Girls don’t like farting. So men, don’t do it.
Girls fart. Give them grace.
Just be honest. First with God, then yourself, then others. Lies trap, but truth frees.
The hardest of hearts can be softened by the love of God. Therefore there is hope for everyone in the world.
Freedom only comes from the Spirit, and enslavement is found when the Spirit of the Lord is not present. Where I am enslaved, there the Spirit needs to come.
The Holy Spirit does not merely free us from things, but frees us for things.
Finding moments of solitude are a rare gift. It’s why Christ prayed alone. He was with so many people, He needed alone time. If you’re spending too much time with people, you need alone time. If you find yourself spending too much time alone, it’s because you’re not in the crowds where God has called you to.
The person who’s lied to you the most is yourself. Don’t lean on your own understanding.
Don’t worry about dying. You’re already dead. To follow Jesus means to die. That’s why we pick up our cross and follow Him.
I’ve come to realize one of the hardest places to be a Christian is the “Christian” nation that I have come from.
Homesick, despite its pain, is a beautiful thing, when deep down I know that the place where this longing to return arises, whether it's in my tent in Nicaragua or the church floor in the Philippines, is exactly where I was made to be.
Taking pills up the butt sucks.
You need to take a step back and look how far you’ve come so that you can take a step forward and continue to see how far you can go.
I’ll never take for granted a bed and shower ever again.
I thought this trip was me doing missions to other nations. It’s been more about God doing missions on me.
Don’t keep the pain in. Express your heart so others can fight for you.
When I’m obedient to God’s instruction that He’s already given me, then He gives me more instruction to continue. That’s why it’s called “daily bread” and not “yearly loaf.”
Krispey Kreme tastes way better when you’re on the mission field.
God does not call us to a miserable life. But He does call us to a painful life.
The Holy Spirit does not seek to hurt us. But He does seek to make us more like Christ, and that will be painful.
God’s grace is sufficient for all things.
It’s by grace I’m on the World Race. It’s because of His love that I am here.
I can truly do all things through Christ who gives me strength, all for the glory of God.

Every single day God has taught me more and more that a list can never do justice for. It’s been an incredible journey that I am forever thankful to be a part of. I have 140 more days on the field! But that is all dependent on whether or not I can raise the money to do so. I’m currently over due on my December deadline. I still have $2865.54 left to raise to reach my December deadline. To know that if I don’t raise this I can be coming home within the next few weeks hurts my heart. Please don’t let me go home. As I type this, sweating into the midnight hour on the floor of this small church near a brothel and in the middle of the poverty-stricken city of Manila, Philippines, it’s hard for me to grasp the fact that I could be leaving here soon if I don’t make this deadline. If I leave, who will be here for these children, for these nations, for this world? Don’t…………. Sorry; I needed to check the bathroom for my teammate to see if there were any rats. Don’t let me come home.

I ask you, help me reach my deadline.
Please donate to my mission trip.
To donate, simply click on the link below:

Donate Here!

Here are some photos of the past 100 days on the field. Thank you so much for all of your support.
Cheers to 100 more days!