As we prepare for the World Race we are faced with a multitude of questions. Some of the questions are ones that we have to ask ourselves. What do I want to pack? What kind of gear will we buy? Can I really survive without all of my shoes? And speaking of surviving, what vaccines do we need to get?
There are questions we have to face, even if we do not want to. Who will watch after our hedgehog Rose? What happens if no one wants to? What do we do about the Jeep? Do we have to sell it and survive off of one car when we come back?
Then there are the questions we get from all of our friends and family. Those questions are the most fun and yet most challenging questions to answer. Please ask all the questions you have about this trip! We love answering them and digging deeper into what this opportunity means to us and how we feel called to it!
There is a two part question that we have been trying to answer as best as we can. . . “What will you all be doing in these countries? And how will you make a difference in only one month?
Now this question is hard to answer as every team’s “race” can look very different. There is a variety of work that we will be doing. There will be some months where we will be able to see the direct impact that God is making through us. Other months may feel like nothing is happening at all. No matter what we feel, God will be using us to support local churches and organizations. These churches and missions may very well see the impact God made through us long after we are gone. Some days we will get to harvest. Other days we will get to sow. We have to be willing to do both.
Below are blogs that we have found that we think give a little glimpse into what our lives and our work will be like in each country we working in. Don’t feel like you have to read them all in one sitting, but feel free to read one, pray for that country, the work that is already happening there, and for the work we will be doing there. Then maybe come back and read another blog some other day.
Thank you all for your support and your prayers!
Learn more about African community, how we may be helping out churches there, and how we might be changed.
We might go bowling with pastors, learn to step outside our comfort zone with door to door (D2D) ministry, and worship in new ways.
What it might look like if we partner with HOPEthiopia.
We might even preach!?!
We might climb even Mt. Everest!!! . . . (okay, spoiler alert, not really, but we will experience new spiritual highs and new challenges).
One month we may even be dropped off with no contact. It will be up to us to find a local mission and help them to serve. This team of Unsung Heroes helped out at a Slum Ministry they found after some researching.
We may go into the red light districts.
We may help teach kindergarten.
We may find ourselves in a community that was usually closed off to any outsiders.
What it might look like working at a school that is “Not for the poor kids . . . ” (Another spoiler alert! The rest of the quote goes like this “. . . The poor kids can afford to go to a public school. Our school is for the trash dump kids.”)
Last but not least, we may find ourselves in a holy place.
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Ways to support us:
Click on “Support Me” to give online or learn where to send a check for a tax-deductible donation.
You can choose to Sponsor A Day! James did the math and it is $48.73 to sponsor us for a day. If you choose a specific date we will send you our journal entries for that day when we can! Contact us if you have any questions or to let us know what day(s) you would like to sponsor! (Also read our Calender 2.0 blog post for more information).
You can help us prepare by helping us with our gear. We are living out of backpack. have to bring tents and sleeping bags (just in case we do not have a host family with a big enough house). And there is plenty of other stuff we will need to live a nomadic life for 11 months! You can check out our Amazon wish list here.
You can also send a non-tax-deductible donation to us directly to help us buy gear and get vaccinated.
And most importantly pray! It is a powerful thing. Thank you!
