Part of the reason that I signed up for the World Race was to see things that I had never seen before. I wanted to have a chance to live life with people that I had never met before in countries that I had never been to. Through this experience I wanted to be stretched and challenged and grow in ways that I never would have if I had stayed in the United States. I think it is safe to say that I can consider that goal met. As I have traveled with my team and squad over the course of the last few months my comfort zone has steadily expanded. At first I thought that it had completely burst but then a teammate of mine pointed it out to me that there would just be something else that caused it to expand a little more. They were so right! The stretching of my comfort zone began with being thrown into a group with six other people that I had met briefly during a week at training camp and it continued during my time in Guatemala and Nicaragua. I thought it was finished and then today happened. Today we went about an hour or two south of Draganesti to a city near the Bulgarian border called Corabia (we were actually able to look across the Danube River into Bulgaria!). We spent the afternoon walking around the downtown area of the city handing out tracks and surveys and talking with and sharing the Gospel with those that we met. Talk about uncomfortable! In Nicaragua my team and I did something similar, going door to door and praying for and speaking life and encouragement into people that we had never met but this time it was completely different. This time it was out in public. This time people were intently watching as I walked through town and up to anyone and everyone that walked by. As I walked around town I could feel the nervousness building with each passing moment, and person. Unfortunately, my intravertedness won out in many instances and at the end I resorted to the "stick flyers in peoples' cars and hope they don't see me but when they get to their cars still read it anyway" method.
Our God is not a god of fear, he is a god "of power and love" [2 Timothy 1:7, NASB]. This is one of those things that I forget all of the time. I get into a situation like the one that I was in today and I freeze, unsure of what to do or say or how to act. I almost want to be in more of those sitautions more often as I go through the rest of the race because I want to break this fear. I want to accept the possiblity of rejection and not let it affect my initial approach. I want to proclaim the Gospel boldly, not just here with people that I, most likely, will never see again but also at home with my family and friends and people that I love the most. I understand the danger of asking for sometihng like that but I can also see the benefits. My growth is always more improtant than my comfort.
