As some of you reading this may already know, I've been accepted for The World Race as of May 3rd. A crazy, crazy idea that I've been wrestling with God over for the last one and a half months. But this crazy adventure began far before I even realized.
In 2008, I moved to Castle Rock, CO to begin working full-time with DIRECTV in my first "real-world", corporate America job. Great job. Great benefits. Great people. For the most part, it was perfect. I had my fair share of days, weeks and months when I just wanted to pull all my hair out and quit. But most of the time, it was good. After putting in 3 or 4 years with the company, I started to feel less and less fulfilled with the job. I was becoming more and more involved at my local church. You can see a pattern forming. I felt more fulfilled in helping out at the church, even in doing the most random tasks I could think of. I found myself praying: "God, this is what I want to do. I'm tired of the same old. I want to do kingdom work." Perhaps that prayer was a little more dangerous than I bargained for.
After months of waiting for God in the hallway, I started to hear Him knocking at one particular door. One night after helping out with our high school youth ministry, my friend Juddson told me about The World Race. He said, "Bro, why aren't you in missions?" I heard those words basically as "What are you doing with your life?" I'm sure he didn't mean it that way, but he really started some ripples in my life that began weeks of soul searching and wrestling with God. So I began researching and learning all I could about the race. Immediately, I felt that signature tug on my heart that God has such a great habit of doing when you're in one of those life changing moments. I knew almost right away, somehow, that this is meant to be. I would pray, "God, if this what you really want, just say the word." And over and over, I would hear "Go. Just Go."
I told Mom and Dad only a few days after Juddson had even told me about the race. Dad was predictable. He said nothing when I first said it, but I knew exactly how he felt. Mom, on the other hand, well… she was Mom, doing her thing. A million questions that I didn't have answers for. A million concerns that I didn't know how to comfort. The only answer I had, and still rely on, was that God was calling me to something great. That this wasn't going to be easy. That I may not understand or comprehend the reason, but I should just step out in faith and just trust. From day one of hearing about the race, something was now different in me. That I would give up whatever it takes, sacrifice it all, to be obedient to God and make the Name of Jesus known in this world.
So what is The World Race, anyway?
It is an 11 month Christian mission trip to 11 different countries. 1 country each month with new people, cultures, ministries, challenges, blessings and signs of God moving. My route sees Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. Pretty crazy, huh? And I've never been outside the country! Well, I've been to Toronto, Canada, but really, does that even count?
To me, The World Race represents a summation of everything God has been doing in my life. A direct result of the realization of who I am, who I was created to be and do, the power and authority that I walk in every day, and the desire to bring glory to His name and advance His kingdom. When I realized that The World Race was God's answer to my prayer for kingdom work… well you can imagine the "V8 head slap" I did to myself. Never in a million years would I have expected God to answer me with this, and cheesy Hobit references aside, The World Race really is An Unexpected Journey.
