Today I want to talk about life and purpose. (Don’t exit out!!)
The other day I was taking Marta back from dinner with a good friend. On the lonely Marta ride home, I had a different friend call me about my decision to go on The World Race. We’ve known each other for over a decade, thus it was a raw and honest conversation. He asked me why I wanted to go on the race, if I thought going around the world was necessary, if I agreed with everything the organization teaches, and so on. To be honest, it was a nice change of pace from all of the usual encouragement that I receive. Instead of the “WOW I’m impressed” or “man I couldn’t imagine leaving for a year” it was a “Is it really worth it”? “Do you think you’ll help”? The hard hitting stuff .
I lost service on the train, and it gave me a few minutes “alone” to soak in his inquisition. I was preparing my rebuttal for when I regained service, when a homeless man stood up on a very crowded Marta train and declared his lack of residence and cited Atlanta’s chronic homelessness. He walked down the train from end to end, repeating the same lines and asking for food and water.
Not a single person looked at him.
I made awkward eye contact with the man sitting across from me, as we both waited for the homeless man to pass and the uncomfortable moment along with him.
This man made me sad, angry, and confused.
Sad, because I believe no one deserves to have to endure what he was going through.
Angry because it made me uncomfortable. I volunteer as often as I can at Atlanta Mission, a local homeless shelter, so being around homelessness is nothing new to me. I was angry at myself not for what I didn’t do, but for how I felt.
Confused because I didn’t know his story.
But more than anything, he made me feel confident. Confident that my decision to go on The World Race was the right one.
It is unlikely that in my lifetime I will see all of the problems of the world fade away. I don’t believe that time will come until Jesus’ Return.
However, in my lifetime, I can certainly give it my all to ensure that all of the people around the world, impoverished or not, know the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ so that they don’t have to spend the remainder of eternity continuing to suffer.
The most common question I get, when the World Race is brought up, is surprisingly not “Why are you doing it?”.
I’m not sure if this is because they assume their own reasoning, that they’re weary of sounding “anti-Christian” or that they’re afraid that I won’t have one and it’ll leave us in an awkward mess.
That night, my reasoning was confirmed. It’s not to travel, it’s not to leave work behind for 11 months, or get away from the modern world, although these are results of my decision. I decided to join the World Race because of its alignment with my personal mission. My personal mission is simple. It is: “To understand the needs of the world and ensure that everyone around the globe has the availability to know and experience Jesus’ love for them”. I’m not going to declare that I won’t rest until everyone is a Christian, or that there’s no more suffering, as that’s unlikely and certainly out of my current control.
My mission, however, is attainable. Regardless of any outside forces, or mindsets or misconceptions, it is something that can be done by simple conversations and getting outside of my comfort zone.
I am going to these, more likely than not, rural and impoverished areas to share the love of Jesus Christ with people across the globe in hope that they will spend an eternity in heaven. If I can help make the world a better place full of less starving families, less children in child trafficking and full of more peace and prosperity while doing so, then that’s a pretty nice plus too.
I know God is with Adventures in Mission, and will be with all of us on The World Race. I am beyond excited to see what He leads us to do, and even more excited to begin to truly live out my mission with this being the first step of many, in the right direction.
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If you feel encouraged to donate to this mission, I would greatly appreciate it! As of right now, I am 50% funded!! While this in an already outstanding feat that I couldn’t have accomplished without the help of friends and family, I still have $9k more to go! Any amount helps! The donations are tax deductible and can be done quickly right here or through Venmo to @Jbaker.
