Hi, everyone! For those of you that already know me, I start talking about why I’ve joined the World Race in the third paragraph if that’s what you were mainly interested in! For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Jordan Kouri. I’m 19 years old and was born and raised in Oklahoma City. I’m one of five kids, with two older brothers, a younger sister, and a younger brother. My parents are from California and have brought a lot of that Californian culture to our family. We love hiking and camping and, since we don’t have an ocean in Oklahoma, have picked up longboarding instead of surfing. I grew up with a few acres of land, so I’ve been outdoors for most of my life. When I was younger, I was running around barefoot playing army; now it’s walking around the Wichita Mountains with my Chaco straps undone. I like music and play guitar in a band, but we’re mostly pretty terrible. So don’t check us out.
I am currently working as a bank teller and attending school at Rose State. I’ll actually be graduating with my associate degree in the spring. I love philosophy and the humanities; however, I don’t want a philosophy degree—for obvious reasons! I would love to do something with writing involved, but, as with philosophy, I’m unsure of how to apply that to a career, without being broke. As I’m getting closer to an associate degree, I’ve realized that I definitely want to stay in school and get my bachelor’s, but unfortunately, I am still very undecided in what I want to study. And that’s really what got me looking at a gap year. But why the World Race? It’s going to be difficult to put into writing all the reasons for the World Race (if you would like to talk more in depth please feel free to contact me at [email protected]) and a lot of the reasons are intertwined, but I will try.
Most of my life has been directionless. I’ve known that as a Christian I am called to love unapologetically in whatever circumstances I find myself in. I know that I am supposed to bring Christ boldly with me wherever I go. I understand a lot of our fundamental callings as Christians, but I don’t know where God wants me specifically to walk out these callings. And it’s been scary. As I graduated high school I saw so many friends choosing their careers easily. They’re getting married and going to school. And I’ve been calling out to God for that same sense of direction and meaning. I’ve sought counsel, have read and worshiped, yet I’ve mostly drawn blanks. Until about a year ago. In the past year the Lord has been speaking to me much more intensely. I have had everything from general concepts laid on my heart, to very specific words from Him (if you are interested, let me know and I would love to talk about the specific ways that He’s been working on me), but everything has contributed to one main point—go. It started out on a much smaller scale when I had been struggling with the problem of evil and was becoming bitter towards God at the existence of evil. And so last year, it was laid on my heart to go to India. My grandparents live there, so I had a place to stay and people who knew their way around. I saved up my money and left.
India was amazing. I loved the people, the culture, and even things like the chaotic traffic were oddly coherent. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, and a lot of time exploring the city with my aunt Hannah who I traveled with. While the trip to India was beautiful and breathtaking, there was also a lot heartbreak. I genuinely believe that’s where the Lord wanted me to go at that time. And while I thought the reason for this was so that I could have my questions answered, I was wrong. I didn’t find an answer about why evil exists. I saw evil and oppression, but did not see the why behind it. But it did put my bitterness to rest. And any parts of my heart that had been angry or doubting were won over again and fell back in love with my Maker. I had two weeks adventuring in India and another week of intense worship in Dallas with a youth group I helped lead. Through that time, I’ve heard the Lord more clearly and He’s given me a sense of my next steps—although my life’s overall course is still something that escapes me. I know that I want to do my part in stopping the evil that does exist. And I believe the Lord has told me where my next step in playing that part lies. That next step is the World Race.
I thought I might be heading in the direction of a mission trip, but before India I was thinking much more about Youth With a Mission (YWAM) because that’s what I know. My friends have done YWAM, my brother did it, my oldest brother is scheduled to leave for YWAM himself in February. I am much more comfortable about YWAM. But I don’t feel any particular calling towards it. The World Race, however, I do. I first heard about the World Race before leaving for India. My aunt and I grabbed breakfast with an ex-Racer who had been assisting my aunt in her charity work. We didn’t even talk much about the World Race at that time. But that’s where the idea was planted.
In India, I met my first team of Racers. In the city of Ongole, with a population of over 200,000 people, a car overflowing with Americans happened to pull out right in front of us. They were the first Americans I had seen outside of the airport and they nonchalantly pulled directly in front of our car in the busy traffic of India. At the same time, the man we were travelling with happened to know that particular group of Racers. So, we waved at them and they directed us back to their home. There I got to talk with them more in depth about the World Race. I hadn’t given it a second thought since that breakfast before I had left. After seeing them again in Ongole, however, the idea of the World Race has stuck with me. When I came home, the World Race stayed at the back of my mind. After telling God repeatedly that I would follow wherever he called me, one of the leaders at my church mentioned taking action. She wasn’t talking directly to me, but in a group discussion she had brought up the aspect of faith as an action, not just a belief. It doesn’t take as much faith to sit in the boat and say, “I believe you, Jesus,” as it does to actually take the first step onto the water.
So, this is my first step. I’m committing to the World Race.
