Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

 

Why do I do what I do? Why did I choose to lead the race? Yes, it’s fun to travel, but let me tell you that it’s rarely as glamorous as it sounds. So why would I give up months of my life, a steady income and a potential “real” job, try to raise support (not my fav) and leave the comforts of this country?

Let me try to explain….

First, some very real and very significant answers:

Because there are 27 million slaves in the world today. 

Because there are people that have never encountered God.

Because there are nations that are locked up in hopelessness.

Because there are sons and daughters that are enslaved to addictions.

 
                                             Because there are children who have lost parents.

Because there are women and children who have been beaten, raped, thrown on the streets as trash.

Because there are children – CHILDREN! – that are forced to fight wars they have nothing to do with.

Because there are nations dying from disease.

I could go on. And on. And on. For every single one of these reasons, I see faces of people we have met.

 

These things are NOT OK with me.
This has become one of my trademark statements: “THAT’S NOT OK.”

Dad dying of a heart attack…that’s not ok. 
Children digging for food in the dump…. that’s not ok. 

Women raped and beaten…. that’s not ok. 
People living in fear and hopelessness… that’s not ok. 

People dying from cancer…. that’s not ok. 
People forced to work 15 hour days for zero money… that’s not ok.
 
What does that have to do with squad leading and the World Race? Let me share some all too common stories of people that come to the WR…some stories that are NOT OK…

> IT’S NOT OK that someone has been sexually abused. NOT OK that love and intimacy has been perverted.

> IT’S NOT OK that fathers or mothers abandon their children, leaving adults wrecked with feelings of unworthiness and rejection.

> IT’S NOT OK that women are tied to ex relationships and the messages that result from those – You are not beautiful. You have no value. You are an object.

> IT’S NOT OK that children have lived in such chaotic and unpredictable environments that the only way they have found to protect themselves is with systems of control – OCD, manipulation, eating disorders.

 

 > IT’S NOT OK that people are living in depression, anger, insecurity, bitterness, rejection, hopelessness.

 

> IT’S NOT OK that people have been emotionally, physically and sexually abused, and are still suffering the effects.


> IT’S NOT OK that people are turning to drugs, alcohol, addictions to numb their pain.

> IT’S NOT OK that people do not love or value themselves. And do not know how to accept love from others, or from God.

> IT’S NOT OK that people have grown up being called stupid or ugly.

 

>IT’S NOT OK that experiences – death, pain, abuse…and relationships – parents, friends, teachers, boyfriends/girlfriends, have formed untrue mindsets or inaccurate definitions of God.


> IT’S NOT OK that the enemy is destroying lives.

 
Absolutely none of this is OK with me. I’m constantly stunned at the hurt and lies that have tried to destroy people. Or worse, when it’s too much and someone chooses to numb it all, with busyness, false intimacy, addiction, anger….whatever works. 
Busyness will deaden anything.

But you know what makes me the most angry…the thing that is the most NOT OK?  When these past experiences rob people of knowing the deep, radical, always perfect, outside of any condition, love of God. I’m a relatively calm person, but when I see these things….when I hear stories, I want to take a punching bag to the basement and beat something for a few hours.

This is why. This is why I chose to squad lead. This is why I came home from 5 months of living out of my dreadful suitcase and went straight to training camp to sleep in the cold, take icy showers with spiders, stay up late and wake up early. This is why.

 

Because none of these things are OK with me. It’s not ok with me and it’s not ok with God.

God absolutely treasures every single person on this planet. 

Yes. Every person. 
You mean the world to Him. He outrageously loves and cares for you.
Because there is nothing I love more than seeing a life transformed by God’s radical love. And I believe that love changes everything.

 

U squad has been absolutely transformed this year. People who didn’t know God’s love or couldn’t accept it, have encountered the deep affection of His heart. People tied up in the opinion of man or performace or rejection or self-hatred or fear or insecurity are now FREE. They have seen a true picture of God and they have fallen in love. They know His voice, they know His presence, they know Him.


Have you encountered His love in a deep way recently?
stop for a moment and be still…..
Let a tangible revelation of His love sink into the depths of your spirit.
 
 
thank you so much for being a part of this journey.  thank you for being a part of God invading the lives of 41 people who have touched nations and left them changed forever.  next week, i travel to their final debrief!  i still need $300 to cover my ticket.  if you can help, please click here.
I so appreciate you!!!  Thank you.  Bless you.  Love you.