(Note: Left Quito, Ecuador by bus on Sunday and arrived to
Trujillo, Peru, a couple of days ago (Tuesday). Had some good times on the trip that included:
a water gun fight on the Peru/Ecuador border, a cup of coffee next to a
Peruvian drug lord, blew a bus tire in the middle of the Andes Mountains at 11
o’clock at night, and while riding 25-deep on the back of a pickup truck to the
Ecuador immigration building, a man threw a bucket of water into the back of
the truck, soaking everyone. I suppose I
can’t blame him, it was the last day
of
Carnival.)
My squad had our first debrief last week in Quito, Ecuador,
one of my new favorite cities1. It was great seeing the entire squad and I had
so much fun in Quito. But, it was also
the most challenging week of the Race yet.
It was challenging because our squad leaders, well,
challenged us to pursuit living in righteousness in a deeper way than we ever
have before. Mostly though, it was
challenging because God revealed to me a lot about myself that wasn’t
necessarily fun to see. Here’s a tip: if
you’re going to pray that, ‘reveal to me the rough areas – the dark places – in
my heart,’ prayer, you better be ready when it’s answered.
I realized this week how easily I can get distracted on the
World Race. Believe it or not, traveling
the world can be a bit distracting, and it’s easy to forget why I’m here. So I asked myself, ‘why am I here?’
About a month before I left on the Race, I received an
e-mail from a recent college graduate that had come across my blog. The question that was given to me seemed
pretty simple: How do you like the World Race?
Seemed like an easy enough answer, until I remembered that
my blogs tend to exceed 2,000 words. No
way was I going to be able to give an, ‘it’s going well, I like it,’
answer. Hey, they had read my blog –
they knew what they were getting into.
I came across my response e-mail in my sent mail a few days
ago, and it was an awesome reminder of why I’m on the Race.
“Thanks for your message – While I haven’t actually left for
the World Race yet (I launch in January), I can tell you that I believe in,
love, and trust the organization as a whole so much. Training camp (which is about 2 months before
launch) is such a great experience… like one of the best weeks I can
remember.
I could tell you what the Race
is all about, but what it really comes down to is this: Would you be willing to
go through pain, struggles, sacrifice, hardships, doubts and tears2
(not to mention be dirty and live on $3 a day) in order to stretch yourself,
see your relationship with Christ grow, bring his Kingdom to Earth, feel God’s
presence like never before, and become that man of God that you’re called to
be?
If you are, the honestly I’d say sign up. Because that’s what the World Race is all
about – changing you in order to change the world. So, no, it’s not like a regular mission trip
where you go hang out with kids and read a few verses to poor people and maybe
build a house. It’s so much more, and I
can’t wait to be a part of it.
So do I like it? Well, sometimes. It’s going to be difficult and at times not
fun and painful and I don’t enjoy seeing the suffering that happens in the
world. But am I in love with the way
God is already using the Race to change me and move me and show me who I
am? 100% yes.”
Stretch myself,
and grow my relationship with Christ,
and bring His Kingdom to Earth, and feel His presence, and become a man of God.
Before the Race, that’s what I desired to see this
year. It’s still what I desire to
see. And at the end of the Race, I desire
to be able to say
what this World Race alumnus said on one of her last blogs.
“So, I’m ending the Race – this season – full of hope,
peace, joy, and the greatest of all, Love.
Every tear and bead of sweat has been worth it. Every death I would die again. Every ounce of pain felt during the tearing and
mending process I’d endure all over to be who I am now. To know who I know now.”
1 it was inevitable – here’s my top-100 list
of favorite cities:
- Barcelona, Spain
- Paris, France
- Montecarlo, Monaco
- Nashville
- New York City
- San Diego
- Nice, France
- Quito, Ecuador (European feel, yet inexpensive, perfect weather and a lot to do)
- Krakow, Poland (Who knew, right?)
- Chicago (People are great; Pizza is great; never run out of stuff to do.. Would be high if not for the ridiculous cold)
- Rome, Italy (surprisingly overrated)
- Madrid, Spain
- San Francisco
- Boston (Would be higher if it wasn’t the home of the Sox – still love it, though)
- Los Angeles
- Munich, Germany
- St. Louis (one word: Imo’s)
- Interlaken, Switzerland
- Vienna, Austria
- Atlanta (only made the
list because of Chick-fil-A)
….
84. Mobile, Alabama
85. Prague, Czech Republic
….
99. Azerbaijan, Afghanistan
100. Houston, Texas (I hear
Austin’s nice, though)
2 Today everyone’s outside making bricks for the wall
of a children’s home(more to come on that), and I’m stuck in the house in the
Peruvian desert with a cold and stomach virus. On the
bright side, it’s giving me time to write a blog, and how many people will I
meet in my life that can say they’ve been sick with a cold and stomach virus in the middle of the
Peruvian desert?)
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