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20,000 people showed up in snowy, blustery St Louis.
For 5 days, they listened, they accepted challenge, they spoke. And many acted.
It’s called Urbana. It’s a conference that occurs once every 3 years, gathering people from all around the world.
It’s unique because the vast majority of people who come, come because they have dedicated their lives in some capacity to missions work, both domestically in America and foreign, to every nation around the globe..jpg)
I was there, and had the privilege of representing The World Race along with 3 others.
Caroline Crawford, Aaron Bruner, Kelly Chadwick and I spent 5 days talking with over 500 people about what The World Race is, how God is using it as a vehicle in our generation, praying with people about the next step in their lives, and telling the stories we’ve experienced and heard from all around the world. We watched many people’s eyes light up and say, “This is just what I’ve been praying about being a part of!”
In our booth, we set up a tent, wore the giant backpacks and WR t-shirts, played the promo video (a thousand times on repeat), gave away hundreds of brochures, and helped about 150 people fill out quick applications right then and there. Every member of our 4 person team brought something unique and valuable to the table, and we worked really well together.
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During the evenings, sessions were held in a giant dome, where speakers like Shane Claiborne, Sundar Krishnan, and Oscar Muriu (from Kenya) shared about issues affecting the world, why we should care, and what we can do about it to take action and BE the will of God. To be perfectly honest, while I’m not normally a fan of these kinds of huge gatherings, this one was pretty sweet. The moment the band started playing a familiar African song of worship, I looked around and saw 20,000 other people from every country in the world singing in one language, a language that wasn’t their own. And goosebumps covered me like a long sleeved shirt. I thought about the global church, not just the one in America, and I thought about my brothers and sisters by name in Malawi, Thailand, Peru, Mozambique, and Bolivia. I thought about their work for the Kingdom in their homelands, and about how blessed I am to have met them. Their love and service for Christ has been life-giving to their families and neighbors. And to me.
Our presence at Urbana 2009 was a way to introduce people to what The World Race is, and if they had interest, to help them take the first steps. The World Race is a Matthew 10:10 journey… take only what you need for the road, live simply, as you go “heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons…” (Matt 10:8), while over the course of 11 months, getting the chance to experience Acts 2:42, being the church to each other and learning about what intense, intentional community can look like.
Currently, we have 265 World Racers out on the field. Over the last 2 years, t’s been fun to watch how God molds, shapes, and reshapes this thing as we go along. It’s His vision, His World Race. I’m loving the imperfect process, and loving the journey.
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