[Please excuse the punn or give a slow laugh … I could not resist and I know I would make my Dad proud! 😉 ]
One afternoon when I was a Junior in high school, I was sitting on the floor of my room feeling so overwhelmed by the amount of homework I had to do that night. In the midst of my stressful tears, I picked up my Bible and opened it randomly. It fell to Luke 9:23-24: “Then he [Jesus] said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”
This is the first time I remember God teaching me about abandonment.
I feel that I have been learning about living a simpler life, little by little, since then. I fell in love with a song called “Simplicity” by Rend Collective. (Click Here to listen to the song) For most of my college career I did not have cable or Netflix. I am very content without having the latest and greatest iPhone. The week I spent in Haiti a few months ago really made me realize our world’s obsession, including my obsession, with “stuff”. I have begun to donate a lot of unneeded belongings to the thrift store. These were small steps that have helped me realize that happiness is not found in the amount of things we own.
At Training Camp for the World Race, the thought of abandoning hit hard through emotional and material abandonment. I have been working through preparing to say good bye to friends and family. I know this will be the hardest part of leaving for me. I am reminded so often however, that I am not on this Earth to serve DURANGO, but to serve GOD. I just happened to be in Durango, have met so many incredible people and was able to serve God in such an amazing environment. But God is not abandoning me. I am just going to see, experience and serve Him in a different place. I have also begun to realize, like I said earlier, I do not NEED as much as I own. I can live out of a backpack, in a tent and on the floor. This may be new and uncomfortable, but I have learned that being uncomfortable is often when God grows me the most.
At Training Camp they prepared us for some of the emotional, spiritual, and physical roller coasters we many encounter on the race.
- We took showers with cold water from a bucket
- Used port-a-potties
- Slept in tents just about every night
- Shared tents with 2-12 people some nights,
- Woke up to pray as a team at 2 am
- Slept in a noisy “airport”
- Experienced worship that was different than what we may have been used to
- Began to learn what it means to live in community 24/7
- Laughed
- Played cards
- Hiked with our 40 lbs packs
- Did cross fit
- And sat in God’s presence, excited and nervous.
This all was uncomfortable and yet very peaceful. It taught me that there is a world to experience, learn from, and serve out there if we are willing to abandon and take up Jesus’ ways as we desire to bring His kingdom more to Earth.
MEET MY TEAM!!
(Morgan Foldes deserves all the credit for this next section. I loved her blog entry and asked if I could steal it.)
Gentle But Fierce! This group of beautiful, gifted and passionate women will be my family for the first few months of ministry on the Race.
[Top: Me, Jenna Hansen, Rachel Carlson, Jamie Dennis
Bottom: Madie Goodwin, Morgan Foldes, Jill Schinzing]
(There were three Colorado people on the squad and we all ended up on the same team! A little home away from home 🙂 Jenna- Fort Collins, Jamie- Greeley and Me )
Not to be confused with my squad, this team will be with me for day-to-day ministry whereas my squad will be be together during debriefs and traveling from country to country …confusing? Yes. But no worries! Here are some pieces of lingo that I’ll be using over the next year.
ROUTE: This is the path that was determined by Adventures in Missions. When applying for the Race, I had the option to select which route I would like to go on…For August 2016 there were 4 options to choose from for the World Race meaning that 4 squads will be launching with the same timeframe as my squad. If nothing changes on the route, I am scheduled to spend one month in each of these countries:
August 2016: Lesotho | September 2016: Swaziland | October 2016: South Africa
November 2016: Vietnam | December 2016: Cambodia | January 2017: Thailand
February 2017: Nicaragua | March 2017: Costa Rica | April 2017: Jamaica
May 2017: Haiti | June 2017: Dominican Republic
At this time we don’t know which cities we will be in, just these countries.
SQUAD: 55 other racers from around the world are following the same route as me making us the fourth generation J Squad! In addition to Racers, we also will have three squad leaders [Molly Fae, Tera, and Andrew] and a squad mentor [Teresa] all of whom have gone on the World Race and heard God calling them back for more. They will be with us for our first 5 months, mentoring and guiding us on our journey. This makes for a whopping 60 people traveling country to country to spread God’s love! Follow our journey on social media with #journeyofj
TEAM: 55 people is a lot, so to be effective and make the most out of our time in each country we are split up into 8 different teams. Our teams will live in community for the first several months on the Race [minus All-Squad month, where we are reunited with our squad for ministry!] As mentioned above, my team consists of 7 women who are actively seeking relationship with our Lord and desire to bring His kingdom to earth. We are “Gentle But Fierce” – A phrase that had been prayed over us by a few people in different instances. Coincidence? I think not! These women have the most gentle and loving hearts, and are in a fierce pursuit of opportunities to share God’s love with His people.
MINISTRY: This is where it gets tricky…mostly because I don’t have a direct answer! Ministry will look different from month to month. My team and I will serve in partnership with churches and organizations in local communities to possibly plant churches, work in orphanages or minister to women and children trapped in prostitution as a result of human trafficking. Everything we do however has a focus on discipleship and building up the church and organization that is already established in the community. We have one main goal in mind – to advance the Kingdom of God.
I am STOKED that I get to share this journey with you and am so grateful for the opportunity to introduce you to these AMAZING people. They are a true blessing and I ask that you lift them up in prayer. If you have not already subscribed to my blog and would like to, just click the “Subscribe for Updates” button on the left! You will receive an e-mail notification when I update my blog so you never miss a beat!
37 days until I launch!
Much love,
Kimmy
