As the truck pulled out of the gate at Mercy and Grace for
the last time, I couldn’t believe how quickly our first month on the Word Race
flew by. It felt like just
yesterday we drove in that same gate with anticipation and excitement for our first
ministry opportunity. I finally
understand what racers mean when they say, “this will be both the longest and
shortest year of your life.” I
don’t think you can truly understand what that means until you go on the race
yourself.
So I’ve been reflecting on the first month and the impact we
left behind on India. It is so
important that we don’t just go into a country for a month and leave it the way
we found it. I don’t believe we
did. I can honestly say this World
Race squad has left a lasting impression on India for Jesus Christ. Our squad is made up of seven teams,
all of which were spread throughout the country reaching those in need. Our team and one other devoted our
entire month to helping the orphanage, Mercy and Grace both physically and
spiritually. We lived with them,
ate with them, sang and danced with them, laughed with them and cried with
them. We met a great deal of their
needs by supplying food, bibles, schoolbooks, pencils, crafts supplies, sports
equipment, bicycles and tennis shoes.
Also, we were able to provide the orphanage with twelve sowing machines
to help teach the women a trade.
Having a skill such as sowing allows the girls to enter the real world
with potential for hire-something very valuable here in India. In addition to meeting physical needs, we
also provided the children with new praise and worship songs and spent many
hours teaching them the word of God.
We spent many nights in prayer over the children, and loved them the
best way we know how. We can only
pray that it’s a love like Jesus.
Some of the children have never received affection from adults in their
lives, so our embrace in of itself meant the world to them.
As I look back over the month, I can pick out a few very
special moments that will stick with me the rest of my life. The first was the day our teams took
ninety of the children to the beach for a day. Some of the children had never seen the beach before. It took us about two hours to get there
and it was a very long day, but I wouldn’t trade watching the children come to
life playing freely in the water for anything. They were full of such joy and radiated with excitement and
enthusiasm. Spending time with the
children that day reminded me of what it means to have child-like faith and
taught me to appreciate the things in life we so easily take for granted.
Another impactful moment for me was one of our last. For the past couple years I have had a
strong pull toward high school women.
Back in Charlotte, I lead an incredible group of young women at my
church. Leaving them behind to go
on the World Race was one of the hardest things I had to do, besides saying
goodbye to my family. Over the past month, about eight of the
high school girls at Mercy and Grace seemed to cling to me and mimic my every
move. Even with a language
barrier, they became my core group of girls. As I sat with them on the very last night with tears in my
eyes, I realized just how much of an impact they have had on my life. I realized that no matter where you go
around the world, through Christ, we are all the same. Although it was very hard leaving Mercy
and Grace behind, I know that another World Race team is not too far behind and
will continue the work we have begun.
