It has been 1 year, 7 months, and 10 days since the October 08 squad launched.
As I sit here at my computer and do a memory collage of the past events that have taken place in my life within that time frame, I am amazed.
There has been a lot of growth, heartache, questioning, discipling, rejoicing, crying, dancing, learning, laughing, sharing, crumbling, building, encouraging, listening, developing, and walking. Sometimes each one of these things took place in the same day. Ah, the life of a World Racer. Many have asked me questions about what the World Race is like. For me, personally, it was the best and hardest thing I have ever done with my life. People assume immediately that when I say that the race was hard, that I am referring to culturally. This is not the case. Living in the bush in Africa is not hard. It may not be my first choice, but it wasn’t hard for me to do. Taking showers out of buckets wasn’t hard. It was frustrating at times, but it wasn’t hard. Eating rice almost every day wasn’t hard. I really enjoy rice. Freezing to the bone in northern China was difficult. Wearing every bit of clothing you brought with you to trap in heat and stay warm wasn’t hard. In fact, it made my pack that much lighter. Working manual labor in 100+ degree heat wasn’t hard. The hardest and most difficult thing that I encountered on the race was ME.
Those of you, like myself, who read these blogs and are amazed at the way God is moving, and how he is using people to impact and advance his Kingdom here on earth, and how you wish you could be a part of it- please take note of the following: You can be!
I had that longing almost 3 years ago to go on the race. Honestly, I didn’t think God could use me in the ways that I was reading on the blogs. I would cry when I read of healings and people coming to the Lord. I would be amazed as I read of the bars in Thailand and how these women rely completely on others for their self-value, and how they earnestly long to be loved. My heart broke as I read of a team that had prayed over a baby for weeks for a healing and the baby died. I thought to myself, “God I am not built for this. I can’t do what they do. I can’t put myself in that environment and walk away unscathed. I don’t know if I can watch a child die and still believe in you for healing.”
For me, this was the beginning of my race. These blogs. These stories. They all mean something. As much as this journey of the race is about bringing Kingdom, it is also, just as much, about you. In the circumstances you are put in, the places you go, the people you encounter, the people you live with, they all bring out the best and worst of you. If you are ready for God to tear you down so that He can rebuild you apply now. Click on the link. If you are fearful of losing yourself, then you desperately need to click on this link and apply. This is not about going to 11 countries. This is not about a vacation to see the world. If that is what you want, I dare you to sign up and have your world radically altered for the better.
The Race is about something different for every person. We are all at different legs along this journey. This is about you, God, and his people.
