God used the World Race to change everything in my life.
Before the race I lived a life full of sin, weighed down by the chains of the world. I never was aware of my soul, I drifted through life. It almost feels like most of high school was lost. Lost in going through the motions and never feeling truly alive.
Coming onto the race I was able to grow and let go of the chains the world had locked me in, not just because I went onto a missions trip and things just happened.
End of month one God gave me a beautiful image of Him taking my hand and pulling me out of the grave. Since that moment I’ve felt alive and ready to live a new life discovering my new identity in Christ.
Throughout the race learning so much from joy to pride to rest to love to intimacy… and all the days in between.
The world race set up platforms for us to grow. Through Cambodia my mom and I always joked about how I was more in a discipleship school then on a missions trip. Having team time every night, setting us up to process how we are doing and what God is teaching us.
Every Monday night, having journey markers. A time to sit down with the team and answer processing questions from our squad mentor. It was a great space to see how each of us were doing and what was happening in each other’s lives. These questions are then sent in to leadership and they discuss how we are all doing. It not only helps our squad leaders to see where were at but it helps my mentor and coaches to know how best to pray for us and encourage us.
Having story telling. A time to sit and write out what we’ve seen and done. I had a really hard time with storytelling in Cambodia but I absolutely love it now. I am an external processor so blogs have really been one of my biggest keys on this journey. Getting to write out our days and what God is teaching me. It’s going to be super cool to come back to these blogs in a year or two and see the growth. Blogs have been extremely helpful and I would love to continue writing in some sort of blog format after the race.
I’ve found that storytelling doesn’t end at just blogs. I’ve used Instagram as a huge platform to express what the world race has been for me and to share with the world what God is doing in my life.
Wednesday’s we did feedback. This was a great format for the beginning of the race when none of us really knew how to give feedback without the actual space to do it. Learning how to point each other higher to Christ and pointing out where we can grow. Learning how to take feedback with receiving hands as each piece brings us closer to Christ.
Free for all Thursdays!
Getting to bond with my team, ahhh I absolutely love them all and it was such a great time time to get to know one another. Wether it was swim parties to movie nights to card nights to coffee dates… we had SO MUCH FUN! In a season of lasts and goodbyes my heart is full of appreciation for each of these beautiful girls I get to call soul sisters. Love love love you all!
Friday’s were debrief.
Debriefs were a great way to process where you were at personally and where each of your teammates are at. So many tears and comforting through rough weeks in the beginning of the race.
And lastly, Sunday’s were worship days. Nothing beats squad worship for me in Nicaragua. That WAS A TIME! We had these giant speakers that we blast and a huge undercover basketball court that we could run around in and dance and worship God with all our hearts.
Having team leaders, squad leaders, a mentor and coaches has really set us up for success as we are always being poured into and supported.
Having debriefs, which are about three days filled of sessions taught by leadership. A time to learn, think, process and grow deeper in love with Jesus.
I think out of all the things that the World Race offers, I find that community is the best part. Realizing that this is what a church is supposed to look like and never settling for less. Having incredibly rare relationships with people that I’ve spent the past nine months with from dawn to dust.
God is the one behind all of this. Creating spaces for each of us to walk this journey with Him. To learn how to process. To ask the questions. To tell the stories. To have the hard conversations out of so much love. Learning that community looks like a lot of sacrificial love. Learning how to process and debrief each season of our lives.
God used the World Race to give us stepping stones to a true relationship with Him! Months 1-6 were all about gaining all these tools and practicing them but as month 7-9 came around everything became optional and our team started to hang out because we wanted to not because we had too. Each of us started a journey of turning to God instead of to each other. It has truly has been a beautiful season of my life and I HIGHLY encourage any of you reading this to consider it. Wether it be Gap year, 11n11, CGA (discipleship school), or coaching. Of course in God’s perfect and wonderful will!
I often thank God that this was what he picked for me to grow in, there wasn’t a death in the family or something that majorly changed my life. No, he let me come out onto the race and learn in some of the best ways.
I am now free, alive and in love with Christ.
I am forever grateful to God for this tremendous experience and I wouldn’t change a thing or trade it for the world.
