Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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This blog is dedicated to all of my fellow World Racers, racers whom have just embarked on the start of their own journey in Latin America, those who have interest in taking this step of abandonment to join the race in the future, and of course all of those who have walked this path before me…

We are in Delhi, India. After 2 weeks since I wrote a blog called Two Worlds Collide (on the World Race homepage by the way), I have been humbled. I have been humbled in that there is ministry all around us. Orphans, refugees, lepers, university students, slum children, you name it, there is an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. It may look a lot different than I expected, but God has opened up many doors for us here in this shut off culture. So let’s get to it!

This is the amazing attitude many of us have when we land in that first country when the program begins. It is that excited feeling when we land on a new continent and have a sense of renewal. It is that feeling when we get a change from the same old things we were just doing for a few weeks or months.

Well, this attitude has changed some here. We are in month 8 now and that finish line is now in sight. We see that goal. We can taste those emotions and feelings of that day when we land back in America. The days are starting to count down instead of add up. Asia will only be 2 ½ months, and that will fly by; based on our experience so far that is.

These conditions have given us that excuse to overlook what’s right in front of us. The challenges that we are starting to get sick of. The food all tastes the same (rice of course), the heat is never-ending, and we are confined (unlike our freedom in America). It has been easy to “check out” and coast this thing through. Some of us came on the race just to prove that we have what it takes to actually leave home and finish this thing. Others aren’t satisfied in the normal life and are embracing everything in front of us. We take those opportunities when they are right in front of us. That means some get overwhelmed daily and others don’t want to face regret in missed opportunity. I am personally the latter.
 
So, what does this mean?

 

This means that we need to press in to where God has been calling us this year. I know that I didn’t come on this program to finish and get a pat on the back. I came to grasp as much as I could. I feel that my time is limited now and it’s about getting as much out of it as possible. It’s not about selfishness and taxing things, but of talking to that person on the street that I’m pretty sure I will never come back to have another chance at. It’s not because I’ve invested time, and supporter’s money. It’s because I want to love on those who haven’t had anyone to love on them. I’ve found myself here in India encouraging the church. It’s not about my accomplishments and how many times I’ve preached or how many homes I’ve visited. It’s about how many things I can learn from other sons and daughters of God around me. To engage in the stories first hand that are wrecking me for the ordinary that I have only read in books. To engage in people’s struggles and offer that slightest ray of hope in person. The truth is that it has been their hope that has encouraged me!

So, how do I stay focused in what I believe my purpose is here? How do I accept others’ views of their purpose here. The honeymoon stage is definitely over and it is tough to prefer everyone around us. Our friends and family are at home waiting for us. Many of us have become more messed up than when we started in January. Is it because we are dwelling on all of the negative things? Are we dwelling to much on the challenges and faults in our own lives? Why does it feel so hard to encourage others to have that “go get ‘em” attitude we screamed 8 months ago?

 

This is by far the greatest challenge so far of the World Race for us. Pressing in when it’ll be fine to just coast along. To put in all of our effort when only a little bit will be sufficient. I see it all around me. If we all had to serve evenly (which there is no way to actually compare that) many of us would fail others. There are many areas I would fail the team, likewise many things I am excited about, many aren’t interested in and I would feel failed. Is this how the body is supposed to work?

Earlier this year I wrote a blog about perseverance when I was in the Peruvian jungle on the Amazon River. I wrote about what it meant to persevere for me. What I was struggling with in my search for meaning in my trials of illness. And I have told that story many times this year of what it means to not only survive that trial, but to stand tall at the end of it and share the Truth that came out of it all. I learned about trusting God for my comfort when I have lost all control. My walk has taken a new step in those new understandings. When it seemed so easy to throw in the towel and give up.

I’m not trying to be prideful or exalt myself. I’m in this battle as well. This right here, right now will determine our World race experience. We will look back in regret to those few last months when we coulda’, shoulda’, woulda’, but didn’t! We’ll look back to when we had to make that choice to press in to what’s right in front of us or just let the rest of the year pass so that we can say we finished.

 

I love competition. I can’t stand it when a team gives up hope or stops playing the game in the last minutes of the game. It’s about playing to the final whistle. To give it all you got. It’s about loving those around you when they seem like the hardest thing to deal with. What did Christ do? He did not only bear with such people, but actually seeked them out. That’s what I need to do. To press in. To give it all I got. To fall on the strength of the Lord and not my own. To encourage others no matter where they are at in their World race experience. To accept them for who they are. And most importantly don’t hold condemnation upon them or even myself for that matter.

This life here and now is about the Kingdom. How can I bring the Good News to the nations. How can I empower others? What do I need to do in order to walk fully in my giftings? It starts now! It starts here in smelly, hot, confrontational, dangerous, slums of India!

This is some processing from my heart. Sorry if I bored you; this is the Truth in me right now. Take it for what it is. The words you have just read are what I’m preaching to myself. Pray for me, pray for my squad, pray for those things you need to press in to in your own life!!

With Love, Matt.