Dear Future World Racer,
I am typing this out as I am about to step into month 9 of my own World Race journey. Maybe you’re reading this and you haven’t even thought about doing the Race yet. Maybe you are in the process of praying over if you really could take 11 months off of your life you’ve been living and make a radical change. Maybe you’ve been accepted and are restless with anticipation to get out on the field. Maybe you’re none of the above, and reading this blog will just give you a bigger perspective of what the real, authentic Race looks like. This blog is just that. I want to give you all the real truths, because this won’t be like any other missions trip you have done or ever will do.
By coming on the World Race you are saying yes to so many things. You are saying yes to sacrifice and abandonment in all the areas. You will get uncomfortable in the months when there’s not an ounce of contact to the rest of the world. You will sacrifice all homely comforts and will miss them even more when you get sick on the field. You will have countless awkward conversations trying to speak a language you’ve never tried to before. You will be saying yes to community, mission, and intimacy. You WILL be stretched past what you thought were your capacities in every one of these areas. You are saying yes to living like the locals. This means eating, sleeping, showering, getting around places may all be different each month. You are saying yes to not every day on the race being glamorous and social media post worthy. There will be days you want to pack your bags and go home, and then the next day be thrilled that God chose you to run this Race. This Race may be the hardest, most challenging thing you’ve done in your life. You will cry, laugh, smile, sweat, and bleed this year. You will rely on strangers to become your people that you run to when you’re walking through a struggle or triumph. You will say some of the hardest goodbyes you may ever do in your life, and you have to keep doing it month after month.
Don’t stop reading there. Some of you may be wondering wow why would I want to go through all of that in one year? Well that’s because what I haven’t told you yet is all the things the World Race will DO to and for you!
The World Race is about getting back to the heart of every humans desire..to feel connected and to feel loved. You get to spend an entire year breaking down the walls you’ve set yourself up in. You get to spend a year breaking every societal pressure and standard that has been placed on you and experience authentic humanity at its finest. You get to unplug from our fast paced, never-ending nature of living and get back to the roots of civilization. To take your time to be present in conversations. To take more time in your days to appreciate each small moment for what it’s worth. To capture the essence of a day and feel the length of each passing hour. You get to allow yourself the space to become who you’ve always wanted to be. To worship freely, dance crazily, sing loudly, and laugh endlessly without fear you’re being disruptive to the image you’d set yourself to be. You get to show your naked face and allow your soul to become just as vulnerable to the depths you want it to be. You get to find the best parts of yourself and allow them to shine. You get to create a changed self who gets to go home and walk freely in that.
You get to allow yourself to turn off your phones and just be with the people around you. You get to embrace cultures and experiences that will be hard to fathom into words. You get to sit all day next to someone who doesn’t speak the same language, but feel no pressure to feel the space with anything more than just your presence. You get to play simple games out of stones or leaves or makeshift toys and never lose the excitement. You get to see the wonders of nature and Gods creation up close that you’ll never get to experience back at home. You get to celebrate as more people hear the Good News and enter God’s Kingdom. You get to live life as simply as it will ever come, and that’s when you will find your truest self.
You’ll get to rest in the awe of your YES that you made when:
- You witness a lady being healed of leg pains she’s been troubled with for years
- You get to experience 15 two year olds run to greet you as their teacher each morning
- You get to relish in every different cultures food and can’t get enough of that tomato curry in India
- You see someone’s face light up as you share the gospel with them
- You create inside jokes and memories only your teammates will understand
- You do your devotions and all of the sudden the Bible seems as alive and active as ever
- You walk out in a field in Kenya and out of no where the greatest of God’s wildlife creations are right in front of you
- You feel the presence of the Lord more profoundly than you’ve ever felt before
- You feel completely at home with a ministry host and their family
- You hear testimony after testimony of squad mates who are experiencing God and mission in crazy amazing ways
- Countless children give their hearts to Jesus at a VBS
- You create a year worth of stories and memories that will have you return home a new person
So future World Racers know this. You are signing up for more than a missions trip and for more than a great adventure. Yes, you will experience those, but don’t forget about all the in between. You are signing up for a year of transformation, growth, amazement, and pure joy. Take it for all it’s worth, because it will fly by. Soak in every moment and write it all down, because the World Race will be a year you’ll never want to forget.
Much Love,
McKenzie
