There are days on the Race when we have off days or are not directly involved in ministry. On December 27, 2013, the Lord gave me the opportunity to be Jesus to a man named Quinton. Over the past 2 months I have had the privilege to serve my squad, with the help of a fellow squad mate, Phil, by planning and preparing meals for the 42 people I serve with everyday. This entails taking time to plan food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Shopping for the food on a World Race budget (typically about $5 a day per person), and finally preparing the food for each meal. The Lord has divinely taken me through culinary school and put me in the food industry for a time such as this to serve my squad. This training, experience, and passion have given me the ability to abundantly bless my squad by serving them through food.
On December 27th we went to the mall to do grocery shopping for the squad for the remainder of our time in Pretoria, SA. This meant buying food for 2.5 days, which I knew would be an easy day, compared to typically shopping for 5 days at a time. The day started by doing some personal shopping and I ended up at a Juice Bar to have lunch. I ended up there due to the fact that there was a Q-umor (rumor on Q squad) that they had free unlimited internet, which is golden on the Race. Before ordering and sitting down with Phil for lunch, we asked if they had internet and they said yes. So we decided to eat there and obtain the password to check emails and post blogs. After ordering food and ice cream I was ready for the check to begin grocery shopping. We paid for our meal and Phil noticed a tattoo on Quinton’s (our waiter) arm that said “ET”. So he asked what it stood for and he said empty, which is what his life feels like most the time. It was on! In that instant I knew it was time to share Jesus.
Phil took this opportunity to share about his personal experience that Jesus is all that fills him up and no new job or car could fill this emptiness. Quinton had shared with us that all he wanted was a new job and a way to have a better life. It was then that Phil shared all he needed in his life was Jesus, and this wouldn’t come from a church but from God. Just attending church is not enough but that Jesus Christ would bring fulfillment and meaning to his life. In a few short minutes, I was able to be apart of sharing Jesus to a 22-year-old man named Quinton. We could have not taken this opportunity to share, but we instead embraced obedience to the Holy Spirit to be Jesus.
A lesson the Lord has given me the last couple of weeks is the reward to being obedient to the Lord, specifically in His calling on my life. Signing up for the World Race and making the decision to be sent into the nations is the scariest thing I have ever done. Amongst all the craziness I have learned that being obedient is the best decision I have ever made in my life. Deciding to quit my job, move my stuff back home to leaving family and friends for 11 months, would be the beginning of the rest of my life. This is the best decision I have ever made and makes each day wonderful and filled with the Lord working all around me. The World Race is 11 months but I have just recently learned in these 6 months that this season is a time for the Lord to wreck me for His people. In being wrecked, I have the opportunity to share the love of Jesus and what He means to me. I get to take my life experiences and my stories to share what Jesus has done in my life to demonstrate His great love. I ask for prayer in my continual obedience to the Lord and what He has for my life and for a man named Quinton who feels empty with his life.
