As I wrap up this incredible experience and transition to the next adventure, I wanted to leave you guys with some lessons I learned, a slideshow, and a few last thoughts. From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU for being a part of my journey and story this past year! So here is the FINAL blog post from Michelle’s #11n11 World Race experience! 
What is the World Race?
Now that I have completed the World Race and 11 months abroad, here is my honest answer to what the World Race truly is:
The World Race is an 11 month discipleship program to 11 countries around the world. Pairing the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) and Acts 4:32-35, as a Racer you get the opportunity to live like the apostles and disciples did in the Gospels. Through leaving your home and going abroad, living in authentic community, breaking bread together, studying the Bible together, and living each day for Jesus and his kingdom, the World Race helps you live a life devoted to building up the body of Christ and finding your God given purpose and niche for the kingdom.
The World Race is an opportunity to leave behind the distractions of every day life and create space for God to show up in new and old ways. The World Race gives you the opportunity to leave the former things behind so you can walk into newness with the Lord and discover His abundant love and life He offers us when we live wholeheartedly for Him. The World Race is not for the faint at heart, but for people who are willing to let go of their pride, shame, sin, and past failures and allow God to fill the cracks in with His grace and freedom. The World Race won’t fix your problems, but will give you an opportunity to find freedom and a Christ centered perspective on them.
What did I learn on the World Race?
There’s too many lessons to list them all out in a blog or even share in person, so here’s only a few of the valuable lessons God so graciously taught me:
Obedience: “Being obedient to God’s will and calling for your life is more important than personal preference or current emotions.” God really taught me that obedience isn’t always easy, but in order to truly live the authentic life He has for you, it takes obedience and listening to His callings. The entire 11 months and even choosing to say YES to going on the World Race took obedience and trust that God had my best intentions in mind and wasn’t sidetracking me from what I really should be pursuing (Physical Therapy).
I also learned that when God calls you to something the passion and excitement don’t have to initially be there only the obedience. Sometimes obedience has to come first and the passion and excitement will come later on. And with all of this said, I also learned that God won’t ask you to do something that He hasn’t already equipped you for or is equipping you for. So this past year God broke me down constantly and taught me to TRUST and be OBEDIENT to His callings because He does have my best interests at hand and his plan for my future is WAY BETTER and more EXCITING than my own tainted plans. He sees the full picture, while I only see a small reflection of it.
Rest: In Genesis 2 it talks about how God created the world in six days and on the seventh day He stepped back and rested. Not only did the Creator of the world step back and rest, He blessed rest and gave us a day to rest. God blessed the seventh day to be one of rest so that in turn we could be blessed by resting our physical bodies, minds, and souls. This scripture and the truth behind it reminds me of two super important truths about myself: no one needs my help, attention, energy, and time more than God’s and God took a day off from working and pouring out. So with that being said, no one needs me more than God. So take time to rest, Michelle!! Second, I make the greatest impact and outpouring when I am rested and have taken a day/amount of time to rest completely from work and the busyness of life and abide with the Lord in rest. Over the course of these 11 months I found life so much more enjoyable and myself able to pour into others fully when I took the time to rest and take care of myself.
Prayer: I left for the race with the goal of growing in becoming more intentional in prayer. I not only wanted to make prayer requests of God for myself and others, but wanted to learn how to meditate on God’s word and create space to listen to His voice. Prayer is one of the most powerful tools God has given us and I wanted to use that tool more than just a few seconds a day. So, from shooting up quick one timed requests to the Lord to beginning to write out my prayer requests and circle them each time I prayed for them, to sitting in silence so the Lord could speak to me, I found myself in a deeper place of prayer and intercession. I can truly say that prayer no longer is a half hearted thing that “I should do” as a Christian but it is one of the most powerful tools I possess and I WANT to spend time in intentional prayer as I go to war for my friends, family, and strangers. The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson is an incredible book that helped me become more intentional in prayer. I highly recommend the book and the 40 Day Prayer Challenge that he also wrote.
To lighten the mood here’s a random list of a few practical and lighthearted lessons I learned on the World Race:
- Always carry a role of toilet paper on you because 9/10 times you won’t find toilet paper in bathrooms around the world or you have to pay for it, but hey it’s probably a good thing to carry in the States too!
- take the time to slow down and watch the Sunrises/Sunsets around the world because God paints the most beautiful canvasses in the sky for us to enjoy.
- Asian Squatty pottys SHOULD NOT be allowed into the United States (if you haven’t used one consider yourself #blessed)
- We aren’t called to do life alone and community is one of the biggest blessings in life! Choose to fight for the people around you in your community because great things come out of those close knit relationships, but sometimes it just takes longer than you think to form those close relationships.
- You can kill a cockroach simply by flipping it onto its back!
- Eating fried pork almost every day for a month will hurt your insides and leave you with a distorted stomach (yikes this was not fun).
- Don’t sit in the middle of a dark and sketchy Cambodian village alone after 10pm talking on your iPhone because you’ll probably get mugged! (this is a funny story now don’t worry!)
- To balance a budget you need to know your budget and stick to it
(dad I promise I’ve made strides in budgeting) - A language barrier can be broken by a fun game of charades (just point or act out what you are trying to say!)
- You can go 9 days without showering and still look “presentable”, but it’s not recommended or favored by the people around you.
How will the World Race Impact my Life?
The final part that I really want to share with you about the World Race is how it is impacting my current passions/dreams/kingdom calling and how it will impact the future.
So as you have read in a previous blog or found out, I am no longer pursuing a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. I KNOW its still a shocker to me and so fresh and raw to think about. God is so gracious and knows my LOVE and passion for the medical field, so I am excited to say that as of right now the dream and calling is to become a nurse and then go onto receive my doctorate so I can become a Nurse Practitioner. I have a BIG God sized dream to stay connected in Swaziland and to help empower the women in Swaziland to become more educated in women and children’s health. I believe God is calling me to become a nurse practitioner so I can partner with other medical staff to bring the hope of Christ through medicine along with helping start or further a discipleship program for men, women, and children in Swaziland! I am definitely staying in a state of surrender and am open to God’s calling if it changes from nurse practitioner, but I’m excited and have found true peace in where God has me!
Through the World Race, God confirmed that discipleship and servant leadership are two of the biggest things I am passionate about in life. I LOVE walking alongside others and getting to point them closer to Christ and walk through trials and triumphs with them as they discover God’s calling and purpose for their life. So, with this continued and refined passion I get to go back out for 5 months with the World Race and lead a group of 31 new racers and help disciple them and walk alongside them as they start this epic journey with the Lord. I’m excited to see how God continues to use and provide discipleship and servant leadership opportunities for me to partner with Him in.
These are a few refined passions and callings from the Lord that came about during my time on the World Race. I am excited to make a difference for the kingdom wherever God plants me whether its in Vancouver Washington, Colorado, or overseas!
Do I Recommend the World Race?
Is the World Race for everyone? No. But it is for anyone. If you feel like there is more to life and the current season God has you in, ask Him about the World Race. Maybe the World Race will be the discipleship program and kingdom adventure you need to become more in tune with your Heavenly Father, experience serving the world through a kingdom outlook, and gain a greater perspective of what you want your life to be about. These past 11 months have been so valuable and have truly impacted my soul and life in deep ways. I hope the same for so many more people who say YES to God and the World Race!
THANK YOU for being part of my World Race and this epic season of life. Thank you for letting me openly share what God is doing in my life and the lives of those around me. I do not take this for granted and I have so thoroughly enjoyed all of the questions you all have asked! As I close this chapter and adventure I prepare to transition to the next adventure. But for now, I officially close my #11n11 experience with this blog and look forward to spending time with family and friends for the remainder of my 10 precious days at home.
The BEST is yet to come my friends! Believe it and pursue it! God is waiting to take you on incredible adventures whether its overseas or where you currently are planted.
Until Next Time,
Michelle
