Nobody has yet to ask me why I am doing this. Everyone has asked me what The World Race is and where I am going. But, nobody has asked me why. Why am I choosing to put off my PhD for another year? Why am I going to live out of a backpack and sleep in a tent? Why in the world do I want to raise $16,273? Why am I going to be a nomad? Why am I not job searching? Why am I not married and having kids?
I have come to realize that I have three goals in life.
1) I want to help as many people as I can.
I remember when I wanted to be an architect. If anyone asked me why, it was because I wanted to help people create their dream homes. It had nothing to do with money or my own desire to be creative. I wanted to help people. This is the way my parents have raised me. My life goals have never been as simple as what I want, but rather what I can do for others.
I’m on the far left helping to separate VBS material to be sent to churches in need.
2) I want to see as much of the world as I can.
Ever since I first rode in a church van across the country to the mountains of Montana, I have loved this Earth. Speaking to kids in their classroom in Mutare, Zimbabwe, I had to explain that on the plains of Illinois, you can’t see the mountains. I fell in love with mountains all over the world, from Colorado to the Swiss alps. Even more than the mountains, I love the sea. Not the beach oceans, but the rocky, cold gorgeous sea off the coast of Scotland. I sat and watched it for hours at a time. And then there are the cities. The man-made structures that show the ingenuity and creativity of humankind. It is in this very Earth that I understand God.
Mountains in Colorado
Beach on Lindisfarne
Geneva
3) Finally, what I want in life is to bring about the Kingdom of God here and now.
I believe it is the call of God for Christians to do everything in their power to bring about the Kingdom of God. I understand this to be a kingdom built on love. Therefore, I want to love everyone and fulfill whatever it is to love them. This could be providing them with some sort of physical help. Most likely, this is simply getting to know every person I meet and showing them the kindness and love I have to give. I must fight for justice, give all I have, and be a comforting presence. When I allow myself to enter into people’s lives, their problems become our problems to solve together. This is the Kingdom of God.
That’s me in the back and middle, wearing an M&M reindeer nose because you don’t refuse cute little girls making gingerbread houses.
Why am I doing The World Race? Because there’s nothing better to do.
