I’m going to be real with you, the race is hard. Harder than I ever anticipated. And despite hearing that time and time again before the race began, it still managed to leave me crying in the dark behind a church, just hours before a continent change.
Before the race begins, we read blogs and blogs and blogs about what the race will be like. We’re told to rid ourselves of all expectations, to study the bible, to exercise, to build relationships with our teammates, etc. And while that’s all good and excellent advice, it never prepares you for the things that will ultimately wreck you. Why? Because how can you prepare for something you don’t know about?
How can you prepare your heart to see a 16yr old pregnant mother walking barefoot through glass, with her equally barefoot & half naked toddler, searching for their next meal in a trash dump?
How can you prepare your heart to comfort a grieving mother who’s just lost her newborn baby because she didn’t have proper prenatal care?
How can you prepare your heart to watch young women flirt with potential clients on the street corner? Or standing on the side of the road half dressed & freezing, while waiting for a client to show interest?
How can you prepare your heart to comfort and pray with a widow dying alone in a broken down house, completely forgotten by all those around her?
How can you prepare your heart to talk with a 12yr old girl who’s being sold off as a wife (maid, slave, toy, etc) to the “rich” 40yr old down the road?
How can you prepare your heart to look into the eyes of a 4yr old who’s been abandoned by their family simply because they were born deaf?
How can you prepare your heart to share Jesus when the mere mention of his name may land you and your new friends in jail — or worse.
How can you prepare your heart to walk through all of these things with your equally broken teammates?
The simple answer is: you can’t. Without prior exposure, there’s nothing we can do to prepare ourselves. We’ll never know to what extent each of these things will shape our lives, until we’ve witnessed it ourselves. You won’t know how angry your spirit can become, or how willing you’ll be to kidnap a child so they’ll have a chance at a better future.
You simply won’t know until you experience it.
So what does preparing for the race even do? Preparing for the race will strengthen your foundation, your faith, and when the time comes and you find ourselves unprepared … you’ll know who to fall back on. You’ll have truth to rely on, prayer to edify one another, and your trust in the Lord to get you through the day.
Every race is different. Every route, every squad, every team, and every person will have a completely different experience. The things that break you will vary from person to person, but the one thing you’ll all have in common is this: you’re all broken.
It’s up to you to decide how you’ll handle it.
FUNDING UPDATE: Only $600 away from being fully funded! Thank you so much to everyone who’s donated! You can donate by clicking the “donate” button found at the top 🙂 Thank you!
TEAM UPDATE: At the end of Malaysia we had team changes, I said goodbye to team Hallelujah and welcomed my new team: Luminary. I’ve also stepped into the role as treasurer, which I’ll hopefully blog about at some point. You can meet each of my teammates here: Emily, Grace, McCrea, Diamond, and Patricia!
