Title courtesy of the Tommy Lepke!
The bus slowly comes to a stop. The sun has just gone beneath the horizon. Headlamps begin to come on left and right. And then we all notice it. The beautiful camp ground we will be staying on. It sits on the River Nile! I can already tell this is going to be the best debrief we’ve had so far. But little did I know how much would change in the few short days I would be there.
Splash! Cough! Cough! I come up for air! My raft had just flipped for the third time. But there was no more fear in me. I had learned to be calm and collected. I would tell myself, “just hold your breath and wait to pop up.” And that’s exactly what I did, and sure enough I would pop up. I had grown a liking towards the flipping of our raft. It was exciting. It was dangerous (not really, our guide was in complete control). It was really fun. I never thought that one day I would be white water rafting in the River Nile. Probably one of the best experiences of my life. When we finished I wanted to immediately get back on and go again. But the day was not finished. I had one more thing that I had to do.
I have been born again. The Holy Spirit now lives within me. It was time to make a public declaration. A public declaration of my faith. And what better place to do that than the River Nile. A river so important to all of history. The same river that Moses floated on. It was time to be baptized! It was time to physically show that the old me has died and a new creation has been born. And I could think of no better man to baptize me than my best friend Austin (austindemny.theworldrace.org). He has been with me since the very beginning of my walk with Jesus. He was there the day I accepted Jesus into my heart. There was no one else that I would rather have baptized me.
Little did I know that along with that baptism, so much more would be changing for me.
I was in a slump. I didn’t feel invested in my team. I didn’t feel like working on building relationships with them. I was getting lazy. I looked forward to off days. I looked forward to sitting around on internet mindlessly wasting my days. I began to live a double life, where ministry was one part, and my off days were another. I had no drive. I had no enthusiasm. I had no anything.
And God slapped me in the face with this. All of these things began to reveal themselves to me. Why had I grown lazy? Why was I not investing myself into my team? Why did I look forward to off days? Why, why, why?!
So it was time to challenge myself. It was time to fix this problem before it got out of control. I could not just coast by the rest of the race. I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t make the most of every opportunity I had while on this journey. If I didn’t reach out to as many people as possible. If I didn’t pour into all my teammates and squad mates. It was time for a shift. And God placed something right in front of me to push me towards that shift.
I have been raised up as a team leader. Something I definitely did not expect at all. Something I am still not used to and don’t think I’ll ever get used to. But this required me completely changing teams. Now the decision was up to me whether I accepted the position or not. It was something that needed a lot of payer. I had been asking for a challenge. And God had revealed so much to me already. And ultimately I think God revealed these things to me so that I could use them on a new team.
I have fallen in love with this team, Team Change. We have grown close rather quickly, and I have felt very welcomed. It feels like a family.
Now there have been those days where I feel attacked by the enemy. He just tells me that I don’t have what it takes to lead. That I don’t belong on this team. And they can get me down. But I know they are lies. God has equipped me. My first and foremost goal is to be a good friend. Someone who loves everyone on our team. That may mean calling things out that are hard to call out. That may mean making sacrifices. I don’t really know what it looks like. But I am a friend first, and everything else falls into place after that.
God’s timing is perfect. He revealed so much to me and then boom I was called up. It’s remarkable.
I am extremely excited for this next season of the race, not only for me but for our team. God is doing some amazing things, and we are blessed to be a part of it.
Much Love,
Raj Mahal
PS. My teammate Kaleena Eichstadt still needs about $420 to be fully funded. Thank you all so much for helping me out, but if you feel you can give to Kaleena, that would be amazing! She still has so much to offer on this journey, it would be a shame to see her go home! Just go to https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=worldrace&desc=For%20Keenbean%20Eichstadt to donate!
