What I say today may be offensive.
It usually is.
But so was Jesus.
But before I can get to that part, this blog costs $5 to read.
Not because I think I should be paid for my writing or anything.
But because my last blog had 354 views.
If each view came with just $5, I would be fully funded.
And if this blog didn’t cost $5 to read, then there may be no blogs to read in the future.
So go to the top, click “Donate,” and then come back.
I’ll wait.
Thanks!
Welcome to the team!
Expect updates and postcards and sweet love notes from me, letting you know specifically what you are doing here with me.
Now for the real stuff.
The World Race is hard.
[preach sister]
Guess I could stop there.
But I won’t.
This month started with a motorcycle accident.
A dear friend from my first team got t-boned by a truck while she was riding back from the market with her host.
She broke her elbow, had several stitches in her leg, had surgery, and has been in the hospital for two weeks.
Then there was typhoid.
[Then it wasn’t typhoid]
Then the parasites.
[So many parasites]
The electrocution.
The displaced team who had to be transported across the country and the new ministry we had to find at the last minute.
Guess you could say it was a little messy.
Guess The World Race is hard.
This month, we’re in Cambodia, a country that was in the middle of a horrific genocide just 40 years ago.
On my birthday, I stood in a cave in which at least 10,000 people were dropped by the Khmer (pronounced Kuh-MY) Rouge.
Potentially to their death.
[Often, though, they were just broken and died of starvation or suffocation or animals or the dozens of other things that can kill you in a cave]
Walking past landmine victims who were injured years after the genocide ended isn’t uncommon.
The average daily income is less than a dollar a day.
ONE DOLLAR.
My team is working at a center for kids who live in the slums or on the streets.
We pick them up before school.
[Literally pick them up off the sidewalk at the town center and put them in our truck]
They take a bath, they change their clothes, and they eat breakfast.
Then we walk to school.
At the end of the day, we bring them back to their home.
On the street.
The World Race is hard.
Oh wait.
This isn’t a race for them.
Their LIFE is hard.
After the motorcycle accident
[remember, from the beginning of the blog?]
the entire team that the girl is on was relocated to our town, because that’s where the hospital is.
Woo!
I was excited to have more support for my friend and to share our amazing ministry with my squadmates.
The day came and they all arrived at our ministry site.
They were understandably distraught.
They had been alone in the jungle of Cambodia for several days.
They were sick, exhausted, and hungry.
They came in like a tornado of chaos, each expressing needs that had to be met.
Then they headed to the coffee shop to tell their family about what a hard week it had been and that they were safe now.
Understandably.
Parents like to hear those things.
The World Race is hard.
That day, as the tornado chaos ensued in the living room, we were in the middle of a work day.
There were kids all around.
I walked into the kitchen trying to calm the anxiety that chaos tends to create in me.
You know what I saw?
Two of our kids who live on the street, eating.
Great.
They’re eating in the kitchen.
That’s not weird.
No.
They had found leftovers from our team.
You know, the kind that comes in a Styrofoam take away box?
In the trashcan.
They were literally eating out of the trash.
In OUR kitchen.
What?!
Trashcan eating happening in the middle of our American tornado of chaos.
They’re not on The World Race.
Their LIFE is hard.
I’ve talked to a squad leader, a squad coach, and a squad mom back in The States this week.
Each of them seemed surprised by my ability to remain positive and joyful during a time that has been so tough for our squad as a whole.
WHAT?
Three different people…Three different interactions.
I was shocked.
That sounds to me like the majority of what they are hearing from the squad are difficulties and negativities.
The World Race is hard.
HELLO?!
WE KNEW IT WOULD BE HARD.
WE SIGNED UP FOR HARD.
The World Race is not meant to be easy.
But it is temporary.
The lives we are encountering aren’t easy either.
But they’re not temporary.
They’re a deeply embedded reality.
How dare we??
How dare we leave the impression that what we’re doing is rough?
How dare we cause people at home to worry about our wellbeing?
How dare we make our needs the first thing our leadership, family, and supporters ask about?
We’re all guilty of it.
But we shouldn’t be.
We are so lucky to be here.
It’s hard, but it’s NEVER eating out of the trashcan hard.
We’re here because there are greater needs than ours.
The Lord wants to do incredible things through his people, wherever we happen to be.
But to do that we have to set aside our comfort zone.
We have to see the beauty and the struggle in the little things, in the light of the bigger picture.
The moment we start looking straight ahead and staying in our own lane is the moment we fail to love well.
The World Race is hard.
For many, life is harder.
Look upward to Jesus and outward to his people.
Be grateful.
And love well, especially when it’s hard.
