“The World Race is a stretching missional and discipleship journey to live out the Great Commission around the world. Racers serve in 11 different countries with ministry partners around the world while living in raw and real community.” ~quote from Adventures in Missions/World Race
*This list is long, but I wanted to share because the Race has somewhat of their own lingo. Enjoy!
11 things you probably didn’t know about the World Race:
1. 3 times per month, we sit down together as teams to do Journey Markers. Journeymarkers are a way to study a specific part of the Bible using videos from the Bible Project and answer questions related to it and related to our spiritual journey on the Race. Leadership will then respond remotely to our answers.
2. Debriefs. After Months 2, 7, 9 and 11, we meet up with the whole squad and our leadership to debrief our time with the ministry partners. It’s a time to pause, “catch our breath,” reflect, and check-in with the squad and leadership.
3. Contract: We signed a contract at Training Camp (back in August 2018) that we would honor our squad and leardership by submitting to their authority and discipleship. (Numbers 4 & 5 & 6 were a few of the 20ish things on the contract.)
4. Dress Code- We (ladies) can not wear short shorts, spagetti straps, or racer-back tank tops. We are to dress modestly and honor the dress of our hosts, which often means ankle length skirts/dresses at church in Africa.
5. No driving allowed. No motorbikes allowed either. This one is about safety, as they are responsible for us while we are abroad. I have not sat behind the wheel of a car in over 9 months! I miss my Subaru!
6. Feedback/Team time – Multiple times per week, each team sits down to give and receive feedback from each other. Feedback just means we call each other higher to look more like Jesus. Team time is just family time and looks different every time and for every team. Team time can often be playing a game or watching a movie together, or having a serious and deep conversation as a team.
7. Structure/Leadership –
Squad – a group of (generally) 25-45 Racers split into teams of six to eight Racers, who travel together on the World Race. Once a squad reaches its country for the month, the teams will typically spread out to different ministry sites and then coming back together to travel to the next country. Squads are based on a specific route. My squad, 5th generation O squad is 37 people, 7 guys, 30 girls.
Squad coaches – Coaches are married couples who are parents of adult children, have experienced life, understand discipleship, and have a heart for the Racer generation. They bring wisdom and vision to the squad. Coaches travel to a few of the squad debriefs throughout the 11 months. Most are volunteers and must have the ability to travel approximately 5 weeks per year. We met our coaches, Mike and Charlene Benson, at training camp and then at some debriefs. They also frequently read and comment on our blogs and Journey Markers.
Squad mentor – Our squad mentor, Amy, is based in the home office. Squad mentors have typically been Racers and then Squad Leaders. Although they do spend time on the field with their squad, they are the primary liaison and advocate for their Racers stateside.
Squad administrator – Squad Administrators typically serve more than one squad at a time and oversee, from the main office, financial and logistical aspects of the Race for the squad.
Squad leaders – During the first few months of the Race, two alumni Racers lead the squad on the field. Squad leaders oversee the spiritual health and progress of the entire squad. In addition, they help navigate risk and safety issues. After the first few months, 2-3 Racers are identified and trained by the alumni Squad Leaders and Squad Mentor, and assume leadership for the remaining duration of the Race. These are called Raised up squad leaders.
8. Team Changes/Roles – I was on my first team, Team Tigress, months 1-4. My second team, Team Kainoceros, was months 5-7. My third and final team, Team Level Up, months 8-10.
Team: a group of six to eight Racers who do life together: community-living, ministry, travel. They build each other up and hold each other accountable. They get real and raw with each other in an effort to stretch, change, and grow. Teams are initially formed during Training Camp and change during the Race.
Team Leaders: a fellow squad mate who has been chosen by World Race leadership to lead six to eight peers. This changes periodically, just like teams do.
Treasurer: Each team has 1 treasurer. I am currently the treasurer for my team. This just means I work in conjunction with the Squad Administrator to use the allocated budget wisely for team food, travel, lodging, supplies, and keep track of everything.
Beauty for Ashes coordinator – There was 1 on each team. I was Beauty for Ashes Coordinator for my 2nd team. We were trained to facilitate Beauty for Ashes retreats, giving women the opportunity to hear from God and experience healing through sharing their story with other women in a safe nonjudgemental environment. If you’ve never heard of Beauty for Ashes, click the link to learn more!
Intercession coordinator – This one person on each team facilitates times of worship and intercession weekly for the team.
Worship coordinators – These 2 people were chosen at training camp. They facilitate worship for the squad during debriefs.
Storytelling leader – This person on each team makes sure we are blogging as often as possible, as well as a sounding board for creativity or whatever we need related to storytelling.
Safety coordinator – This person on the squad monitors the safety of a location in conjunction with the home office and relays information to us, such as if we need to stay in groups of 3 or more for a specific safety reason. They are also our go-to for insurance questions.
Logistics coordinators – We have 3 squad mates with this role. They coordinate the logistics of getting the whole squad from country to country, as well as setting up debriefs.
9. Border crossings – Sometimes we simply drive/walk across the border or we fly in to a country. Some of my favorite travel days have been when we drive to a border and then walk from one country to the next. One foot in one country and one foot in the other!
10. Denominations – The World Race is a program of Adventures in Missions, which is an interdenominational missions organization. This means everyone on my squad comes from very different spiritual backgrounds/denominations. Most would call themselves “non-denominational.” All say they have a relationship with Jesus.
11. Hosts/Ministries – Right now in month 10, so far I’ve worked with 12 different ministries in 9 different countries. The ministry/host is the team’s assignment while in a country. This will vary from country to country and can even vary day to day while in country. Examples of ministry opportunities include working in orphanages, mentoring street kids, door-to-door outreach, manual labor, teaching English, feeding the hungry, praying healing of the sick, and so on. Some of my ministries were orphanages, some were farms, some were college ministries, some were established, some were just starting up. They all have one thing in common. They are bringing the love of Jesus to their perspective communities, whether it is feeding impoverished children or sharing the Gospel to engineering students. Overall, I’m honored to have met over 12 Jesus-loving passionate people all over the world.
Bonus – 12. Pets – At some of my ministry locations, our hosts had pets! See the next blog for photos from each month.
13. Last one!
One of the questions I got frequently while preparing for the Race was why is it only 11 months and not a full 12? I’m actually not sure. I’ve asked, but no one has a good answer.
Here’s what I do know. We had our training camp August 2018. We will end our 11 months August 2019, so technically our Race was a complete year!
Thank you for following my journey.
In courageous faith and for His glory alone,
Sharon
