The following questions came from my lovely supporters! Thank you to all who provided input!
What are your living conditions like during the World Race?
Our living conditions are quite varied depending on the country. Between living in my tent in the mountains of Guatemala to the floor of an Albanian church there is a pretty big variety in the available amenities. Sometimes we live by a beach and have lots of shops available, other times there is only one tiny store a twenty minute walk away, and the only road there is known for frequent muggings. Here are a few statistics to give you an idea of what life looks like on the race based on my first four months.
-I had access to a bed one (glorious) month.
-We were able to cook with an oven only two months.
-There was one month without running water.
-I have experienced unexplained power outages every month.
-There has been wireless internet access for two months (more than most world racers).
-For only one month have I had access to a hot, American style, shower.
-I have not used a toilet capable of flushing toilet paper since leaving the United States.
-In fact, I did not use a toilet at all for one full month.
-My laundry has been washed by hand, ala scrubbing on a washboard, for two months.
I have filmed, and have finished editing the first of, a “MTV Cribs” style video for where my team has lived each month, so you can look forward to those providing a visual answer to this question in the near future.
Is your work mostly with people of the faith already or do you evangelize to many unbelievers?
The ministry we do is both with believers and non-believers. Much of this relates to meeting the needs of the communities we are called into. In Albania for example, 17% of the population is Christian, meaning the majority of those we experience are unbelievers. The same could be said for many of the Quiche in Guatemala. On the flip side when working with children’s homes and orphanages in Honduras and El Salvador, the vast majority of the kids went to church and identified as Christian.
Christianity is a relational religion, predicated in a personal relationship with Christ through which both our sins are atoned for and our lives reach a fullness they could not while chained to the desires of our flesh. As we are called in the Great Commission, we are to go out to the world with radical love speaking of the truth that resides in our hearts. When an “unbeliever” chooses to take the first steps of faith and become Christian, they are furthering, through answering His call or initially forging that spiritual bond, their relationship with God.
When we work with believers, speaking in churches or building friendships, we are taking part in the exact same process I speak of above, an increase in the depth of their spiritual life. Jesus doesn’t say, “Go and convince people to say the prayer of salvation and then move on to the next one.” Missions is not about numbers, it is about investing in the dignity and fullness of each person the same way we would ourselves. Christ said to, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Discipleship involves a relationship.
Frequently we are thanked by other Christians not for the manual labor we complete, the babies we hold, or the street ministry that is done, but rather for using our presence and friendship to encourage them to continue to grow and like a city on a hill increase the love they share with those around them. Often working with new or established Christians in missions is frowned upon in favor of promoting the much flashier and marketable (though fully necessary) work of reaching the unreached. Honestly though, if I invest in and make one disciple in each nation, a single person who will now speak of Christ in their community, then that is a much more sustainable ministry than handing out tracts and preaching from a street corner for the entire month.
Fortunately a life a faith provides constant opportunities to work with both populations.
What are the typical reactions you get when the topic of Jesus is brought up? Has it varied much between locations? What’re their perceptions of Him?
The thing about truth is that is rings a chord in the human soul. The central essence of Christianity is nearly universally valued; love, community, redemption, reverence to something greater than the self. The challenge is overcoming the masks, schemas, and preset lenses which prevent truth from changing souls; the things which keep hearts hardened.
For the most part people have been very receptive of the Gospel. We did a performing arts show involving magic, dance, and music and at the end, after making it clear the show was over, began to share the Gospel. Most of the crowd remained, many of them took bibles, and we saw familiar faces from among them at church the next day. In Guatemala we did a lot of prayer ministry in the markets and never once were we told no when we asked if they wanted us to pray with them. The only place where there has been any resistance was in Albania, a primarily Islamic country. This resistance though was not militant or angry, but more of a defense of a cultural identity. It is worth noting for my own future and others that the best way to target this is on an individual’s need for salvation. To create an awareness of need is a non-confrontational means to overcome this challenge.
The only other thing of note on perceptions are those that come from divisions in the church, ideas such as, “Catholics are this way,” “Protestants that speak in tongues have this problem,” and “Orthodox are inadequate for this reason.” Sometimes this came from non-Christians, but mostly from other believers. I do not need to go into why this is a problem. Fortunately the diverse nature of backgrounds on my team shows an image of unity and message of truth that trumps these perceptions.
If you are evangelizing, do you ever feel that it isn’t necessary and that more important things are at stake?
If I am interpreting correctly, the heart of this question is the role of humanitarian acts and social justice in international missions. This has been cognitively an area of huge development for me this year. I spent my time in college analyzing international poverty and studying developmental aid. Promoting peace and the reform needed for international equity was my passion and convincing others to work toward ending injustice was a fundamental aspect of my faith life. This means that here on the race, seeped in the very injustice and oppression I studied, I speak here not from a reaction to the stimulus before my eyes, but from a long incubated search for truth on the matter. Mind now, I do not have the full answer yet, and am still discerning, but this answer is contrary to what I think most people in my past communities would expect from me.
The answer is no.
The simplest reason is provided via logic (if A and B then C). If logic does not appeal to you, or in the event you are easily bored, please skip to the next paragraph. Clause A is that we ought to seek the greatest utility in missions/international aid. This is indicated by the necessary/important aspect of the original question and my perceived interpretation of the question. Clause B is that evangelizing generates greater utility than purely humanitarian aid. I will defend this point in two ways. The first is time scale. Evangelism affects the soul of an individual, and humanitarian aid affects the body. Whereas the body is temporal and thus has a finite amount of possible derivative utility, and the soul is immaterial, immortal, and indestructible and thus has an unlimited amount of potential utility. Due to a soul existing longer than a body it is better to invest in the soul of an individual than their body. The second defense is scale, which is less scientific in nature. There is a greater pleasure that comes from the supernatural than is possible to obtain with the physical. The second aspect of this comes from factoring the negative utility (cost) of not obtaining salvation. This cost is much greater than the gains which come from any amount of humanitarian work. For these reasons Clause B is true. As both A and B are true we conclude with Clause C, whereas we ought to seek the greatest utility, and whereas evangelizations ability to effect the soul rather than just the body generates the greatest utility, there is not more important things to do than evangelization.
The rest of the answer is less concrete. During the first few weeks of the race our squad leader Jeff challenged my beliefs in regards to faith and justice. The book Revolution in World Missions (which you can and should get for free online) also challenged some of my presumptions. I plan to write more about this issue as I explore the proper balance of the two. As for now though, the mere facts contained in the Gospel should be enough to keep our eyes on the Gospel, and through that find our motivation to do the works Christ described rather than being about works and trying to shoehorn the Gospel in.
What has been the most challenging aspect of the trip? Spiritually, emotionally, physically, anything!
The biggest challenge has been the separation from the sacramental life back home. I love the Catholic community in Minnesota. Being separated from those people and the liturgy is like losing my sense of smell. I can still do everything I need, but there is a fundamental aspect of my life that I am separated from. There are many wildernesses in life that we find through separation and fasting, just like Christ ventured to after His baptism. This time now is a journey into the wilderness for me.
Physically things have been pretty swell. Month one I was always hungry. Our hosts gave us great food (best tasting month so far) and fed us well, but I had to adjust compared to what I was taking in in the US. At this point now I only eat a 1/3 of the portion sizes I eat back home. Manual labor has led me to gain weight despite losing 3” off my waist.
I think the most present challenges are interpersonal; the challenge to get over feelings of judgment or superiority. Traveling with a group of 44 people presents many different lifestyles and backgrounds. People react to challenges differently; have differing levels of tolerance in different challenges. The core of what Jesus challenges us to in our entire lives is love, and so the love that we must choose to have in community is but a microcosm of the greater challenge to continually love throughout our lives.
Do you have any regrets up to this point? And what truths have been made more clear and evident to you?
I see a multitude of ways I can improve each and every day, but especially at the debrief we had between months four and five I saw many ways in which I could be a more effective missionary, deeper Christian, and better me. My regrets are less a list of disappointments and are much more so a compilation of new heights I can strive for, free from pressure.
They are fairly varied in nature, from whimsical aspirations such as wanting to write more fiction, practical such as planning better in order to dive deeper into scripture and reading the available non-fiction sources I have here, some relational goals to forge stronger community with my team, and other interpersonal shifts (for example, my lack of videography on the race is as much do to unnecessary perfectionism as it is a result of technology issues).
The great news is that both the world race and life are long journeys and thus are unending opportunities to make up for such “regrets” as these.
Have you had any doubts?
There is a process we are required to do every single day as a team call feedback. During this time we prayerfully call out qualities of our team members that are either like Christ (positive feedback) or are not reflective of Christ (constructive feedback). This is one of the most important ways that we pour into one another as teammates and assist in facilitating one another’s growth.
This last week one teammate shared some positive feedback that captures my answer to this question. They said it was encouraging how, “No matter what God puts in front of you, you are always was confident that that thing is the will of God.” I never have a complaint, or obstacle, or doubt because I know the World Race is His will for me, that if I am dead to sin and He is risen in me that I have no reason to doubt the experiences before me.
*Want to help make more moments like the one described here? Without the financial assistance of others, this trip, or any missions work for that matter, would not be possible. Paul requested the early churches to support missionaries financially (Romans 16:1-2) and in fact Jesus himself instructed those going out to witness to the world to have faith be reliant on their communities to support them (Matthew 10:5-15). I need to raise an additional $5,500 to complete my full eleven months of ministry. Please consider making a donation to support my missions work by clicking here.
**Want to stay up to date and be alerted with my progress as I serve around the world? Click here!
