All month we’ve been sharing guest posts from parents of World Race alumni to parents of current and future Racers – advice, wisdom, and encouragement from those who’ve gone before you. Today we’re wrapping up the series with a post from a World Race coach.
When your kids leave on the World Race for 11 months, they’ll be far from you, but they won’t be without guidance and parental advice. Each squad has two coaches – a married couple who dedicate 11 months of their lives to being the on-field mom and dad to a squad of World Racers. They read their blogs, counsel them on Skype, challenge them to grow, debrief them, and visit them every two months to rejuvenate and encourage them. Coaches are one of the most important parts of the discipleship process on the World Race.Roger and Rozy McCormick are World Race coaching veterans. They’ve coached the January 2010 M Squad, the January 2011 V Squad, and the January 2012 C Squad all the way through their World Races, and they’re starting again with the January 2013 M Squad in two weeks.
Roger works for Georgia Systems Operations, and Rozy has overseen the small groups and college ministry at 12 Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. She is now the coaching coordinator for the World Race, training and equipping all the new coaches. They’ve raised three children of their own who are all married and using their gifts to serve God. Now that their children are grown, Roger and Rozy spend each year adopting 50 new kids to empower, disciple, and love.
Through a unique but divine set of circumstances, my husband and I find ourselves coaching almost 50 young people who will leave their worlds behind and be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ on an 11-month trek around the world called the World Race.
These young people are a unique breed. I recognize them because I birthed one of them. My daughter was never one that longed for more clothes or things, or even the attention of boys. She had one sustaining passion, and it was Africa. One call, and that was to be a nurse and serve people with love and the power to heal. For graduation she didn’t ask for a car or more stuff. Julie’s only request was to spend a month in Africa with Adventures in Missions.
This is when I first had the chance to meet other people God had marked uniquely. When we dropped her off at the airport there were over 100 young people with the same spirit as my daughter. They loved extravagantly, they held the things of this world loosely, and their passions were for lands and people they had not yet met.
I remember leaving the airport bewildered and thinking, “Wow there are more people out there just like her. She is going to have an amazing time no matter what hardship she might face because community with like-minded people who hold a common passion is the best community experience ever!”
I can see now that God had a plan and a purpose in making me the mother of one of these delightful strange ones so I would gain the experience of nurturing a young consecrated missionary. I didn’t know that one day he would call me to repeat that experience over and over. What a joy and a privilege to watch the power of God work through an army of young missionaries looking to change the world one loving interaction at a time.My husband and I have coached three squads through from beginning to end, and we are starting the journey with our fourth squad this January. The spiritual formation and maturity that happens on the field is spectacular.
Here are just a few of the things World Racers learn on their journey:
1. Expectations will lead to disappointment.
2. The best blessings are hidden in inconvenience.
3. Trusting God and others makes for an excellent experience.
4. Maturity and discipleship are synonymous.
5. As a believer in Jesus Christ we have no rights.
6. An attitude of gratitude grants you strength.
7. Every experience has a purpose.
8. Opportunities are not to be wasted.
9. Surrender and transformation allow God to show off his glory through your life.
10. Prayer and God’s Word are more alive than ever.
Our prayer is for God to give them the ability to start churches and orphanages and financial institutions for the poor and the hurting all over the world. I pray they start ministries that we have not even imagined yet. May the gospel flourish and God’s Word accomplish all it was sent to do through the lives of these special young people.
January 2010 M Squad January 2011 V Squad January 2012 C Squad
