Featured Racer Justin Marshall's journey has been anything but dull. We've already shared with you how God brought him out of drug addiction and into redemption in Christ.
His Race has also been challenging at times, but God is using every bump along the way for his glory and Justin's growth.
Sometimes we leave on the World Race thinking we've surrendered our plans and gifts completely to God for him to use however he wants, only to find out we weren't as surrendered as we thought.
Justin is an artist. Before the Race he attended art school, and beautiful photography is his gift. He came on the Race planning to use photography for missions. He was prepared to let God use his artistic talent for his glory, as long as his worst fear didn't come true.
"Photography is something that's really important to me and has been my creative outlet on the Race. I had this nightmare about losing all my photos, and finally my nightmare happened.
"In one moment of inattention, I left my daypack on a tuk tuk in Cambodia. It had my laptop, hard drive, passport, team money, iPod, and all 60,000 photos from the first five months of the Race.
"I pretty much broke down at that point. All the work and effort and love I had put into those photos was gone in flash. I hadn't ever thought about quitting the Race until then. I had a bit of a breakdown in my room the next morning and I begged God to help me find my backpack."
This all happened two days before Justin and his squad were to board a flight to Malaysia. Without a passport, there was no way Justin could leave Cambodia.
"I spent the entire day running around town, filing a police report, and waiting at the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, trying to get an emergency passport. Throughout that day, I faced problem after problem that God had to intervene in. I got my passport only to find that I still needed to get an exit visa to fly out. It was too late to get one that day, so it would have to be done the next morning, the morning of our flight.
"The next morning we hit a brick wall and couldn't get an exit visa. There was no possibility and we tried every avenue. We decided to go to the airport anyway. I had pretty much given up on getting out, but my squad mates and leaders really stepped up on my behalf. With half an hour to spare, I got through the airport security with an exit visa in hand.
"The entire experience made me feel so small and humbled. I still shake a bit thinking about all of it. But God has been awesome. Not only has he taught me a lot about dependence, he has restored my photography and taken it to bigger, more awesome places. I really feel that I take much better photos now than I ever did before."
The World Race is partly a journey of brokenness and healing. It's a time for Racers to leave behind the things they find their comfort and identity in and surrender everything to God. Sometimes this means going through hard times like Justin did, but God is always faithful to restore us.
For Justin, God restored his gift of photography, and he's getting to use that gift to bring the kingdom all over the world. His photos are even more meaningful to him now that he's surrendered them completely to God. And they're even more beautiful. (At least we think so. Check them out and see for yourself!)
If you liked these, check out how you can have the best of Justin's photos as your own.
