Jess Eischens, of our September 2012 J squad, is a little over halfway through her race. Since being on the field she has gained a rich perspective. Before the race she loved life and was content with her job but she knew the Lord called her to more. She trusted him and chose complete abandonment of her own plans for her life. So, she left. She faced many challenges, lack of personal space and constant abandonment With 8 months of race under her belt and a rich perspective, she gives advice on what future racers should expect.
As you pray and ask the Lord whether He is calling you to come on the Race, know this:
- No World Race is the same.
- No experience is the same.
- Every person goes on the World Race and comes back a different person.
- Every person can experience the same things and learn something different.
- There have been World Racers who have preached every month.
- There have been World Racers who have lived in their tents every month, some once.
- There have been World Racers who have lived in the bush every month, with no electricity or running water and who have been in the city with air conditioning every months.
- There have been World Racers who never got sick on their Race.
- There have been World Racers who have gotten sick every month of the Race.
- There have been World Racers who have been put into very stretching positions, because God had something very distinct for them to learn.
And of course, there have been World Racers who have experienced a little bit of everything.
Your World Race will literally be tailored by God in order to do the things in you that He needs to do.
Your World Race will NOT look the same as anyone else’s.
You can scour the blogs all you want. You can do all of the praying that you want. But at some point, you have to make a decision. If the Lord is calling you to do this—to step out into the unknown, to be challenged and away from comfort, friends, family, a secure job, and all you’ve ever known—you must be ready, and you must be ready to change.
You must be ready to hurt. You must be ready to give yourself up. It’s going to be the adventure of a lifetime. The World Race is an amazing opportunity. It opens you up to a whole new world of possibilities and knowledge and experiences.
It breathes adventure. It screams new life. It pours incredible Holy Spirit goodness into you.
But it will challenge you and stretch you to your core. You will NOT be ready for this, no matter how much you prepare.
You will not bring the right stuff, no matter how much you research and read all of the blogs.
You must simply be ready to GO.
To FOLLOW the Lord into the unknown.
To say YES to Him and His calling on your life.
You will grow. You will change. The Lord will transform your view of Him and He will burst your bubble in more ways than one: spiritually, physically, mentally, all of the above.
It is going to be GOOD.
It will be incredible.
What a wild ride.
You won’t have all of the answers, and you’ll be asked to simply TRUST.
As followers of Jesus, we live lives of trust and faith.
We will always have a choice. To love, to trust, to commit, to go, to pray, to listen, to follow.
If your heart cries for this, then choose the World Race.
It will be hard. You will hate it at times.
But it’s one of the best decisions you'll ever make.
