"I made fun of you all behind your back before I had ever met any of you," recalls Brian. "You walked off three buses wearing "I love Jesus" shirts. Seeing this, I, along with some locals, took a shot of vodka at the bar in preparation."
After meeting and talking with the Racers, Brian decided to go visit the site where they would be ministering for the month.
"I only stayed a few days with the two teams and the contacts, and in those few days of seeing how they lived, I accepted Christ the day before I had to go back to work."
Looking back, Brian says, "Crazy to think, but you want to know how I accepted God? It wasn't from you preaching the gospel a million times, I only heard you talk about Jesus to me a few times actually. It wasn't the worship music you played on the couches right outside my bar.
"It was the way you lived your lives! It was how you loved each other! It was the way you loved me! You didn't even know me and you loved me!"
"It was the way you loved the Lord and life! That is what turned me to Christ."
(Brian, center, with members of P Squad)
Brian launched on the Race with B Squad in October 2011. He was able to spend the final month of his Race in Malawi with the same contacts and in the same place where his new life began in Christ.
A year later, Jackie Gu, formerly a successful marketing manager in San Francisco, launched on her Race on September 2012 L Squad.
Jackie came across Brian's story through his blog at a time when she felt the Lord calling her into a new season in life. She longed make a difference, "to give up everything to be used by God to change the life of one young man…"
Realizing her purpose and what God intended for her, she heard the God say, "Come away with me. I will show you the world. You will show beauty to the world and reflect my glory."
Moved to action, Jackie said yes to God's call to go the nations and is now entering her third month of the Race in Nicaragua.
How did God lead you to the World Race? Was it a blog post you read or a video you watched? Did he use a specific Racer, Team, or Squad? We encourage you to tell them. Allow them to meet the fruit of the seeds they planted. Let them know how God used them to change your life–sometimes beautiful friendships come out of that kind of encouragement.
