The World Race.
A crazy, Spirit-filled, 11-month journey around the world, spreading the Gospel and becoming God’s hands and feet to the nations. A journey that tests, challenges, and shapes Racers into the men and women God designed them to become. It’s an exhilarating, terrifying, and one-of-a-kind adventure.
However, when most people think of the Race, they imagine hiking through jungles, living in remote villages, bathing in rivers, and more. And yes, these things do happen on the Race. You could be in a remote area with no electricity, running water, or any amenities.
But you could also be in a city. You could go to Harbin, China, and live in a city of 10 million people. And while you were there, you could live across a courtyard from a mall. You could be in a host home with A/C, hot showers, and really good WiFi. You could have a real American Thanksgiving, complete with pumpkin pie, stuffing, and homemade cinnamon ice cream. You could visit Kuala Lumpur, which is like being back in America, plus fun surprises like free WiFi on the city bus.
They tell you the World Race is all about letting go of expectations so that God has room to work through you. This is so, so true. God will throw things in your path in order to take away expectations you didn’t even know you had. Personally, I expected to rough it on the Race. I expected to live in my tent for 11 months and not shower for a week. But my Race has been so different. I’ve had a lot of amenities and fun experiences. My challenge is to find out how to allow God to use me even though my Race looks different than I imagined.
So often in our lives, we expect things to go a certain way, and when they don’t work out how we think they should, we question God. What if we stopped doing that? What if we let go of every illusion of control we think we have, and put it all in God’s hands? What would happen? Well, God would use us to bring His Kingdom. He would use us to be His hands and feet. He would use us to glorify Him in all things. So expect to have expectations. Expect that you’ll see things working out in a certain way. It’s human nature, after all. But also expect God to take those expectations, turn them upside down, and use it all for His glory. I expect that will happen a lot on my Race, and I can’t wait.
