Why the World Race?

“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. — Psalm 145:8-9.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to meet Jesus in person? Ok, this isn’t the “I Can Only Imagine” song about to play. What I am thinking about today is God’s character – even before we were saved. Who is God?

As I pause and reflect on this verse, I’m reminded of God’s heart. I long to know it deeper – I get it wrong sometimes, but I am hoping that I will have a clear picture going into this trip and an even clearer one during / coming out of it as well.

My hope for this trip is to be full of the knowledge of God and who He is. This is a very difficult decision to go because I could choose to stay here and be a professional (well, let’s not get prideful here – it’s not like I’d automatically be accepted to a job). But I think we can agree that the World Race also has a great amount of potential to be very fruitful.

 

For a while, I was outside of a church body. I had sought God to know whether missions would be something I could consider as a possibility instead of a job. For some, it is their job. But how does this change the way it is approached? (Is a question I am asking still). Whether we’re a full time missionary or a person exploring the mission field, I think God’s heart doesn’t change – and we are still children of God regardless of our vocation.

Right now, I am part of what I consider to be one of the best church bodies I have ever been a part of. That could be because of the season of life I’m in, or just .. it lines up with what I’m learning with God right now. I am so grateful to be a part of a men’s group there in addition to doing kids tech ministry. During my free time, I spend time recording Bible teachings, learning new skills – programming and  hobby-like skills, like I will sometimes look up photography tips or practice writing blog posts.

So if I have all of this going for me, why the World Race? Could it really be more fruitful than .. using computer science to gain a salary and bless the body of Christ that way? Why leave the country when there’s so much here?

 

One reason is that I want to grow in character. God has made it clear to me that this is possible in the professional world. There are deep character flaws that I have that could benefit a ton by being in the midst of the work world.

However, there are also skills that I have that I feel can just undoubtedly be perfectly applicable to the mission field. I have to really weigh and see if what I have bringing to the mission field is better than what I could invest here.

So, there is a lot I need to still grow in but I also have a wealth of skills to use! I’m passionate about the idea of doing ministry and see it as an opportunity to love the body of Christ full time. As I think back, while I LOVE computer science, there’s never been happier times than loving the brethren with all of my time. And if I want to do this well, it sometimes takes ALL of my time.

I’ve been realizing there are skills that could  be invested into computer science that could be used in ministry instead. For example, in terms of creativity and problem solving, there are new ways of approaching ministry that you can create! One of my more recently exciting discoveries is that you can literally plan out a prayer run. This is how it goes:

1. Choose where you’re going to run.
2. Choose what you’re going to pray about (in a list or perhaps in schedule form)
3. Choose “tangents” on the route where you’re going to pray about a specific thing, such as a city you’ve been to or specific people or a group you’re in. i.e., going into neighborhood A, I’m going to pray about the World Race.

This will allow you the option of taking those tangents to dig deeper into something you want to pray about, or you can continue on the straightforward path and stick to the schedule you made.

 

Another thing is creating prayer cards for people. Literally list their name and things you want to pray about for them. As you get to know them and listen to their concerns or hear from God, what to pray about will be more clear.

In terms of organization, even seeing what people work best together and why (granted, I think every Christian can work with another Christian because of the Holy Spirit), but there is sometimes highly synergistic grouping and matchups I believe! Don’t limit what God can do!

I’m hoping the best for this trip. So, overall, I’m choosing to go on it because I believe it’s the best investment of my skills and interest. I also think it’s where I can be most fruitful and focus on loving the body of Christ. As we discussed tonight, community is one of the highlights of the World Race. I’m excited that this trip involves children’s ministry because I believe that’s also what can change a nation to the highest degree and do the most good in the long run because children are the future, and I want to be able to give them the best potential possible of knowing Christ and becoming who God intended them to be. To see God’s plan for them fulfilled.