World Race: Takeaways

INTRODUCTION

              This has been a blog that I had wanted to do for a while. To kind of recap what took place over the World Race- and also discuss a few things that impacted us significantly while overseas. It’s going to be a bit lengthy, but that is because I have a lot of information to share. I kind of consider this a blog to wrap up the loose threads and tie everything together. As I reflect on all that took place over the Thanksgiving week, I am thankful for the Lord’s goodness- especially as He shows me and my squad grace. There were a lot of ups & downs on this trip; some I honestly handled better than others. Yet as I write this, I am also thankful for those who walked this journey with me- both as part of M Squad, those who we met / worked with overseas, and those who prayed over us and sent us out stateside. Without further ado, here are 30 of the key highlights from the World Race! There are five categories in this post. The first section highlights places that I visited where there is the most likely potential of going back to for a longer period of time. The second part talks about what is next in my life. The third and fourth sections analyze what could have been but also what ultimately came to pass when it comes to the final route. Finally, section five reflects on major takeaways from the trip. Enjoy!

 

WHERE MAY I RETURN TO LONG-TERM?

              Kosovo. Kosovo was undoubtedly my hardest month on the Race as we navigated spiritual warfare and internal health as a squad. Yet some of my closest friends that I keep in touch with are from Kosovo- especially the ones that I hiked with in the Rugova Mountains and followed up with the week of our second debrief. Meanwhile, A Jesus Mission (AJM) is continuing to establish the New Born Brew coffee shop in Kosovo and do humanitarian aid in Ukraine. If I end up serving with AJM eventually, Kosovo would more than likely be the place that I would set up base.

              The Caucasus Mountains. This region is sandwiched in the middle of the 10/40 Window (with the Middle East/ North Africa [MENA] region to the west and Asia to the east). Because of this, it serves as a gateway to many nations, but also a place to gain missional experience on the ground. Calvary Chapel operates a Bible / missions school in Tbilisi, and there are lots of outreach opportunities to Iranians in Armenia. Both countries I clearly see a future in returning to as the next step of my missional calling. It’s also at a geopolitically dynamic area of the world; thus a big opportunity to move with the spirit and intercede with those who are hurting.

              Colorado. For some reason, God has opened more doors to come to Colorado in recent years- with each successive trip building connections and community out there. It has also been on my heart to minister to the outdoor community, and there are significant amounts of young people who are “spiritually seeking” who have migrated towards Colorado. There are also a good number of churches / missions organizations that are based out of this area. Is it really a “coincidence” that the jobs epicenter of my field of study (Geography) is Colorado’s Front Range? As graduation gets closer, I will continue to pray into this place.

 

WHAT IS NEXT FOR ME?

              Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. It’s been a privilege to grow up very close to the Samaritan’s Purse (SP) Headquarters in Boone. This resulted in opportunities to volunteer with shoebox processing and meet many people from the area that work for SP. Yet after the end of the World Race, the opportunity came to work for SP with Operation Christmas Child shoebox processing. The shoebox season has just started, but I am excited to learn more about this ministry and what they do across the world. Over the coming months, I look forward to building relationships and evaluating potential further humanitarian work with this organization.

              Urbana Missions Conference. Urbana is an event that happens every three to four years where college Christians from across the country gather together to worship the Lord and pray over the nations. This year, it is being held in Indianapolis, IN to finish off 2022. Hundreds of missions agencies are expected to be present during this trip- along with coaching about next steps and ways to use my vocation on the field. Please especially be in prayer over this. God may be using this conference as an “inflection point” to build crucial connections towards how He may carry out my exploration-related calling in the coming years.

              Houston Mission Trip. Antioch Church is partnering with some groups in Houston who have a heart for Muslims. This January, the Antioch Discipleship class that I am in is planning to visit Houston as part of this initiative. Please keep us in prayer as we minister with the Gospel. It is also going to be my first mission trip in this new season, and I am open to how the Lord is going to speak here. After the trip ends, I am planning to stay in Texas for a few extra days to visit with cousins and explore some of the Texas Hill Country.

              More Colorado Fun. Recently, things came together for a group of guys to do an epic ski & snowboard trip in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. We are also praying over potential ministry opportunities and connections with the winter sports community while we are out there. In March, I am planning to go to Colorado to further build connections in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas. There is a big nationwide geography conference that will be held in Denver- with job employers from the area attending. As I begin researching internship opportunities for my degree, Colorado is one of the places that I am looking into.

              Preparing for Graduation & Missions. My projected graduation date is December 2023. During 2023, I am staying local and finishing my degree. However, there will likely be a more unified direction that next year is moving towards- as opposed to the “settle down and wait for things to get going” period that dominated Fall 2022. 2024 is probably the next time that I make a significant move towards launching to a new place and taking another big step in my missional / career journey. There are no plans for me to do international missions at the moment, but my long term goal is to live or regularly travel overseas while maintaining ties in the States.

 

PLACES THAT WERE ON THE ORIGINAL 2020 ROUTE THAT I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO VISIT

              Kyrgyzstan. This is a rugged mountain country in Central Asia that our 2021 route was expected to finish at and the original 2020 route to cross through. However, the Lord called us to help with Ukrainian refugee relief with our Romanian partners instead. It was not easy to let this one go; especially as I had hoped to go to Central Asia since signing up for the World Race in 2019. Deep down, I still believe our squad was obedient to the Lord with this one. Nevertheless, those who have gone to Kyrgyzstan have said that it’s a beautiful place with a huge need for the Gospel.

              Mongolia. Mongolia was a popular World Race Expedition spot before the Covid-19 pandemic caused China to close their borders, cutting off cheap land travel to this country. It’s an expensive place to fly to on its own. It’s a wild, rugged country where life is nomadic and oftentimes simple. Far away from the reach of cell service and fast-paced modern life lies the freedom and simplicity of just “partnering with God and going”. Ministry in Mongolia echoes this principle, and I look forward to when God begins to open doors to serve in this nation in the coming years.

              Himalayas. These mountains jut into Earth’s atmosphere as jagged peaks with unreached people groups living all over them. It’s an adventure trekker’s paradise- and also a strong example of being “literally at the ends of the earth”. Watching a presentation about hiking to Everest Base Camp at the Boone Footsloggers outfitter made my heart leap. Even though several countries govern this area, it’s taking this region a while to reopen from the Covid pandemic. However, if the Lord wants me to serve in this area, I am sure that He will make a way (especially in terms of putting connections together).

              India. This country is a spiritual battleground with the largest population in the planet that is still “unreached” with the Gospel. Even though it was supposed to be on my original route, things did not quite come together to get here. Yet from what I heard, it takes much spiritual preparation and equipping to effectively minister in this country. I talked with a Muslim background believer from India prior to the Race who believed that more growth and preparation were necessary before I ventured to this area. When the Race did not go here, I remembered her words knowing that more time to grow as a missionary is ahead of me.

              Thailand. Unfortunately, prospects of visiting this country were greatly complicated by the spread of the Omicron variant. It has gradually been opening back up this year. It’s a beautiful place yet filled with significant needs for the Gospel. Thailand serves as a crucial “launching point” for missions in Southeast Asia with many ministries based out of here. This is one place that I will pray into with open hands in terms of future plans. Who knows how God may bring this country back around again in my life! Meanwhile, I look forward to building a friendship with a Thai-American family that attends my church.

              Honorable Mention: Spaceport America Cup. My college career at Lenoir-Rhyne University ended abruptly in March 2020 as the world shut down due to Covid. Originally, the climax of my undergrad years was the Spaceport America Cup- where engineering teams from across the world gather to blast off high altitude rockets in New Mexico’s desert. The event was to be held over the summer of 2020, marking my last official function with Lenoir-Rhyne. Even though the event did not take place, God redeemed the ending of LR by allowing an in-person graduation ceremony for the class of 2020 to take place a year later.

 

PLACES THAT THE LORD ALLOWED US TO UNEXPECTEDLY SERVE IN ON THE NEW ROUTE

              Albania / Kosovo. Albania and the Balkans in general fascinated me for many years as a relatively unknown region of Europe. As it steadily emerged that Albania became a possibility on our route, excitement continued to build. Albania turned out to be an epic month filled with spiritual fire in our squad, forging a path as my home community changed in difficult ways, and embracing adventure in the nation’s southern mountains. Kosovo extended our time ministering with Albanian people, smashing light and darkness together as a trying month gave birth to an epic hike and many friendships being forged.

              Ukraine. We clearly didn’t expect to be going to Ukraine on this trip. But our journey there was orchestrated for a clear purpose. As the Ukraine-Russia tensions continued to build up while we were in the country (with large-scale war erupting a couple months after we left), a special bond was built between our squad and the Ukrainian people that continues to this day. Some ministry that I ended up doing in Ukraine was serving with autistic children and getting to share my testimony of growing up as an autistic person. What a beautiful act of God to bring this full circle: getting to give back to the autism community on the other side of the world!

              The Middle East. As a squad, we ended up celebrating Christmas and New Years in this region of the world. Arab culture is rich, and we got to see a microcosm of that while we were here. Yet this ended up being some of my favorite moments of the Race- especially getting to explore the desert together as a squad. In a different country, the Lord continued to establish Valentine’s Day in my life as a way to reflect on His mission and ultimately His redemption. This happened during a day of travelling across and praying over an extensively Muslim area. Some of the hiking / exploring in this region of the world was absolutely epic as well.

              Armenia. An unexpected month turned out to be a spectacular moment of ministry while also serving as a team leader. Armenia was not on our original route, but we arrived to honor the Armenian Genocide with millions of other Armenians from across the world on April 24. So much happened here, including going to a wedding, meeting up with Young Life, serving in an orphanage for disabled children, taking people to their first waterfall ever, and worshipping with an awesome multinational church at the capitol. The country blossomed with dynamic, grassroots ministry at the core, which I absolutely loved.

              North Africa. Adventures In Missions tried something new by giving squads a small chunk of time as a “Squad Vacation”. After everything was settled, M Squad got 12 days to travel and explore. This represented an amazing opportunity to step into my calling at the very end of the Race, and three of us ventured to two countries in North Africa. With lots of flights, logistics, and late nights, it was all worth it. The seed was clearly sewn, and penetrating into less traveled areas of the Muslim world was a great way to end the Race. Please pray over how I will follow up with people and opportunities that came from this adventure.

              Honorable Mention: Alaska. This Cru trip was made possible by getting fully funded early for the World Race (thanks supporters!) and getting to know a friend from Boone who helped organize it. Wow did God move. We worked with fear/power culture in America while serving in one of the most jaw-dropping places on the planet. Greeting veterans participating in Samaritan’s Purse Operation Heal Our Patriots and watching summer campers being baptized in Lake Clark were additional blessings. Alaska ultimately climaxed with intense spiritual pruning that birthed my calling towards missional exploration on the last day of the trip.

 

TEN MAJOR WORLD RACE TAKEAWAYS

              Covid Omicron Variant. We went into the Race knowing that Covid could throw some unexpected curve balls along the way. We launched onto the field with the Delta variant surging. A few months later, the Omicron variant emerged. Unfortunately, Omicron disrupted some travel plans as some countries postponed their re-openings (and we had to quarantine twice because of it). However, this highly transmissible variant ended up being less lethal than previous Covid strains and displaced deadlier versions of the virus. Today, the world is much more back to normal, and Omicron (along with the vaccines) was a step towards that.

              Domestic Missions Opportunities. I had no idea that so many opportunities existed stateside to make an impact on unreached or isolated ethnic groups. There are so many open doors here, and I began to step into this more as Covid sidelined international missions for a while. On the local level, we reached out to students at Appalachian State University (some of whom are international). New York City and other major cities are home to large immigrant populations that my church and I reached out to last year. The US also has far-flung areas such as Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Guam, providing opportunities to engage more cultures.

              Importance of healthy Stateside Communities. One of the biggest things that I observed is that having a strong home sending community is crucial towards launching into missions and re-entering smoothly once the trip ends. Looking back, I see how the Lord allowed Boone to be my main sending community for this trip, and I am incredibly grateful. However, the process of seeing many friendships in my former church fracture during the second month of being abroad was excruciating. I am thankful that the Lord directed me to Antioch Boone in the end, and may He faithfully guide others who are still searching for genuine community.

              Emphasis on Multi-Squad Fellowship. We were able to do Training Camp, Launch, and Final Debrief together as multiple squads. This ended up being a big blessing because we got to share our World Race journeys together and share testimonies in the end. Furthermore, choosing to go back to Romania caused us to work for nearly two weeks with L Squad. This created a deeper level of friendship with them, and provided a smoother continuity towards training and ministering with Ukrainian refugees. I hope to keep in touch with my K and L Squad friends in the coming years (even if most of those friendships are long distance).

              The Key: A Surrendered Heart. The biggest factor, I think, of what made or broke the World Race for people was how surrendered their hearts were (especially in terms of preset expectations). The raised up squad leaders did a great job modelling this for us, demonstrating the importance of giving our “yes” even when things are a lot different from how they may or could have been. Ultimately, our relationship with Christ is us giving our lives over to Him in complete surrender. There were multiple times I had to be reminded of this on the Race. Yet living a content, surrendered life that is centered on God is the “superweapon” of missions.

              Pathways towards Long Term Missions. An interesting fact about how the route materialized was that God placed a lot of connections towards long term mission work. Whether it be partnering with A Jesus Mission in Kosovo, discovering the Calvary Chapel missions movement, or getting to learn about helping the Iranian church, I am thankful for us getting to form these partnerships. Things also opened up to serve with long-term ministries in America; and be able to effectively steward my time towards opportunities through Antioch Church, Samaritan’s Purse, Urbana, and also in Colorado.

              God Takes His Time. I have a hypothesis that walking in God’s will takes literally more time for blessings and promises to materialize than just trying to do similar things on my own. Yet, God guides and grows us in the journey (look at what King David went through!). The World Race took place after ten years of coming to know the Lord and being prepared as a missionary. And when it did happen, it was not God sending us from one side of the 10/40 Window to the other like I thought. Rather, it was about being awakened to the Missions world in a small dose that represents the mere beginning of a lengthy process that lies ahead.

              The Russia-Ukraine War. After years of low-level fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region and mounting tensions, full scale war erupted on February 24, 2022. This greatly shaped our role as a squad, shifting us towards a hybrid ministry of reaching out to Muslims on one hand and helping with this crisis on the other. We were able to visit Ukraine before the war, and then minister to refugees from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine during the war (when we were in Georgia and Romania). Even our months near the beginning, such as Romania (Part 1), Kosovo, and portions of the Middle East, created connections and prepared us for humanitarian work.

              Being a Visionary Guy and Meeting the Church. It’s beautiful to be someone who loves to dream, cast vision, and be on fire towards exploration and the missional calling. Working and integrating that vision into the church though, is no joke (especially towards frontier missions). It requires lots of grace, especially when rejection, misunderstandings, or hurt ensues. On this trip, I was really tested in this. Its also crucial to walk with the church (despite its shortcomings) while also challenging it at the same time. Yet part of what makes leaders stand out is helping empower an organization or group get from A to B while meeting them where they are at.

              You can’t control what cards you get, but you can control how you play them. We played Uno and other games all the time on the field. Similarly, at family reunions, some of us would play cards late in the night. Which cards we get comes down to chance, but how to play the cards is strategy. Similarly, we had many opportunities open to us with others shutting right in front of us. Most of these we had no control over. What is important is the ability to adapt and still “give our yes”. Despite less than ideal circumstances related to weather and timing in Georgia (the country), it was a sweet resting period and also an opportunity to hear the stories of Russians and Belarussians who fled their authoritarian countries during the Ukraine war.

 

CONCLUSION

              Five months after returning to America, my family and I celebrated a quiet but sweet Thanksgiving deep in the Appalachian Mountains. Yet as I write this blog, I am thankful for the uniqueness that the World Race presented. The World Race, along with its preparation and conclusion, is a unique journey that everyone will experience in different ways. No two paths are the same, which is why it is a crazy adventure with each person having a unique story. The different paths force us to be uncomfortable, allowing us to forge contentment with God while celebrating what others have accomplished or get to do. Yet I also write this to remember and celebrate what God has done on the field and in the States. Things changed so much since the day that I sat in the dorm lobby at Lenoir-Rhyne and hit the “Commit” button to the World Race Expedition so long ago. Yet I rejoice in the twists, turns, unexpected adventures, and God moments that came with it. Today, may the Lord continue to guide my squad and I as we look ahead towards what is next and also to what is happening now. Stay tuned for one final blog post that will close this all out. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you and guide you. Thank you for reading this post to the end, and feel free to continue lifting me up in prayer. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to me or comment below.