Goodbye, World Race Squad C!

Another post from Seth Barnes, who just left the States for Guatemala to debrief another squad of World Racers who are going home in a week. The World Race is a movement that we’ve been dreaming about for awhile, and Seth made it a reality. Lisa and I got to pour into these young people while they were in Africa, and I echo a lot of Seth’s thoughts here. It is so rewarding to let these world-changers stand on our shoulders and be who they were meant to be!

Karen and I are headed to Guatemala tomorrow morning to do the
final debrief of our World Race team that has been going around the world for
almost a year now. It is such a thrill to see these young people come
alive.

Along the way they got rid of a ton of internal baggage, began to
drill down to their true identity in Christ, and they began to wake up to what he’s
doing in the world and how to join him.

So it is such a privilege to assist them in this process. When we first
started the World Race, I thought that it would be a year and then they’d move
along in life, leaving me to process some new group. The surprise for
Karen and I is that we can’t let them do that!

During the course of a
year as we watch them press in to the growth process so intensively, we begin
to fall in love with them. And by the end of the year, many of them feel
more like sons and daughters than they do like participants in some program.

So as we become enmeshed with these young people, our lives are being changed,
just as their lives are changing too. I was born to build things and
manage things – that’s been my identity for much of my life.

But these
kids are turning me into a softer version of that person who listens to stories
and gives hugs and even weeps when they’re going through a hard time.

It’s disconcerting and awkward sometimes, as most deep change usually is.

If it were just a debrief or two,
it wouldn’t happen, but when we help launch them at training camp, hang out and
comment on their blogs, pray them through their crises, and fly around the
world to meet them counsel them and encourage them in who they’re becoming, it’s
just an inevitable thing.

Some of you empty-nesters out
there need to try this ministry – it will wreck you. You can start by reading their blogs here.

If you’re a young person or you know someone who needs to do the World Race, go here to apply. It literally takes one minute…