#1: The first reason is because Jesus calls us to go. In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus is about to ascend into heaven and he says to his disciples, “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the ages.” A couple of chapters earlier in Matthew 24:14, it says “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Jesus will not return until the gospel has been proclaimed in all nations.
#2: In Luke 10:2, Jesus is talking to the seventy-two people he is sending out. He says to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest”. There are millions of people who have never heard of the gospel and the time is now.
#3: In light of reasons #1 and #2, here are some sobering statistics.
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81% of all Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus do not personally know a Christ-follower. (Joshua Project/ World Christian Encyclopedia)
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42.6% of all people groups are Unreached.
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28% of the population (approximately 2.16 Billion people) virtually have No Exposure to the gospel
To read more about unreached people groups visit Joshua Project or check out this document. Status of World Evangelization 2020- Joshua Project
#4: I want to give God my first year out of school. I have spent the last 17 years of my life in school and I want to take my first year and serve God in whatever opportunity or ministry that he would lead me in. I am in an available season and I am willing to go and I know that the World Race will challenge me and I will grow through this experience.
“Tell God you are ready to be offered, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be” –Oswald Chambers
#5: I will get to know Jesus in different ways if I go. In my previous experiences, having different opportunities to go overseas were very influential times in my walk with Jesus. When I was forced out of my comfort zone, I was able to experience more of God in new ways. I will have to rely on Him more and my relationship with God will grow.
#6: I get to see the beauty of God through seeing other cultures He has made. He has taught me many different things through other cultures around the world. I have learned about hospitality and what it means to abide with the Father through time spent in the home of a woman in Southeast Asia. I learned that our Father is a God who sees circumstances and He encourages those who are discouraged by praying for a woman from Nigeria. He is a God of restoration and He brought a Philipino daughter back to Himself after 10 years. He is a God who heals injuries and a God who makes Himself known to a friend of mine from Nepal. And He is a God who loves laughter when I remember explaining my freckles to some women from Kenya and Uganda 🙂 We have a Good Father, my friends!
#7: I know that through adventuring with Jesus I will learn to hear His voice even more.
#8: If God can speak through Balaam’s donkey then He can speak through me if I stay submitted to the Holy Spirit. He uses anyone who is willing to be used by Him and I know that he will use me to speak to others wherever I go. (See Numbers 22:22-35).
#9: I will be able to see the body of Christ around the world. I will be able to see others from many cultures worship our God and seek him. One of my favorite memories of this past summer in the Middle East was an opportunity that I had to pray and worship with believers from all around the world worshipping the same Father above. It was a beautiful picture of what heaven will one day look like. (Revelation 7:9-12)
#10: I am excited to grow in community with my teammates and learn more about God together. I can’t wait to grow in looking more and more like Jesus through a community with people from many different states.
#11: In the book, Why God calls us to Dangerous Places, Kate McCord writes a beautiful quote that illustrates the heart of the Father.
“So we, God’s servants, go, our Master’s invitation in our hands, out to the highways and hedges. We walk through squalid refugee camps in Syria, fetid open-air trash dumps in Mozambique, drug-infested smoky brothels in Bangkok. We go because deep in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan and out on the dusty plains of Iraq, there are people whom God wants to come to His feast. There are people hidden away in small villages in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan who belong at God’s table. There are women in Somalia; street kids in Portland, Oregon; girls in northern Nigeria; and men in Chechnya and a thousand other places who belong in God’s house. God sees them, every one of them, people drawing water from open wells, drinking tea in mud houses, scheming evil in dark camps, hiding from violence in rough caves. He knows their names and faces and voices and laughter and tears. He knows their fears and dreams and joys and sorrows. He was there when they were born, when they fell down, and when they got up–and He wants to share the blessings of all He has with them. This is the heart of God–generous, loving, kind, and patient–always ready to bless. He’s prepared His table from the foundations of the earth, and there is still room.”
Lastly, my admissions counselor from the World Race challenged us to write a “So I go” statement about why we are choosing to go on the World Race. Here is mine…
So I’ll Go
“So, why are you going?” others have asked. With confusion and uncertainty on their faces. With a deep breath, I look into their eyes. I go to tell of a love so great. An unparalleled kind of love. A love that casts down walls of pain, bitterness, and shame. A love that breaks chains of brokenness and fear. A love that casts the darkness away. A love that transforms and changes for the glory of the one who saves. This love is true and pure. A beautiful love story of a God who set in place a plan of redemption for you… for me… for the Hindu temple priests, for the Chinese university students, for the Indonesian man selling meat on the street. A God who freely gives this love without demanding to be loved in return. A love that invites and encourages. A radical unfathomable kind of love. A God who is a Father and desires intimacy with His children. A love that has changed me… brought new life, freedom, restored brokenness, and brought healing to my heart. So… you ask why I go? I go to tell of this powerful love that saved me!
Thank you for taking the time to read some of the reasons why I am so excited to be going on the World Race. I appreciate you all! I will end with Paul’s words found in Romans 10:13-15.
“For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”.
With love,
–Elizabeth
