Let Us RUN With Patience The Race That Is Set Before Us.

May 06, 2024

My mission has been the ultimate race.

Its a race i felt like i trained for for a long time.

I felt ready to run.

But quickly into this race i realised that i was far from prepared.

I didnt realise how steep the climb was going to be or how many roadblocks and detours i was going to have to take and conquer.

I learned quite fast that sprinting as fast as i could wasnt going to help me win this kind of race.

Something I came on my mission with was a full backpack.

Packed full of a collection of things from over the years.

Full of doubts

Full of insecurities

Full of sadness

Full of brokenness

This backpack was really heavy.

It was a backpack that was full of the wrong equipment.

Despite the weight I continued to try and run.

It was then a few months into this race i realised i wouldnt be able to run anymore with this bag dragging behind me.

But its hard to let go of things youve held onto for a long time. They feel like a part of you. You begin to fear what you would be without them. You fear that without this equipment you may fall. Even though those are the things that are starting to make you slip.

Its only when you decide let go that you begin to see what you are capable of.

Who you really are.

What you are made of.

What you can achieve.

How fast you can really run.

I needed this weight.

This is the weight that allowed me to be brought down to my knees.

And it has been those times on the ground.

Fallen down. Hurt. Vulnerable. Weeping.

Where the bag has been emptied and left behind.

"let us lay aside every weight...which doth so easily beset us, and let us RUN with patience the race that is set before us"

This transfer really showed me how heavy my bag was.

There was so much i needed to let go of.

I quickly learned this reality when i was asked to train Sister Mkhwanazi and whitewash Ashton-under-Lyne.

Its been so hard.

By far the hardest part of my race but it has been the most beautiful.

I began to have this reality as i sat in the clerks office with Sister Mkhwanazi after a call. This call was really hard. Sister Mkhwanazi began to cry with frusteration after it ended. The reality of how hard becoming a missionary really is set in for her.

As i watch her struggle i began to remember my beginning moments. The moments i was so frusterated that i could be perfect. The moments it just wasnt clicking for me. The moments where my bag seemed to get heavier and heavier.

I began to cry as i saw her struggle and hurt. As we hugged and cried for awhile, I thought back to all the moments we have had over the last 6 weeks. This sweet sister has taught me what it looks like to leave that backpack behind.

She has taught me humilty and patience.

2 principles i struggle the most with.

She has been able to help me take this weight out of my backpack and fill it with what i need. Nothing extra.

I dont think it was any coincidence the first thing i saw of this sweet sister was her one bag.

Nothing extra.

Just what she needed to run her race.

This experience training sister Mkhwanazi has changed my life.

I didnt need to go to a country without running water or a place without roofs over the heads of the people or dirt for their floors.

I just needed her.

Christ brought the humbling experience right to me.

In the middle of england. 8 months in. Its that simple.

Running with him.