//WHY THE RACE//

WHY THE RACE?

I am beyond excited to share my story!

I didn’t have an amazing vision from the Lord to go on the World Race. I simply had a strong foundational push from the Holy Spirit that had been building in me for two years. The world and other people had a strong influence over my decision.

Leave everything you think you have planned and put me first.

My choices were:

fake control vs. no control

performance vs. trusting Adonai

instant gratification vs. long term satisfaction

my passion vs. God’s passion

My final choice was simple no God or God.

I am still working these lines in the sand out even today.

I know I am a storyteller. I do know God crafted me specifically for this purpose. I said “yes” to following Him first and now I listen and wait for his purposes to become clear in me.

God has put many people in my life who have encouraged me to go on the World Race. In early June 2020, I met some Race alumni who were staying at a ministry house in the Twin Cities. Their presence resurfaced a lot of my passion for Christ and through them I was reminded how it is to live your life on mission. I was brought more deeply into thought about who I lived for and it wasn’t God! It wasn’t film. It was myself.

My immediate response was action. I decided to go on the Race and then twiddled my thumbs as I argued with myself.

I could go to film school and still grow in faith while seeking every opportunity to minister and serve others. I could follow the plan I had designed and interweave God into that plan. Or, I could let God make the plan and trust that He will provide footholds for each step.

I desire discipleship. I desire to be uncomfortable. I desire to leave everything behind in pursuit of the only thing that truly satisfies me. I want to be in a community that challenges me and urges me toward God.

Once I began fundraising, I remembered things from my past. I’ve been a member of three different churches in my teenage/young adult life, separate from my parents. It was at one of these churches that I met someone I knew from my parent’s church who was visiting. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Sage!” I greeted him, confessing that I didn’t remember his name. He smiled excitedly at me. Then, he asked me if I was doing missions, as if he had heard from someone that I was. I just assumed he knew I loved languages and cultures. I was living a Christian culture lifestyle but never felt called to missions. I told him that I would love to travel and experience different cultures. He shook his head. I remember his clear eyes as he grabbed my arm in excitement. “You are going into the mission field,” he said.

I have no idea why I wrote that experience off. It didn’t fit into what I had planned or wanted. But remembering that exchange at this point in my life is unexplainably encouraging because I know I was meant for missions. Not necessarily missions but a mission’s lifestyle. I want to be the stone that ripples to touch everything and everyone else around me. I want to be a person of action and boldness. I want to be a disciple.

So why am I going on the world race?

I want more of God.