This is a two-part blog. Part 1 is on the reason I joined AIM WR. Part 2 is why I changed to a different mission.

Part 1 – Why I joined Adventures in Missions World Race.

I’ll start with why I decided to take a break from my job and go on an international mission.

• I believe in Kingdom Journeys. So does Seth Barnes, the creator and visionary behind the WR. It would take a while to describe, but if you’re really interested, the book is available. And I like it. A lot.
• I wanted to spend a period of time devoted to serving God, studying Word, and growing in my faith away from my usual distractions and competing priorities. No work obligations. No typical social obligations. Only one thing – discovering how I’m going to use my gifts and talents to serve God, bring Him glory and love what I do for the rest of my life.

For now, I don’t think international missions are something I would do long term. For long term, I actually believe in KP Yohanan’s “Revolution in World Missions” approach. I just think Kingdom Journeys can be a great way to get a vision and get preparation for your long-term work. Not necessarily “mission” work or even NPO. Just whatever that long-term vision turns out to be. Some people find it worthless waste, but I’ll leave that debate for some other time.

Why the WR in particular? Two things were top of my list for choosing WR – logistics and community.

• Logistics. I’ve traveled the world extensively, but not so much for missions. The only missions I’ve gone on were with AIM. They were ok – 50% pass marks. To me, organization means organized logistics. This organization already had it all. Transportation, food, lodging, local contacts, everything. Meaning, I wouldn’t have to worry about logistics for ~1 year long journey. No booking tickets, to finding housing, no foraging for food (except for “fun”) no searching for ministry contacts, etc. No worries about safety, other than the usual situational awareness and common sense stuff. I could just go.
• It offered a pre-packaged Community. I don’t have a lot of close Christian friends. I don’t have a close-knit Christian community. I have a church home, but I don’t live or study or work or socialize or go to church among a peer group of Christians. Church community post-college, pre-marriage has been like a black hole for me. We have those preaching to the youth. Then when you return post-college, the preaching seems to always be geared toward parents, couples and older generations. I’ve struggled to find a community of post-college folks who are trying to navigate careers, before marriage or parenthood. I feel like I’m a part of a forgotten group, and I wont be able to join or relate until I get married and/or have a child. But there’s a lot that comes before marriage and children, like having a spouse. And how do you find a like-minded spouse unless you are in a community of like-minded people? See what I mean? So I’m forced to socialize in a community of co-workers or something and try to my best to make good life decisions. But it’s only after I’ve decided that the church becomes ready for me. Not in that crucial time period when I’m trying to navigate these social circles. So, back to WR, I thought I’d start by seeking out a community of like-minded people so that at least I have the right type of support system. Psalms begins with wisdom, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked…” Thus it makes no sense for me to seek counsel from ungodly people (or books, blogs, or magazines, or TV, etc.) I rationalized that with my pre-packaged Christian community of mission loving people, that I would be immersed with folks hungry for the Word, pouring over it and running into the world filled up on Truth to live out. Quixotic. Just can’t help it.

Later, part 2 on why I broke camp.