As you were able to read in the first part of this blog, last Sunday was quite an amazing day. I had spent until almost 4 A.M. praying and thinking about what I would share in my testimony. By the time actually spoke I had sifted through events of almost two years of my life. All of these events that I had mentioned were events that had occurred in my past. It had been more than a year since I chose to follow God and go on The World Race. It had more than six months since I had last preached a sermon in Africa. It was only a few hours later, however, that God brought my focus back on Ukraine and the present. 

            As is was our last full day in L'viv, we decided to spend more time in the city. After a quick lunch, the team visited an art market in search of some last-minute souvenirs before we left for Romania. After an hour or so in the market, some of us decided to visit a beautiful Armenian Church that was apparently only a few blocks away. It was at this church that God wrecked me in a way that put everything I had preached about that morning to the test.

            When we arrived at the Armenian Church, we ran into a man named Mikola. He is one of the nicest men that I have met and always seemed to have a smile on his face. Some people from church had met him a few weeks prior while passing out food and had invited him to our Easter service the previous Sunday. It was on that day that he accepted Christ and began his Christian walk. He had also been to church when I had given my testimony earlier that morning. 

            Up until this point I had not realized the circumstances in which Mikola lived. As we walked up to greet him, he was standing there holding his hat out to those who passed by in a silent plea for help. The sight of this pierced me through the heart and I reached into my pocket only to realize that I had the equivalent of a few pennies inside. We passed by him and shook hands before entering the church.

            The inside of the church was absolutely stunning. It was covered in ancient paintings and decorations, but the only thing that I could think of at that moment was Mikola. I honestly knew that God was telling me to do something for him but I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. The change that I had in my pocket would not have even bought him a piece of bread so I just tried to put in out of his mind. 

            As our team exited the church, we once again passed by Mikola. It was at this moment that God decided to bring me to my knees. Just as we were passing by, Mikola pointed to an area behind the church gate that contained a small mat and a ragged blanket. At this point I was almost in tears. As I looked over at the old mat and blanket, God reminded me of something that up to that moment had completely slipped my mind.

            The previous day we had visited a children's home that some fellow American missionaries ran. As a parting gift to us, they had blessed each one of us with a substantial monetary gift. For some completely odd reason I had taken the money back out of my bag and had placed it into my wallet right before we had left church that morning. I definitely had more than the few pennies in my pocket and now realized what it was that God wanted me to do.

            I wish that I could say that the next step was easy for me. I mean only a few hours previously, I had been speaking about giving God everything and now I was struggling with giving away some money that I had barely even touched. I also realized that there was one problem. The money that I had in my wallet was in USD (U.S. Dollar) and not in Ukrainian currency. I thought to myself that if God really wanted me to give it away he would have figured out a way to exchange it... and then I turned around. I seriously wonder now if God had that day in mind when he placed the money exchange shop about ten feet from the gate of the church. 

            After quickly exchanging the money I asked Lindsay Blessing, a friend and member of the family that we were staying with, to translate for me and walked over to Mikola. I asked her to tell him that I just wanted to show him more of God's love and placed the money into his hat. Instantly we were enveloped into a hug as he told me with tears in his eyes that "I have been through two wars and did not cry, but I am crying today." I am not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears as well that day. 

            I am not writing this blog to share with you that I did something great. I just wanted to share a small story about how God used me to bless someone and hold ultimately I was blessed by it as well. As I wrote in my testimony only a few hours earlier, it was not until I chose to give God everything that he could use me and that is exactly what he did.

            Last month in Ukraine I was able to share a small part of my testimony with our local church. As I began to try to figure out what I would share, I began to think back on my journey with God over the last two years. As you could not have been at that church service, I would like to share a little bit about what I spoke with you now as a blog. This is not an exact word-for-word account; it is simply the notes that I used when I gave the testimony.

            "Today I would like to share with you a little bit about what God is doing in my life. It has been a journey that began a little over two years ago. After serving more than 10 months with the United States Army, I came home from Iraq in March of 2010. It was at this point in my life that I told God that I didn't want to leave the country again. My plans were to finish up university, find a job as a youth pastor, and get on with life. As you can tell, God has other plans. 

            After months of looking for another job, I found out about The World Race. Through a long list of circumstances, I final gave in to the fact that God was calling me to go on it. Following this call has been one of the best decisions of my life. This was but the first of many steps in which God has used to shape my life and bring me even closer to Him. 

            You see, at this point in my life I really believed that I was giving God my life. I had gone to university to study the Bible. I was even planning to serve God by being in ministry. Looking back, I wanted to serve God, but only on my own terms. I seemed to be trying to cut a deal with Him. Yes, I would love to preach the Gospel but only in America. I was trying to be a Christian without giving God total control of my life. 

            As I said before, signing up for The World Race was the first step for me totally giving my life to God. I was finally asking God to use me however He wanted to. The great thing about it is that is exactly what He began to do. At home, I was only getting a chance to preach or teach once in a while. On The World Race, we spent our first three months in Africa. The main thing that we did there was preach. We would preach every Sunday morning at church. We would visit houses during the week and share the Gospel with people almost every day. It wasn't until I surrendered to do anything that God was able to fully use me. 

            This past November God continued to call me along on my journey. Our squad changed teams around, left Africa, and headed for Asia. I soon found out that we would be spending three weeks at an orphanage in the Philippines. Up to this point in the Race I had been doing a great deal of preaching. This is what I had gone to university for and had felt God calling me to do but He also needed to open my eyes a bit wider. It was not my job to preach at the orphanage. The children didn't care if I could tell them about the life of Job or which of Paul's Epistles were written from a prison cell. All that they needed was for me to share God's love with them and so that is what I did. It is amazing how much about love you can learn from children who have barely seen it at all before. I met two little girls who literally melted my heart and God used them in amazing ways to show what God's love really is.

            God continued to show me more about His love last month in China. Our team spent the month at a special needs orphanage. Once again He gave me two little girls to love on. One day we got to take them out to eat and as a typical American I chose McDonald's. Just seeing the complete joy on their faces reminded me of how much God loves us and is taking care of us. 

            Right after our time in The Philippines, we spent a month in Thailand. This was a month where God really had to continue to show me that I had to completely trust Him. All of them men from our squad were placed on a farm where we harvested tapioca. In America I live in a city and have never farmed in my life. To be stuck in a field for a month and not preaching or loving on people was very difficult. I began to ask God about why we were there. I had told God that I was giving Him all of me, but was that really what I wanted? It was not until later on that I would understand the impact that we were having on people just by working in a field. We were once again showing God's love to people who would not have listened to a single word about Christ. By working in the fields along side them, we were helping to change how they viewed Christians and ultimately Christ. Once again God knew exactly where and what He wanted to do with my life. 

Please read Proverbs 21:3. "To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.." Also please read 1 Samuel 15:22. "But Samuel replied: Does the Lord delight in burnt offering and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice." 

            Both of these verses help to show what God wants from our lives. Many times we put offering and sacrifices before obeying the Lord. As I have said before, I have done this many times in my life. I went to Bible College. I have spent my entire life in Church. I was going to be a pastor and everything that goes with that. But these were just sacrifices I was making and not totally giving God everything in my life. I had made my own plans and I was not fully obeying the Lord. It wasn't until I had gone all in and giving Him my entire life that He was able to use me for what He made me to be.

            You might have the same problem as me. Have you fully given your life to God and allowed Him to fully use you? I would like you to ask yourself that question. You are sitting here in Church right now. Many of you are hear every single week. Some of you might have Bible studies at your home every Thursday night. You might even be a Deacon in the Church and have great responsibility. But if you haven't given God all of you then you might be missing out on so much more. All of the sacrifices that you and I make will mean nothing if we aren't fully obeying the Lord and allowing Him to fully control our lives."

            Life can be extremely funny at times. There are days when a person can think or feel something that they literally thought would never happen in a million years. For me, yesterday was one of those days. For the first time in my life I felt like I was a daddy.

            It began yesterday when my teammate Megan and I took two of the girls from the orphanage to the mall for Dairy Queen and McDonalds. It can be quite difficult as they know very little English and I know even less Chinese. As you will see, however, it was an absolutely amazing experience. 

            After an exciting Chinese taxi ride that felt like I was in a Jason Bourne movie, we finally arrived safely at Dairy Queen. While Megan went up to the counter to order some ice cream, I found a table and sat down with the two girls. The moment that we sat down one of them began to take off her winter coat. As she has cerebral palsy, this can be quite a difficult task so she looked up at me pleading for help. As I began to slide her arms out of the coat I began to look around at all of the people sitting around us. Many of them were parents who were eating ice cream with their son or daughter. My mind immediately went back to the times when my own parents took me out for ice cream at Dairy Queen. It really broke my heart to realize that this was a moment that the two girls I was sitting with would never have. 

            It was at this moment a thought shot through my brain and pierced my heart to its very core. I was the one that the girl had looked to when she needed help getting her coat off. I was the one who had helped her and helped her walk through the parking lot and up the stairs. I was the one smiled every time she watched the elevator go up and down. I know that these things honestly do not mean much at all, but in that one small moment I felt like a dad. In all honesty, this makes me almost laugh just thinking about it. I am twenty- seven years old and I would have absolutely no idea how to truly be a father. I can barely even take care of myself. This moment in time has only given me a small glimpse into what that really does mean.

            A few short minutes later and I would get another small glimpse  As we finished up our Blizzard ice creams, I asked if the girls wanted McDonalds and their eyes widened. By the time I mentioned French fries and I thought they might take off sprinting. I don't think that I will ever forget the looks of pure joy from them as they bolted through the store with one of them almost dragging her walker behind her. I am always excited to get a double cheeseburger on the World Race but seeing the smiles on their faces was worth a thousand of them.

            This month in China we have the privilege of working at a special needs orphanage.  There are times when it has been quite difficult, but the children are pretty amazing.  Yesterday some members of our team were able to take four of the girls on a field trip to McDonalds.  I'm pretty sure that I might have been more excited about eating at McDonalds than they were. 

`As we arrived at McDonalds we were greeted by the stares of everyone around.  Apparently the sight of four Americans taking four Chinese children, two in wheelchairs, doesn't happen that often.  We quickly grabbed enough tables for all of us and then sent people up to order the food.  I honestly could not wait for it.  The Chinese food that we have at the orphanage really does not agree with me so a double cheeseburger, French fries, and a Coke seemed almost heavenly.  It only took a few minutes for the food to arrive at the table and for the real fun to begin.

            I began to scarf down my French fries when one of the girls began pointing to my double cheeseburger and then to the other girl that was sitting next to me.  Apparently we had not ordered them enough food and they wanted more.  Soon after, I reached for my Coke and realized that the two girls had taken it from right under my nose and I hadn't even noticed.  Seriously!?  I had wanted to go to McDonalds since we arrived in China and when I finally get to one I barely get anything to eat.  If you are reading this you might think that I sounded quite selfish then you are totally right.  As I sat there watching them eat my double cheeseburger and drink my Coke, I realized something extremely important. 

            I did not fly around the world and to China to eat McDonalds; I came to show some love to these amazing children at the orphanage.  If that takes watching two girls chow down on my McDonalds then it is really worth it in the end.  I can have McDonalds any day at home but this was a unique opportunity to show love to two girls that really do not see it that often.  A few minutes later I was able to order another cheeseburger and fries.  This time when the girls began to point fingers at my French fries, I was honestly glad to share with them.  In both instances the result was the same; the girls ate my food.  The major difference was where my heart was really at in the matter.  When I gave them my food the first time it was out of a sense of duty; the second was love.  It really is amazing what can happen at a McDonalds in China.  I'm lovin' it...

            I first began to write this blog back in December, just a few short days before my Army National Guard contract finally ended. Since then I have began to write another blog based on this one so I felt that I needed to add this blog as well.

When I lay down my guns and lift my hands,

Surrender to love and live again,

May this desert reach its end where my new life begins

When I lift down my guns and lift my hands

            As you might have noticed from my previous blogs, words have a huge impact on my life. Whether it be a song, a poem, or a quote, words really reach my soul and help me to understand and to shape how I think and ultimately believe. In that respect the song Lay Down My Guns by Sanctus Real has had an immense impact on my life.

            As many of you know I spent six years in the Army National Guard. The last twos years I have spent inactive as I have waited for those two final years of my contract to run out. My contract will end after eight years in four short days. 

            It has been almost a year and a half since I last wore a military uniform. In those eighteen months I have graduated college, worked at a pharmacy, and served as a missionary for almost five months on The World Race. However, I still feel some of the effects that serving in the infantry brought out. Please do not take this as a condemnation of the military. I consider having served overseas in the U.S. Army as one of my highest honors and would do it again in a heartbeat. It is just that serving has changed me in ways that I have only personally realized in the past few months. One of the most significant changes that I believe developed is that I lost some of my heart and ultimately my ability to give and receive love. 

            While this is a serious accusation against myself, I believe it to be true. Looking back I realized that I replaced love with other things such as duty, honor, and sacrifice. Once again, please do not get me wrong. These are all great things and we should all strive for them. The problem is that I believe that I began to place them about everything else. I would accomplish a task because it was my duty as a soldier to. I would sacrifice something because that is what I believed a soldier should do. In doing so, I began to cut love out of the equation and ultimately out of myself. Almost every "good" action I committed came from an ulterior motive and not out of love. This type of life is exactly what Paul is speaking against in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

He wrote " If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love I am nothing. If I have give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

            Now I do realize that the song Lay Down My Guns was written about coming back from war and I have already done that. I also realize that December 29^th is just a sentimental day because I'm writing this from Thailand and haven't put my uniform on since July of last year. But that das will be important for me as a reminder that do need to finally lay down my guns. It is through laying my own pride, honor, and duty and surrender to love that I can truly learn to live again and learn to truly love again.

            As a veteran of the Army National Guard and Iraq, I thought that I knew a great deal about sacrifice.  Please do not misunderstand me.  There are thousands of men and woman who have paid the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives for freedom and I believe that we should honor them for that.  What I am writing about, however, deals with the personal sacrifices that I ended up making and I do not believe they were really that much.

            I am not saying that my time in Iraq was a walk in the park.  There were days that were extremely difficult and nights that will be ingrained into my mind for the rest of my life.  I have realized that I still jump at the sound of a firework and can't understand what people say a little too much, but these are small sacrifices in comparison to what I have seen in the last year.

            This past year has really helped to shape and redefine the definition of what sacrifice really is.  Some might say that I have sacrificed a lot by quitting my job and travelling the world to share the Gospel message.  I have slept in a tent, gone months without a western toilet or real shower, and even spent time in a Ugandan hospital with malaria.  I believe that these small sacrifices pale to many of those that I have seen while on The World Race.

            In Africa, I met a number of pastors who literally paid to keep their small churches running out of their own pockets.  These same families gave up their own homes for a month so that we would have a comfortable place to stay.  It is extremely humbling to see an entire family crowded into a room smaller than my closet at home because they wanted to bless you by allowing you to sleep in their own beds.  I am immensely grateful for the sacrifices that each of these families made and continue to made to help spread the Gospel throughout Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

            While in Thailand and Cambodia, I have gotten to work with men and women who sacrificed their lives by moving literally across the country to preach the Gospel.  In Thailand I was able to work in a tapioca field and I helped pour cement to build an orphanage in Cambodia.  If it had not been for the immense sacrifices made by these amazing Christian men and women it would not have been possible. 

            Here in Malaysia I have had the privilege of serving with a pastor who has been literally beaten for Christ.  He has faced persecution for sharing the Gospel but he continues to share it with Indian families all around the country.  This past weekend I was struggling heavily to prepare a message for Sunday night due to exhaustion.  I then looked over and realized that the man standing next to me had been beaten and left for dead for preaching in this country, so a little exhaustion meant nothing.  It was definitely another humbling experience and I hope to one day have the same faith and courage to made that kind of sacrifice for the Kingdom.

            As you read this, please keep Christians from around the world constantly in your prayers.  In America we sometimes see having to wake up early for Sunday School or having to miss the beginning of a football game as a sacrifice but that truly is not the case.  True sacrifice is giving up all of you and everything you have to God and allowing him to do with you as he sees fit.  

            As I said in a previous blog, I really do believe that God has a sense of humor.  Much of the time I think that he gets a few laughs from my life.  This story began a week ago when our team visited a wonderful lady from our church's house for afternoon tea an some curry puffs.  After two cups of coffee, a cup of tea, and an exorbitant amount of curry puffs, I was a happy man.  Well, all the way up until the church service that night.

            As we began the service with some hymns and worship music, my stomach began to get extremely queasy.  I knew for a fact that the contents of my stomach wouldn't be staying there for very long.  The biggest problem was that my teammate Sabrina was going to share her testimony and I wanted to hear her speak so I began to pray.  I asked God to keep my stomach settled long enough to hear her.  The funny thing is that he gave me exactly what I asked for.  My stomach cleared up almost instantly and I was able to sit through the rest of worship and Sabrina's testimony.  Shortly after she finished, my stomach went back to queasy and I was soon keeling next to a toilet vomiting up the contents of my stomach.  When I mentioned all that had happened to Sabrina, she asked me why I hadn't just asked God to get rid of it completely.  Well, hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

            I wanted to share this story with you because it really does show the power that we have in prayer.  This is just one of a number of times where God has completely blown my mind when I have prayed.  Many times I believe that we don't expect God to answer when we actually pray.  I have seen God answer prayers literally as I say amen.

            This story leads right into a story that happened a number of months ago while I was ministering in Uganda.  Our pastor had taken us to a hospital where we spend a few hours praying for the sick people that were there.  In all honesty, it became extremely monotonous as we prayed over and over again.  The more that we prayed, the less I felt like God might actually do something.  I had also spent thirty hours in another clinic with malaria a few weeks previously so I really didn't feel like being there.  It was at this point that God showed up.

            As we made our way around the room we came to a mother with a very sick child. The mother told us through the pastor that the boy would just lay there.  It wouldn't take milk and really had not done anything for almost three days.  She asked us if we could pray for him.  My silent prayer went a little something like this.

            "Hey God.  I know that you are up there.  I'm kind of tired of praying over and over again right now.  If I'm really supposed to be here praying for these people it might be nice to see something actually happen.  This baby boy looks pretty bad so it would be cool if you would fix it.  Amen."  As you can tell it wasn't my most eloquent prayer ever.  Literally as I said "Amen" the baby looked up at me and started to cry.  As we left after another thirty minutes or so, the mother was finally able to feed the child.  I have no idea what happened after that but it just proved to me that we do have power in prayer.

            After three long days of travel from Cambodia to our new home in Kuala Krai, Malaysia, God blessed me with something completely unexpected and amazing.  As I was eating breakfast this morning, I began to look at a bookshelf and found something special; a copy of Our Daily Break from August 2004.  This might not seem very important but it was this same copy that I read over and over again during Basic Training almost eight years ago.

            As I turned the pages I found one devotional that I almost read every day during that time.  It was about Eric Liddell who was an Olympic Champion runner and a missionary to China.  He has had an immense influence on my life and is the reason that I cannot wait till next month when we arrive on Chinese soil.  In 1924, he refused to run the 100 meters on a Sunday because he believed that it was wrong to run on the Sabbath day.  Instead, he decided to run the 400 meters and set the World record in the event.  After many years of service to God, he eventually gave his life in a Japanese internment camp in China shortly before the end of WW2.  His life is a great testimony to us as he ran the race and eventually finished strong in his faith. 

            Eric Liddell was a great example to me of what it takes to finish the race.  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:224-27 that "Do you not know that in a race al the runners run, but only one receives the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." 

This passage has challenged me a lot over the years.  Not only am I on the World Race, but I am also on the race of life.  I hope to run this race so that one day I may receive that eternal crown that Paul talks about.  I challenge you to do the same.  

As I sat in my tent a few weeks ago working on another blog, something magical began to occur. The screensaver on my laptop began to play but I was to tired to move the few feet to shut it down  I am now extremely thankful that I did not. As I sat there, all of the pictures from the last five months began to appear on the screen. 

            I have looked through all of my pictures many times while on the World Race but this time was very different. Maybe it was just the way the screensaver was presenting the pictures but they seemed to come alive as they appeared on the screen. I saw a picture of me standing with some of the children in Rwanda. Then came a picture of my two favorite girls in the Philippines. A picture of the Nile River at sunset then covered the screen. One by one the photographs continued to fill the screen and fill me with emotion. I could remember when and where I took every one of them. Some made me burst out in laughter and some came close to bringing me to tears. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words but I believe they are much more than that.

            Each of the pictures that I have taken is completely unique to the world. No one else in history saw that exact moment in the same way that I did. Each one of the thousands of pictures that I have taken is a tiny view into my life that I always hope to remember.    

            I believe that God really does have a sense of humor. Last month I was having trouble with our ministry not being relational. This month our ministry is all about building relationships. My team is near the city of Kampot in Cambodia doing a number of different ministries. We are helping to build and orphanage, teaching English, and leading church activities. 

            The main activity that I worked on the first week was teaching English to children and young adults. I thought that I would love teaching but after only a few hours I wanted to rip my hair out. Well, if I actually had hair that is. It is interesting because I really do love the kids here. In fact, I was already playing football (soccer) with them not more than five minutes after stepping off of the van. I just felt completely overwhelmed standing in front of the class with literally no idea what I was doing. I would check my watch every few minutes watching time crawl slowly by until the end of each class. 

            The week crawled slowly by until Friday evening. On Friday, I was given the opportunity to preach at a youth group meeting and then again on Sunday morning. Getting to prepare and preach literally changed my entire week. Most of my experience in front of groups comes from preaching lessons that take me hours to prepare. I only had a few hours when I was not teaching English to write two twenty-minute sermons. As I walked up to the stage Friday night I was nervous and not sure how it would go. It was that I prayed and God showed up.

If you have ever seen me preach or teach then you know that I am no great orator. I stutter, misspeak, and generally have to check my notes every few words to make any sense. Many times throughout the World Race I have thought that I had misunderstood my calling or I began to think that my calling was outside the church. Friday night completely changed that. 

            As I began to speak, God completely took over and I began to speak with a voice that was not my own. I didn't stutter or misspeak and I barely had to check my notes at all. I was able to look at each teenager in the audience and tell them about how they can help to bring Cambodia to Christ. There was no huge altar call and no one accepted Christ but it was an amazing evening nonetheless. I felt at complete peace that I had preached the message that God wanted me to preach. This was totally different than the rest of the week where I felt no peace and wanted to rip what little hair I have out of my head.

            I know that I am currently where God wants me sitting here in a small village in Cambodia. This event, however, might be one of those small events that God is using to help shape my future. God sent me to Bible College and onto the World Race for a reason. After Friday I have no doubt that God has called me to preach the Gospel to those that need to hear it. It doesn't matter how unworthy I feel or how ineloquent I seem to be. If I am doing what God has called me to do he will equip me and speak through me just like he did this past Friday and Sunday. All that I have to do is step aside and let Him do the work inside me.