14 people, 1 floor, 3 rooms, 1 bathroom, 1 couch, 20 clothes lines filled with everyone’s wash, thin walls, and a lack of personal space. Welcome to the World Race! 

 Ok, so jokes aside our first two weeks in Colombia have been AWESOME. Not perfect, but awesome. Every day I wake up thankful that I get to go on this rad adventure with these incredible individuals. Which is saying something because I literally spend all day with 13 other people lol. We eat together, we wait for the bathroom together, we share the limited wifi together, we work out together, we adventure together, we do ministry together, we laugh together, we keep each other accountable to the goals and attitude God has called us to for this trip, and etc. 

 When we pulled up to our first ministry/living location I couldn’t have been more excited. We previously had no idea where the church was located and as we were driving up the mountain I assumed we would be driving back down the other side. Surely our host didn’t live on the top of this mountain with this stunning view… that would just be too good. I literally found myself wishing we would have this spectacular view to look at every day. Then the van pulled over and sure enough, our first stop on this world race journey includes an adorable little church that overlooks the entire city of Medellin! GOD IS SO COOL!

 These two weeks have included dancing, practicing skits, throwing a children’s program in the street, meeting other pastors and church members in the area, leading worship, preaching, evangelism, sharing our testimonies with anyone who will listen, spending time with our amazing hosts, and doing anything the Holy Spirit lays on our hearts to do. 

But that isn’t what this blog is about. 

 If you noticed, I titled this blog “community” living as opposed to “communal” living, and that’s because it has been the community aspect that is actively changing my life two weeks into this trip. To me, communal living is simply living with a bunch of different people in the same space, while community living is doing life with fellow believers who are committed to spiritual growth and building the Kingdom of God each and every day. 

 Before I was introduced to the World Race culture I joked by saying “community” is one of the most overused words among World Racers. It seemed like every blog I read, every video I watched, and every alumni I talked to used the word community like they were married to it. The funny thing is, they are married to it. See, to those who have experienced a healthy church community understand that it is more than a word that rolls off the tongue. It’s a culture. I’ll even go a step further and say that it is the culture of the Kingdom. 

Now, I was going to type out a few paragraphs defining community and what I mean by it being the culture of the Kingdom; however, I’m already closing in on 500 words for this blog! So instead I’ll put it this way. Having people around you who love God with all their heart, who are equally as passionate about seeking God as they are serving God, who are 100% for you, who want you to be the person God has called you to be, who are committed to accountability, and who are all about creating a culture that honors God is INCREDIBLE! 

 Through this community, God has grown me, challenged me, revealed hidden things that hold me down, given me space to experience Him in a new/fresh way, and has allowed me to taste what I believe heaven is going to look like here on earth. This might sound dramatic, but if you’ve ever experienced true “community living," true “Kingdom community living," then you know what I’m talking about :) 

And if you haven’t, please ask and let God lead you into a growing and thriving community that reflects the culture of the Kingdom!