I came home from the World Race almost a year ago. Even typing that feels weird – if the Race is a time warp, re-entry is the same. It’s hard to believe that a year ago I was in Honduras, working with one of my favorite ministry partners of the entire trip, playing Settlers of Catan in the evenings with my teammates, and living a season of life that I didn’t want to end. When I look back sometimes I have to remind myself that it was real.
When I got home, there were two questions I was asked the most often. The first, unsurprisingly, was “how was your trip?” The second, equally as complicated to answer, was “What are you going to do next?” A career? More travel? Full-time ministry? Everyone wanted to know what the next thing was.
The more I think about it, the more I find that the obsession with what we’re “going to do next” is a very American thing. As soon as they can talk, we ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. We insist that high school students who still have to raise their hand to use the bathroom decide what they want to do with the rest of their life and make a huge financial investment to do so. There’s still a stigma against people who choose not to go to college, and we still mock the soul-searching undertaken by millennials who have enough criticism thrown at them.
But at the end of the day, what I want to do is nowhere near as important as who I want to be.
And that’s where CGA comes in. When I first decided to go on the World Race, I thought that I would do my eleven-month trip, and then return to “ordinary life” – an apartment, church involvement, and a job in corporate America. Early on in the Race I realized that this would no longer be possible – there was no way I could go through a life-changing experience like this and expect to return to life as it was before. It opened my eyes to both a broken world and God’s incredible power.
At the moment, I don’t know if I’m called to full-time ministry or not, but either way I want to be prepared to further the Kingdom of God wherever he puts me. I want to learn how to better disciple people and live the “missional life” every day. CGA will be my next step in accomplishing this.
CGA stands for “Center for Global Action,” and is a second-year program for World Race alumni. The goal of CGA is to equip my generation to live out what God has called us to – to “go into all the world” and preach the gospel, whether “all the world” includes another country, full-time ministry, or a career here in the US.
I’ll be moving to Gainesville, Georgia in October with about 30 other “CGA apprentices,” as we’re called. We’ll be in classes Monday through Friday and have a part-time job in our community to put what we’re learning into practice. The Fall cohort will be split into two “tracks” (majors, if you will), Leadership and Worship.
I’m in Leadership Track, which I chose for a few specific reasons:
Leadership Track will challenge me more. Worship is something I naturally incline myself towards, and while choosing the latter would make sense, I have more to learn from Leadership Track and that the unfamiliar territory will provide an environment in which I can grow in a way I wouldn’t otherwise
I want to Squad Lead or lead an Adventures trip in some capacity. Leadership Track will help prepare me for this specifically.
All AIM programs aside, Leadership will be the track that helps me most in my future plans and whatever I end up called to.
I genuinely feel that God is calling me specifically to leadership. This isn’t something I can quantify on paper with an aptitude test or some other proof, but it’s equally as important as the rest
Do you need to fundraise again like you did for the Race?
Yes. I have to raise $5,950 to be fully funded for CGA. This covers my tuition, course materials, and housing. You can donate by clicking on “Send me to CGA” on the left of the page, or contact me for more information.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them!
