Carrying the Baton 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2

This morning as I overlook the dock where I run, I imagine two people headed in the same direction, running side-by-side, each holding onto an end of the baton between them. This image was vividly placed in my mind yesterday by a sweet new sister-in-Christ as we sat in the very chairs in which I am sitting right now.

These first few weeks onboard the Mercy Ship have passed so quickly. Just as in any new environment, it has taken a little time to get oriented. It took time to navigate the ship, to commit mealtimes to memory, and to figure out the ins and outs of “ship life”. It took time to figure out how to be a nurse here, how to effectively work alongside our local crew and how to communicate love across the language barrier. It took time to settle into any sort of a routine here and to choose the activities in which I should invest my time. Hardest of all it has taken time to find quiet spaces on the ship and to be diligent in seeking those times to be alone with God. 

In the midst of all of this, God has also been at work in beginning and building new friendships. 

Throughout the past four years, I am thankful for the seasons that God has taken me through to draw me nearer to Him. With each new season, and especially each geographic change in location, I have grown more and more comfortable with the unknown, and particularly the unknown of the community that I will surrounded by… or if I will be surrounded by a community at all. Coming to the Mercy Ship was no different for me and truly, the community that I would be surrounded by or rather the community that I would join, wasn’t something that I had given much thought to in the midst of the many other factors involved in this journey. 

Even in typing this out, the fact that I hadn’t thought much about community makes me laugh a little bit because it was quickly evident that this ship is nearly all about community. I have heard it referred to as “this box we live in” or “the sardine can” many times since I have been onboard and I can say that those descriptors are quite accurate. Think back to when you were in high school or college, or even in your work place, and how often you passed the same person each day. Now think about what it would be like to live in your high school, in one building on your college campus or in your work space. That’s what it’s like here. Perhaps now you understand why finding a quiet space and diligence in seeking time alone tends to be much more difficult than it sounds through written words! 

As obvious as the aspect of community is to me now, it just simply wasn’t something that consumed my thoughts before coming to the ship. With the many times that I have relocated throughout the past few years, I have stopped being so concerned about the community that I may or may not walk into because I have found great comfort in knowing that wherever I go, I am going with God and that all things will fall in place according to His will. So whether I am without a community, within a body of believers, or within a community of non-believers, I know that He is at work for my good and His glory. 

So here I am today, three and a half weeks into my journey onboard the Mercy Ship, to which I came without an expectation of a community, and God, being God, has simply overwhelmed me in the realm of community. As you can likely imagine, I have met a lot of people in this “sardine can” throughout the first few weeks here and that in itself has been such a beautiful thing. It’s amazing to see the many people that God has brought onboard from various cultures, through various circumstances, along different paths and for different reasons, but it doesn’t stop there. 

In a place where there are a lot of people with good intentions and good hearts, God has brought me alongside various people who have God-centered intentions and God-fearing hearts. Within this good-hearted community, God has blessed me with God loving brethren. 

For the first time in a long time, God has given me an opportunity to be physically present in a consistent body of Christ. He has given me the opportunity to walk daily with new brothers and sisters in Christ. He has given us the opportunity to run this piece of the race together. 

As my friend and I were sitting on the top deck of the ship, overlooking the dock on which I often run, she brought to light the reality of the race that we are running here.

“It’s like we’re running this race together and one day, one of us is going to have to let go of the baton.” 

Unannounced and unexpectedly, a tear streamed down my cheek. 

She was right. One day, one of us will physically let go of the baton that we are carrying here when our current commitments come to an end. But that’s not all that her relay visual brought to light. God has given us a spot in the race AND God has allowed us to run this portion of the race together, along with our other brothers and sisters here.  

God could’ve waited to bring this God-fearing community together on the ship. He could’ve made it happen this week or next. He could’ve waited until our last month or weeks onboard. Believe it or not, we could’ve gone our whole commitments without truly, intimately getting to know each other at all. But that’s not the case. In fact, God started forming my personal community here when I was sitting in the Paris Airport, awaiting my last leg of my journey to the ship and He has continuously built it up from there. What an absolute blessing. 

For a girl who came here with no expectations in a community, this has been overwhelming. It has taken me back to my deployment with Samaritan’s Purse disaster response team and has once again reminded me of what it is to look like to live within the body of Christ. He has reminded me of what it looks like to build each other up in Christ. He has shown me what it looks like for iron to sharpen iron, yet again, as He is sharpening me in a new way. He has filled my heart with joy in showing me once again, what it looks like to mourn together and to rejoice together, to praise together and to pray together. Most of all, He has ignited a spark in my heart to see the effectiveness of Christ that I have witnessed when the body is united in this way. 

The morning after my friend had brought this image of the race into my mind, I was on a run with one of my other beautiful sisters here. After a deeply rooted conversation, we began to pray while we ran. Immediately, the wind picked up making it difficult to hear. We began swerving in and out of people and cars as we entered a busier area of town. We were ducking under the limbs of trees and doing our best not to step in the piles and puddles of things that you wouldn’t necessarily want covering your shoes. At times we ran side by side, and other times single-filed to squeeze our way through. At times we slowed our pace and in other instances we sped up to pass a walking pedestrian. 

Though I couldn’t hear every word of my friends prayer, it was as though God was so clearly showing me the reality of this race that we are running with the body of Christ on this ship. 

There will be distractions. There will be times when we would be side-by-side carrying the baton and other times when one or the other will need to take the lead, like the point of a spear. There will be things that we will need to duck under, swerve around, or dodge completely. There will be times when we need to carefully watch our step. There will be times to speed up the pace, times to slow down and even moments to pause, but we are never to stop running forward. We are never to stop running towards Christ and our communication to the Lord is not to stop. Regardless of what comes our way during our individual stents on the ship, we are not to stop talking to God. We are to be fervent in prayer. We are to pray without ceasing.  

My friend was right. One day, one of us will let go of the baton. In fact, all of us will let go of the baton at some point. All of our commitments here will come to an end, but this team of runners for Christ is a revolving door and a team that only God could bring together in His perfect timing. 

The tear that rolled down my cheek wasn’t a tear of sorrow for the day when my friend will let go of the baton, when another friend will complete their segment of the relay, nor the day that the baton will be released from my grip. It was a tear of thankfulness. It was a tear of gratefulness that God has given me a role in the race here and that He has brought together a team to run the relay. It was a tear to mark my promise to God that I would not take a moment of this race for granted. 

God has brought me here at this exact moment in time and God has led my new brothers and sisters in Christ here as well. Who’s to say that it isn’t all for such a time as this. He has given us an opportunity to run this race together, with our eyes set upon Him; the King of kings and Lord of lords. Our mission here is not simply physical healing for the patients in the hospital. No. It is much more than that. The physical healing is a beautiful thing. It’s amazing to witness physical transformation and it surely brings about great joy. 

But the finish line is not physical healing for all. This is not what our eyes are to be completely focused upon. Our eyes are to be focused upon nothing other than the cross of Christ. Our hearts are burdened to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. The race that we are running is not a race of this world. It is a race for the Kingdom of God that is taking place in this world.

I want to encourage you to look around today. Who has God brought alongside you in this season? Who are you running this race with? Who is holding the other end of the baton? 

I’m not talking about your next door neighbor, your barista or your coworkers. It could be some of those people, but I want you to stop for a moment and consider the brothers and sisters in Christ that God has given you as teammates for this segment of the relay. Don’t take any of it for granted. Give thanks to God that He has allowed you to carry the baton labeled with the name of Christ in the place where He has led you to be, praise Him for giving you a team to run this race alongside, and when the distractions grow heavy, be reminded to keep your eyes upon the cross of Christ.  

What a good, good God we serve. 

With so much love, 

Your sister in Christ