Blog Change

Now that I am going on the World Race, my blog site has changed:

patrickdoty.theworldrace.org

What's a Comfort Zone?

I've never gone this long without sleeping before! 

Ever since my decision to fully commit to going on The World Race, I haven't been able to sleep. My mind continues to run like crazy! All I can think about are the people that I am going to meet around the world who desperately need Christ. All I can think about are the heartbreaks that I will encounter around the world. All I can think about are the adventures that are to be had. The excitement of developing new followers of Christ. The humility of feeding an orphan. The fear of combatting human trafficking. The daunting task of raising $15,000.

I won't even recognize a comfort zone.

Beginning in January, I will serve as a missionary to 11 different countries for 11 months through a program called The World Race. Through adventure, ministry, community, and self-discovery, World Racers develop broken hearts that propel their hands to act for God’s kingdom around the globe. On the World Race, my team and I will serve in partnership with churches, missionaries, and ministries in local communities to preach and teach the Gospel, plant churches, work in orphanages, minister to women and children who are trapped in prostitution as a result of human trafficking, and bring the restoration and hope of the Father’s love to many tribes and nations.

I am so grateful for this opportunity that God has given me and I have every confidence that He will provide for my needs! Ultimately, my prayer is that He will do that through you. I don't have my blog and support site set up yet. Hopefully I will have it up and running this week. While I am preparing my site, I hope that you will take the time to prayerfully consider helping me through this journey.  Also be on the lookout for some exciting events that I will be planning in order to help raise support. One of them coming up soon will be the Amazing Race: Springfield Edition. Be sure to find a teammate and start preparing for an awesome race!

I am so excited to see how God will move in my life and in the lives of others in the coming year. I hope to not only to be a blessing to those I serve, but also to you. I would be honored to go as your representative to bring Jesus Christ to nations around the world. I want to thank you in advance for your prayers and financial support.  May God bless you as you prayerfully consider partnering with me in this ministry.

I hope you enjoy this video that will show you a little bit about what I will be doing for the next year. 

BIG News!

It's official.

I am going on the World Race!

January 2013

More info coming soon, but here is my prayer card. Please be praying for me as I prepare to raise financial support and spiritually prepare for this journey, because millions of people from 11 different countries will be depending on me to introduce them to the savior of the world!

On Top of the World

A couple days ago, I embarked on a incredible adventure! I climbed the alpines of Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe.. Many people make this climb...during summer. I did it in winter, when it was full of snow. This means that I had to learn how to use crampons (metal pikes that you attach to your boots) and ice picks. It is an understatement to say that it was the hardest thing I have EVER done. I won't go into details about everything, but I fell down a certain slope for about 30 seconds (felt like hours), partially fell into a snow cave, and to top it all off, because this is a recently very active volcano, I experienced two earthquakes. Even though, it was the most amazing thing I have ever done. The views and experience was absolutely spectacular, even if I couldn't move the next day.

This 11-hour climb really made me think about what I am facing right now. If you read my last couple of posts, there is a major decision that I am trying to make, and it looks like the hardest climb up a mountain that I could take. But I realized that if God really wants me to do this, He will help me through it. That doesn't mean that it will be easy, just like climbing the mountain wasn't easy, but the end result would be something that I can't even imagine.

I am praying about going on the World Race.

Most of you probably know about this program, because we know some people that have gone, or are going. For those of you who have not heard of the World Race:

The World Race is an 11-month trip around the world, to 11 different countries, spending 1 month in each country. While in these countries, participants involve themselves in various ministries with missionaries in those countries. Churches, refugee camps, orphanages, feeding stations, community outreach, etc.

I know that this would be a heck of a climb, with a lot more than two earthquakes and a few slips. That's why I am so dedicated to praying about this decision, and I hope that you can pray with me as well. Like I said in my last post, going on this race, in a lot of ways, doesn't make sense.

 However, I think i'm finally learning to let God make the decisions for me, and trust Him through the midst of them.

Post Script: For you other LOTR fans, I'm standing (well, jumping) at the opposite side of Mt. Doom that Frodo and Sam are walking towards in this picture.

Faith in the Impractical

I don't have much to update, but I had such an amazing devotion this morning that I HAD to share it with you!

If you read my last post, you know that I am praying about a major decision that I am facing. It's major because everything about it screams impractical.

My thoughts:

It doesn't make sense. It's not a good financial decision.
It doesn't make sense. It takes too much time.
It doesn't make sense. It's too difficult.
It doesn't make sense. It's not what i've been preparing for.
It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense.

Abel's thoughts:

It doesn't make sense. I'll sacrifice my best.

Noah's thoughts:

It doesn't make sense. I'll build it.

Abraham's thoughts:

It doesn't make sense. I'll go.
It doesn't make sense. I'll offer my son.

Sarah's thoughts:

It doesn't make sense. I'll conceive.

Moses' thoughts:

It doesn't make sense. I'll lead them.

Joshua's thoughts:

It doesn't make sense. The walls of Jericho will fall.

Rahab's thoughts:

It doesn't make sense. I will welcome them.

Thoughts of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel:

It doesn't make sense. I will conquer kingdoms. I will enforce justice. I will obtain promises. I will stop the mouth of lions. I will quench the power of fire. I will escape the sword. I will be strong. I will be mighty in war.

God calls us to have faith in the impractical moments of our life.

I haven't made a complete decision yet, but I'm having faith that if God does call me to go on this journey, that I will have faith even amidst the impracticality.

A Relentless Rain

I know it's been a while since I have posted. I apologize for that, but it's been a while since I have actually been well enough to sit down and write. There was about two weeks where I was fighting sickness. Nothing extremely serious, just a mix of the flu, altitude, and an allergic reaction to a mineral in a natural hot water pool. After finally overcoming the flu and my allergic reaction, there was about a week where I was completely incoherent. It was quite frustrating spending all day every day being extremely dizzy and very confused.

Thanks to many of your prayers I am almost back to normal.

It's the rainy season here in New Zealand. I remember one particular day, when the rain was relentless. It was consistently pouring all day. As I was watching the rain, it made me think of how relentless God is when it comes to Him desiring us to follow Him daily. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend my whole life fighting God's will for my life. I know He won't give up, and I don't want to wake up every morning feeling ashamed and embarrassed for not having enough courage to take a step of faith and follow Him.

To be honest with you, it's been a difficult time here in New Zealand. I don't have a solid plan for when I return back the United States. I've looked into grad school. I've looked into working and teaching abroad. I've looked into various jobs. Nothing seems right. I can't seem to find a peace about any of those things. Unfortunately, i've given Satan access to my mind. It's been consuming my thoughts so much that i've completely ignored the one thing that can orchestrate my future: God.

I spend this morning reading, over and over, Proverbs 3:6.

"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths"

I've reached a transitional point in my life. Up until now, it's been easy to live out that verse. It's been easy because I have had a clear understanding of the path that God wanted me to be on. Now, I have reached the dead end. The path that I have been on for the last 22 years is finally ending. There's a new path that I am about to embark on. God is definitely 'making straight my path', and what makes it difficult is that it's going to require me to sacrifice more than I ever have before.

You see, we all read Proverbs 3:6 and apply the principle to our life, but we don't always seem to get a clear understanding of what path God wants us on. Maybe that's because we don't continue reading, and we skip over the principle found in Proverbs 3:9.

"Honor the Lord with your wealth..."

God will ALWAYS want us on a path that forsakes the values of the world. In order for God to make straight our paths, we have to give up everything. Remember that at the moment of salvation, we surrendered to life abandonment.

Maybe these are just the thoughts of a ramblin' man, but they make sense to me!

I ask that you pray with me this next week. I have dedicated a week to some serious prayer over a decision that I am considering making. This decision would mean giving up everything, and more, to embark on a particular journey. Please spend a week seriously praying that I can make the decision that God wants me to make. Please spend a week seriously praying for yourself as well. Pray that you would be open to God's strongest desires for your life!

Let's be a generation that's known for a strong faith. A generation that's known for Christ, and not the world. HE is coming, I promise you that. What are we doing to prepare for His return?

 

Haka What?

"She'll be right, mate": A kiwi phrase meaning that everything will be okay; also used in the context of meaning that you don't want to put in the effort.

Example:

"I haven't heard from my friend in a while, I wonder if he is OK?" "Ah, she'll be right, mate."
"I'm thinking we might want to put some more gib on the wall there." "Nah, just throw some of that over there and she'll be right, mate."

It's been a busy busy week! My time has mostly been consumed with tearing down an exterior wall to the church building, and rebuilding it with steel. It makes it difficult when the guys you are working with all call their tools different names than they do in the States. The cool thing about working with these guys is that they aren't Christian. These guys are actually Corrections workers tryings to work off some community service hours, meaning that we constantly have the opportunity to share our love of Jesus Christ with them. Since this building project is pretty major, I haven't been able to get off the property this past week, so when I received an invitation to have dinner at someone's house, I definitely didn't want to resist!

I had the privilege of having dinner over at a woman named Esther's house. Esther recently was paralyzed after a surgery that was necessary for her to have in order to survive. Esther is of a Samoan descent, so communication was a little difficult at times, but we talked for hours. She had such an amazing spirit an attitude despite of her condition. A Maori (indigenous New Zealand people) fellow named Steve cooked the dinner, which was fantastic! I was about to die though because there was so much food on my plate. After I finished my food, they brought me fruit. Then, a HUGE bowl of ice cream. After the ice cream, six cookies and a coffee. While I was suffering through eating so much, Steve and the boys performed a Haka for me. It was quite intimidating! Here is a video of what the Maori Haka is:

After the Haka and singing some songs, everybody in the room went around and gave me a speech. Even though it was a little awkward for me, it was an amazing experience. Esther's mother, whom everyone calls Nana doesn't speak English. So, she gave her speech in Samoan, and Esther translated. It's hard to describe accurately, but it was such a surreal experience. They were all so blessed and grateful for my acceptance of their invitation, but it was truly me who was blessed to have been a part of such an incredible night. Leaving, they kissed me goodbye and all asked me (repeatedly) to tell my friend and family about them. I'm not sure why, but I agreed :)

When talking with people back home, one of the things they always ask me is "What are the people like, there?"

Well, since I don't do a good job describing people, I thought I would just show you! These are videos of two islanders that call themselves Laughing Samoans. These guys are hilarious...and I am NOT exaggerating when I tell you that this is exactly how the islanders here act like. You have to be careful to believe what they say sometimes, and definitely have to be careful to not laugh at their accents and sayings  :)