Finishing the Race in Missions | A Poem

Today on the blog, TEAM missionary David Weaver shares a page from his poetry collection with us. David and his wife, Joy, have served with TEAM in the Philippines since 1991, where they launched the Church Planting Institute (CPI) to equip Filipino believers for church planting in Asia. David is a gifted communicator and penned his poem “The Race” to express the unique endurance needed for a lifetime of ministry. 

As a missionary, I must always ask myself why do I do what I am doing?  I must have the right motivation if I am to run the race all the way to the end.

If I am a missionary to receive the praise of men, I will quit when my cheerleaders lose interest. If I serve because of the rewards in this life, I will become disillusioned. Even a personal sense of accomplishment is a hollow motive for serving.

I need to have a motivation beyond all of these, so that I can run with endurance without any external or internal encouragement. I must run believing that all the cheerleaders, rewards and “well done” are waiting for me when I get Home, and I’m not home yet.

THE RACE

The crowd, the gun, a thousand feet,
The cadence of my own heartbeat;
The pace, the pain, the lookers’ on,
The will to win urges me on.

The hill – breath, crowds are getting thin,
Legs answer to the call within:
Push up, churn on, keep up the pace;
Though others quit, finish the race.

The sun, concrete, two feet of lead;
Alone, I race within my head:
Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in again,
Race on to hear those cheers again.

The cheering crowd, the finish line,
I see them clearly in my mind.
My legs, detached, run on and on;
I reach the line.  The crowd is gone.

My heart and lungs cheer on their own,
Then fade, and I walk home alone.