Seth Barnes - My Epic Journey Driving from Virginia to Honduras

In my book, Kingdom Journeys, I talk about going on my own World Race. I was 22 years old when I started. It took three years, mostly in Indonesia and the DR. I started out single, married Karen and then the two of us took off for parts unknown together. Here's the story of the first leg of the journey.

It began after I graduated from Wheaton College in 1980.

I took a job with Opportunity Int'l. First assignment: Drive a donated yellow Vega from Virginia down to Honduras, meet Karen there and go through training. It sounded like an adventure! Off I went.

I decided to drive as far as I could without sleeping.

I stopped at the Mexico border and took an hour nap in the car before crossing into Mexico and making it as far as Veracruz. From there I drove to Palenque where I saw the incredible Mayan ruins.

Leaving Palenque, I discovered a spectacular jungle waterfall called Aguas Azules. Twenty-seven years later, I met the first World Race squad at Palenque and Aguas Azules.

Driving further south, I was amazed at the beauty of a river valley leading into Guatemala. On my one-week road trip, I picked up 11 hitchhikers. Here I picked up an 11 year-old boy. I remember asking him if he realized how beautiful his homeland was.

As I crossed the border into Honduras, the Vega began losing power. Soon, it was dying on me. It crawled along, but at long last, I made it into Tegucigalpa. And there was Karen waiting for me! She and I had just gotten engaged and were preparing to go to Indonesia.

It was an idyllic time.

And our first year of marriage in Indonesia was filled with adventures. Soon I was immersed in the world of microcredit - helping poor entrepreneurs start their dreams, create jobs and build the kingdom.

What I learned is that God has children around the earth - widows, orphans and those in need. He's looking for us to go and care for them. The first journey I took was just a first taste of a life where we get to run his errands knowing he will back us up. In contrast, the world offers us a boring life focused primarily on meeting our own needs.