Justin the Nomad

Randy’s June 2009 Update

Where In The World Is Justin?

 

 

Justin Vorel, age 28, considers himself a nomad.

 

 

 

He spent two years in Afghanistan.

Two years in Taiwan.

And he spent a year riding his bicycle from Oklahoma to the southern tip of Chile (approximately 12,000 miles).  My butt hurts just thinking about it!

 

Then he ventured to cold and snowy Chicago, where his internal world and external life began to unravel.  Welcome to Chicago, Justin! ☺

 

“Too much road is not good for the soul.  I lost part of myself out there.  I lost part of my heart.  I am now seeking to put all those exiled pieces together.” –  Justin

 

 

Justin heard about me from a number of random people he met.

“All roads led to Randy”, he joked after we started meeting.

 

Where Do We Go From Here?

“Having my world fall down around me left me reeling for a life line.

“I didn’t know what it was that I was looking for, but I knew that I hurt really bad.

“I wanted to run away, but I knew from experience that the problems would only follow me.  There is a difference between running away and living the nomadic life.

“So I humbled myself and I did something that I have not done in a long time – I asked for help.

“I asked for others to walk with me.  I can honestly say, for one of the first times in my life, my heart found a home in my body.

“It started out by opening up my heart to a few acquaintances.

“These acquaintances mentioned Randy’s name, so I gave him a call.  We set up a time to meet.

“I didn’t know which direction we would go in, but one thing I knew is that no one could be as desperate as I was.

“I really threw myself into the reading and doing the heart work.

“You see, I had been in ministry for ten years, doing missions and having traveled to 28 different countries.

“I had the ‘doing’ and ‘going’ down really well, but I did not have the ‘being a child of God’ down at all.

“I was striving to be so many things that I was not.  My identity was so wrapped up in the externals.

“In my striving, I starved my soul.

“It was not until I said that I am lost could I be found.

“In my time with Randy I really grew.  I started the process of discovering parts of my heart that I did not know existed.

“In my discovery process, I realized that part of my problem was my inability to receive love – I was not allowing myself to be loved and accepted.

 

“I sought God and began discovering the ways I am loved.

“I began surrendering to that love and truly experiencing it.

“In just three months, I learned so much in my meetings with Randy.

“I still have a nomad’s heart.  Yet, I have learned over the last months that I must journey from a healthy place.  Running away, striving to be what I’m not, is not being true to myself.

 

“I know that the Lord is calling me to take steps to go back overseas.

“I believe next time will be different, because my heart is so radically changed.

 

“I know that I am loved and accepted, not because of what I ‘do’ or that I ‘go’, but because of I am lovely and deeply loved, as Christ demonstrated by dying on the cross for me.

“I am holding on to the truth that I do not have to ‘do’ anything to be me.  All I have to do is ‘be’.  I just have to abide in Christ and open up my heart to God and to others.

“To surrender is to find oneness.

“To know myself, I can only be known as I know the Maker.  To find the Maker, I must surrender from playing the game and trying to pretend to be the mask before me.

“I feel like during my time in Chicago, I was given the tools to leading a victorious life.” –  Justin Vorel

 

Where YOU made a difference:

I believe Justin has embarked on a worthwhile journey – one more challenging than biking 12,000 miles.

While he was briefly here in Chicago, I witnessed God doing some loving work in him that I envision being carried to hundreds of people from many far off lands.

I’m convinced Justin will do ministry in the future differently than he did in the past.  I believe in more loving, healthy, and sustainable ways.

We may not all be nomads.  It’s nice having the privilege to invest in one, who will go for us.

Thanks so much for making this possible.  I couldn’t have met with Justin if it wasn’t for your financial support and prayers.

 

Where Can I Find Out More About Justin’s Adventures?

If you’d like to follow Justin’s journey or read more about his past, check out his personal blog (which includes his bike trip) at http://thenomadlife.blogspot.com and his Afghani blog at http://nomadincentralasia.blogspot.com

(Note: All the photos in this Update were taken by Justin.  He’s an amazing photographer among his other many talents.)

In His Love,
Randy