From small-town farm boy to big-time racecar driver, David Richert says that even while on the road he finds himself in church on Sundays.

When Richert was 20 years old, he caught the racing bug while watching TV. The Manitoba farm boy headed down to Indianapolis to watch a go-carting, a day he remembers well 18 years later.

"I remember being on the upper deck, looking down at the cars going by and I thought it would be a lot more fun for me driving rather than watching," Richert says. I think it was that coupled with the fact everyone told me it would be impossible for a farm kid from Manitoba to do that."

Being told he could not do it gave the racer the "extra drive" to try.

Deciding to take the leap and buy a go-cart, Richert began racing in Manitoba.

"I started racing with the Manitoba Carting Association. They raced up in Gimli and I just purchased a go-cart and got my feet wet that way. I advanced pretty quickly." 

Proving to have promise, his lucky break came from a car manufacturer, but most importantly Richert says he has a supportive community around him.

"I had a group of people who invested a lot of their hard-earned money into my racing venture."

Seeing quick successes, the race was on.

Richert's drive to race continues almost two decades later but his success continues to be closely followed by his faith. The driver, stepping out of his comfort zone, relied on his faith.

"Once you step out of your comfort zone you can no longer rely on what is familiar to you, that is where you see what God has in store for you. And it is not for you to be the best racecar driver in the world, it is how He is going to change you as a person."

Richert says that for a while it was tough to travel and work across the pond, but he is thankful to be racing again. 

Finding churches where ever he goes, Richert is enjoying learning about how other countries do church.

"I found it does not really matter if you are doing something in Winnipeg in Canada or in Cologne, Germany or in Poznań, Poland, there is an international church community that you can tie into if you would like to do that."

Churches in Poland is a particularly interesting experience for Richert, as that is where his wife is from. The racer says he and his wife were married in Poland as well as Canada.

"Poland is very much based on the Catholic church and maybe a different way than I was used to in North America. It was eye-opening to see North-American worship being done and show to people in Poland."

The driver says "you can find common ground pretty fast" when you enter into a church in any corner of the world.

"It is good to stretch yourself as well because you can get stuck in your way, get stuck in a rut and think thinks should only be done in one way. When you start to get different influences, starting changing your mind not necessarily about what is right and what is wrong, just about how you can go about doing things."

The racer says those experiences are meaningful to him as he witnesses how faith is expressed in other cultures.