Asia – “continent of the eastern hemisphere N of equator forming a single landmass with Europe (the conventional dividing line between Asia & Europe being the Ural Mountains & main range of the Caucasus Mountains); has numerous large offshore islands including Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Malay Archipelago, Taiwan, the Japanese chain, & Sakhalin”
I have officially entered my last continent of the World Race this month, and it feels weird. For the past 15 months I have sojourned from country to country, always curious, but I knew that the last continent would come, and now it has finally arrived.
So, in the midst of leaving Asia after a total of 8 wonderful months (2/3 of a complete year), I thought I would let you in on what Asia has been to me:
Asia has become a weird comfort for me. I never thought in my life that I would ever make it there and, now, I cannot imagine my life without it. I have been to China, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Japan. I have met so many people with such great hearts for the Lord in the midst of communism and heartbreak and warfare and destruction. I have heard stories of the Lord providing amazing protection in their persecution.
My last month in Asia was spent in my last new country in that continent: Vietnam. A country that has so many different reactions to US citizens. After hearing all of the history, and then spending a month in the midst of the people, I have come to the conclusion that Vietnam belongs to the Lord.
This last month I made a goal; it seemed simple but also just hard enough to make me work for it – I wanted to invest in one person really well for the month. I made it at the beginning of the month with the first team I was with, but it was with the second team that the Lord made it happen.
I came in, ready to start the second half of my month in Vietnam. The ministry was good. We had our first off day, and one of our teammates wanted to get a tattoo. There was a girl at one of the ministry sites who knew a good place, and was able to get a good price for the tattoo he wanted. As per the rule of 2 here on the race, I decided to accompany him.
The day ended up being over 10 hours of tiny needles poking my teammate over and over again, and me spending an entire day getting to know my friend, Mia. After that, we just ended up spending a bunch of time together whenever I could. We both loved music and singing, and made some really good Korean food together since her mom was a chef. Honestly, we just clicked, and I loved it!
Not until the last day did I realize that I had made that goal, and that I had fulfilled it with getting to know my new friend!
One thing that I have found hard as a squad leader is getting to invest in people outside of my squad. My focus is usually set on the people I am traveling with and serving them, that i don’t focus too much on getting to know individuals beyond normal industry hours. With Mia it was different, and I am so glad that I have a new friend in Vietnam!
