It has been over a month since my last blog post and I apologize! I had planned to write one when we were at debrief after we left Nepal early but we were on this beautiful island and I got distracted by the beach 🙂 Now we only have about a week left here in Malaysia and it has been an incredible month!! We are living and working at an orphanage/home for disadvantaged children ranging from four to twenty. Our work every day varies from working in their garden to cleaning drains to teaching devotions to just hanging out with the kids. We have even had to prepare and talk about adolescence and puberty with the teenagers! (Sex ed is not something I thought I would have to teach on the World Race) Our days are super busy but so good!
This was my distraction from blogging on Pangkor Island.
In India, I posted a blog asking for questions from you all about my experiences so far and I received a good number that I have finally had time to answer. So, here are your questions answered:
1. What are some specific things that you are really glad you brought with you besides the obvious necessary stuff?
- Solar powered, inflatable lantern (the brand is called Luci), thanks Uncle Leo!
- Crazy Creek camping chair
- Make-up…I don’t wear it often but it feels really nice to sometimes just put on a little eyeliner or mascara
- Jean capris…similar to the make-up, my capris make me feel normal
- Headphone splitter for sure!
- External hard drive with movies/tv shows…so great for travel days and months when there isn’t as much ministry
- Another tip about packing: Know your stuff and your pack. I can pack my bag in about ten minutes where it takes some of my squadmates an hour at least. I know my system and where things go and it hasn’t changed since I left for launch. Plus, I keep all of my stuff contained and in it’s separate organizers so it is easier when it comes time to pack
2. What would be your advice to people who are preparing for the World Race?
- Don’t forget about day-to-day life as you prepare for the Race. Yes, going on the race is a big deal but don’t let it consume you or your thoughts.
- Expect God to do incredible things in and through you but let God define those. In other words, don’t expect God to do one thing or the other. He might do that but He might have something completely different for you. Try to have the same thinking for all aspects of the race…relationships with your team/squad, ministry, the country itself. Simply expect God to do awesome things and be ready!
- Choose joy everyday.
3. What is something you wish you had done more of before you left?
Eat Chick-fil-a 🙂 I wish I had spent more time in prayer, asking the Lord what He wanted me to get out of the race. I wish I had set specific goals of how I wanted to grow or be challenged.
4. What has been the most difficult lifestyle adjustment?
Not getting to choose what I eat has been difficult. Some months, our ministry host provides meals for us and we eat a lot of local cuisine. I loved it in South America but Asia has been harder so far. Other months, the team has had to cook for ourselves and it is hard to figure out a meal with seven different people with different preferences. Also, not being able to be alone. World Race policy is that we have to have a buddy to go anywhere and sometimes I just want to go places or do something by myself.
5. What has been the most challenging type of ministry for you to do so far?
Preaching for sure. This was our ministry month 1 and it stretched me a lot. Preparing sermons and then having to get up in front of lots of people I didn’t know and preaching was pretty uncomfortable.
6. What have you seen yourself improve in the most over the course of the race?
Spiritually, the Lord has really grown me in hearing and discerning His voice. I have learned to distinguish the still small voice inside me as the Holy Spirit speaking to me. I have also grown a lot in not being so OCD. I can’t control how other people live so I just don’t stress out about it. Even my own stuff has become a little less organized as the race has gone on because we are always packing up and moving around
7. Are you able to share the gospel/disciple others freely in the countries you have been to since you stay with host families/organizations? Or have there been any times/areas that it was “dangerous” to talk freely about God in any of the countries?
Definitely everywhere in South America we were able to share freely. All of our hosts or ministry contacts are Christians so we definitely talk about the Lord with them. It has been a little different in Asia but most of the neighborhoods we have been in are primarily Christian so we can share with people. In Asia, when someone asks us why we are here, we tell them we are tourists where as in South America we told people we were missionaries. We frequently shared the gospel in Nepal after the earthquake but still told people we were tourists. Malaysia is a Muslim country so we are not allowed to evangelize to the local Malay people but the home we are working with is Christian so we talk about Jesus all the time with the kids and staff.
8. What is the weirdest thing you have eaten since you have been on the World Race?
The food has been pretty good overall. I definitely favor South American cuisine to Asian cuisine, especially with all of the fish in South East Asia. The strangest thing I have eaten is guinea pig in Peru. I really liked it.
9. Has there been any funny language barriers or misinterpretations on the trip?
Every country has it’s own communication struggles but one of the most frustrating but funny in retrospect for me was in India. First of all, you should know that people don’t shake their head yes or no in India. They bobble their head and it can mean yes, no, maybe, or sometimes even answer an open ended question like, “how much for a tuk-tuk ride to the store?” The frustrating part is trying to discern what their head bobble means. One time in particular, I asked the tuk-tuk driver if he knew where Pizza Hut was. Head bobble. I clarified, “Yes, you know where Pizza Hut is?” Head bobble. So we get in and he drives about five minutes and stops in front of McDonalds and motions for us to get out. I told him that we wanted to go to Pizza Hut, not McDonalds. Head bobble. I repeated myself and then he pointed and said “Pizza Hut, same.” So we ate McDonalds.
10. What has been the most challenging experience so far?
If I were to choose one single experience, it would probably be hiking through the jungle in Bolivia for four hours after the bridge went out and our bus couldn’t continue. It drained me physically, emotionally, and mentally. I definitely wanted to just quit and lay down on the side of the road but I was so glad for my team as we encouraged one another and for the strength the Lord gave me during that time.
11. What has been your hardest goodbye on the race?
So far, it was probably hardest to say goodbye to Nepal as a country. I loved the people, the ministry we did, the culture, and the country as a whole, not to mention the beautiful mountains that surrounded Kathmandu valley. I would love to go back to Nepal one day. I know for a fact though that this month is going to be even harder. We are with these kids all the time and it will be so hard to say goodbye to this place.
12. What has been your favorite ministry?
Working at Desa Amal Jireh here in Malaysia for sure!! I loved different things about each ministry but this one has been my favorite. The kids and staff here are a blast and I feel like we are helping them out so much. It has been awesome to get to build relationships with the kids, staff, and the senior adults that live here and just do life with them and encourage them in whatever way we can. This home has been so blessed with incredible staff but they are short-handed. Please pray that the Lord would bring the right people here to love on and pour into these kids.
The crazy but fun nursery kids I hang out with every day here at Desa Amal Jireh!
Thank you for your prayers and thoughts and again I apologize for not blogging the past few weeks. We passed our halfway point of the race this past week which means I only have a little more than five months left of this journey! All of my teammates are still working to be fully funded so if you feel called to help them out, you can easily click on their pages on the left side of my page. Thanks for all your support!!!! Love and miss you all!
