Recap:
As the time is approaching to being halfway done with The World Race, I thought it would be fun to share with you a recap of what the Lord has taught me, the different events that stick out to me in each country, and some of my favorite memories along with what we did in China 🙂 !
South Africa :
God blessed us in many ways that month, and I am so thankful for the way that He pursues me over and over, never relenting!!
Month One : Pretoria:
This is the month that God romanced me and started to reveal Himself to me as husband. This month was filled with people who loved us well. This is the place we first met Russell, a man who welcomed us with open arms, and took us in as his own children. He gave us an amazing experience of South Africa.
A day at the lake with Russell and his amazing friends who cooked amazing food, and tons of it. They also took us on a boat and jet skiing!!! It was a perfect date with God as he allowed me to get sun-kissed and filled my taste buds with delight!
A day at the safari. Not only did we get to see exotic animals in their natural habitat, but we also got the chance to put our hands in the mouth of a lion. Crazyyyy awesome!!
God blessed us in many ways that month, and I am so thankful for the way that He pursues me over and over, never relenting!!
The word to describe this month is pursued :)!
White River:
This month was filled with conflict, stretching, heartbreak, ice cream, popcorn, and good girlfriends! The conflict came from miscommunication, assumptions gone array, pride, and identity crises. These are things my team and I had to deal with, and once we were honest and brought out the truth, we were set free. We were able to grow and get rid of things in ourselves that were not honoring to the Lord. The heartbreak came from the situations the children have gone through and having to say goodbye to them! Thank goodness for the ice cream dates and popcorn that came with the amazing girls we were with. This month would have been impossible without them!
Me and one of the boys from the orphanage that I got super close with! He had an amazing smile, and when we played UNO he would always let me win!
The beautiful girls that supported and loved me so much this month!!
Swaziland:
TEAM CHANGE: This month was filled with a team change, followed with laughs, love, sun, sore abs, food, and stars. This was the first month being on an all girls team! When I found out I was being switched to P31, I was filled with joy as my best friend Katie is on this team. That joy was accompanied by fear of going back to my old self, as girls can be intimidating, and being on a new team I have the option to be shy and not myself or the person God has called me into.
Thankfully God showed me the plan of the enemy and the choice I had to make, which reminds me of Deuteronomy 30 where God allowed His children to choose the path of life or death. God gave me the strength to choose life, and this month was honestly amazing. As God had our group mold together so quickly and effortlessly, we naturally came together as a team. We laughed, cried, and grew together in a way I hadn't experienced on the race thus far.
FAVORITE MEMORY: I remember a night that God had allowed me to be alone on a huge shed outside. As I looked up at the moon, I was in awe of how breathtaking it was. God then whispers to me this is a glimpse of my beauty. Wait till you see me on our wedding day. He then followed with a vision of me getting ready for my wedding day–a day that I have dreamt about since I was an itty bitty girl.
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I envision my dress, a beautiful dress that fits perfectly being put on, and my hair done flawlessly. I am standing at the altar, and Jesus lifts my veil. I am blown away with how handsome He is. With this vision, He gave me a challenge, which was to stop preparing for my earthly wedding but to prepare for my heavenly wedding. For when I focus on Him and say my vows with commitment, I will then be ready for whichever wedding comes first. This is my favorite memory of Swaziland as I hadn't felt God's presence in such an intimate and loving way as this.
God is cleaning house in Africa just like the physical labor we did there. He is getting rid of the weeds and thorn bushes so He can plant some new seeds, seeds that will sprout and produce life!
CHINA:
TEAM CHANGE: Yes there was another team change. My best friend Katie and another amazing friend Emily Waito were moved to two different teams. This team change was harder to get used to but still just as good. Getting to know Bethany and Sharisse has been amazing. They bring a different dynamic to our team, and it has been amazing to see how God has allowed this body to work together to glorify His name!
LOCATION: We stayed in the city in China. It was nice because we walked a ton this month, which helped get rid of bloating bellies from our previous month. I loved where we were at but greatly missed the stars and moon. There is so much pollution in China that there is a constant fog, which covers the sky and mountains around China.
WEATHER: The weather in China was freezing cold. We had to buy boots, fuzzy leggings to keep us warm, scarves, and gloves. We were very blessed to not have to buy winter jackets because one of our friends let us borrow her coats while we were there. I was blessed with a hot pink jacket 🙂 haha. I definitely embraced and rocked this jacket and since it was bright, it did help my teammates pick me out of the crowd, since I was easily mistaken as one of the Asians. haha.
LODGING: We stayed in a hotel all month, which was pretty nice. We had two rooms and split our team to 3 girls in each room. We pushed the two beds together which gave each of us more than enough room!! The showers in China didn't have a curtain, so you are able to brush your teeth, wash your hair, wash your laundry and use the loo all at the same time. Definitely saves some time haha!! The downfall is that whenever you get done showering, the entire bathroom floor is soaked :(!
FOOD: This month we did not have a kitchen, so we ate out most nights, unless we decided to heat up hot water and eat ramen. The food in China was mostly delicious. We ate beef noodles almost everyday, along with fried rice and kung pao chicken yum yum. However, one day Carrie and I went to a restaurant together and there were no pictures next to the food items, so we found a man who spoke a little bit of English and had him order us what we thought were pork dumplings. We waited for our food, ate it, and it was delicious. The waitress makes her way to our table with a little sticky note in hand with the word taste? written on it. Carrie and I nod our heads and say delicious thumbs up and all, until the next word she writes is pigs' feet. Our faces immediately become flushed and nausea comes in an instant. Not one of our fondest food experiences but one we will never forget. In Beijing I also had the opportunity to try duck which was delicious, very tender, and tastes like chicken, along with donkey which oddly tastes similar to beef jerky 🙂 !!
BUGS: The nice thing about the cold weather is that it killed off the bugs, so we did not experience any strange insect or animals!
MINISTRY: Our ministry in China was by far my favorite so far. We were called to go to the universities we lived by and make relationships with the students there. God was amazing in opening the doors to the people He had called us to connect to. We were able to go to lunch with them everyday, get coffee, go shopping, karaoking, and roam around China. The women He called us to were absolutely amazing women. They loved us so well. They were sweet and funny. The last night we were with them, we were able to talk to them about what they believed and ask them questions about why, questions they had not thought about previously. Our purpose was to create curiosity and get them to start asking themselves why we are here, why they believe what they believe, and does it make sense. Also we shared with them what we believe and why we believe it, how God has truly changed us, and how we have not been the same since we met Him. God really taught me how much we don't have to work to make the relationships He has called us to and we don't have to strategically plan how to share the gospel but that He opens those doors! It was amazingggggg 🙂 !
FAVORITE MEMORY: My favorite Memory was Christmas Eve, as we had fun trying to bake Christmas cookies, eat at our favorite restaurant for the last time, and meet up with the girls for the last time. God allowed Bethany and I to tell these girls about Christ and how He has changed us. He also gave me another desire of my heart, which was to light off floating lanterns! It was so incredibly beautiful and such a sweet Christmas gift,as we watch the lanterns float into the endless night! This night was also filled with laughter and game playing. We then went to KFC and filled it with hysterical laughter as we played Crazy UNO, a night I will always cherish :)!!
God's hand is definitely in China, as people are so hungry to know more about Him. The time that we were there, God was planting seeds. As He has to hoe and break up the ground first, I could feel that He was opening the hearts to His people as they can recognize His face. I'm excited for the people who come after us, as there will come a time that these seeds will be watered and will grow to produce fruit and life!!
These past five months have been incredible, as God is teaching me more about Himself and who He is. He is able to refine and give me a deeper understanding of who He calls me to be! It's amazing to see his hand in each country we have been to and how He is the same in each place, but His beauty is unique as well!!
Hope you enjoyed this recap of the past five months !!
My next deadline for financial support is March 1 st and I am still in need of $-3,936.72 to reach this deadline, I ask for your prayers that God will continually provide and if you are called to give you can donate right here on my blog 🙂 Thank you for reading :)!
XOXOXOXO
Amie Gallegos
