In four weeks I’ll be home. The World Race is sadly coming to an end. The days go by slow, but the weeks fly by. I’m not checking out yet, there’s still much work to be done here in Zambia, it’s just that home is so close. Home is close enough where I have to think about it. During month three or five I didn’t have to think about home. Home was still very far away, in my mind. Now life on the Race and life at home are starting to mesh together. Everyone on my squad struggles with what it means to go home. It’s hard to understand. We took nine months off of our normal lives to come on this mission trip and now our normal lives have become this mission trip. Going home seems abnormal and almost unnatural. Taking a cold shower, sleeping in my tent, taking taxis or walking everywhere, and having an amazing 40-person family is what normal life looks like to me.
I do want to go home. I can’t wait for a hot shower or to lie in my bed. I can’t wait to drive my car or hangout with my friends. I can’t wait to see my family. Going to all these countries I can see why America is regarded as the land of opportunity and now I have the passion to go home and pursue my own.
I didn’t see it before, but I can see that I’m really a different person. I’m a new man in a good way. I don’t feel so naïve like I did when I first got here. It’s actually really hard to put into words the way I feel changed and that’s because something extraordinary changed me, something bigger than you and me, something bigger than words. It’s really deep and personal so I won’t go into that. But if I had to sum it up in one word it would be: Trust. I’ve learned, or am in the process of learning, how to trust God. To trust that that there is actually a God that I can’t see, but somehow he is walking with me in this journey, not just The World Race but for my whole life.
In Zambia I live in a 22-person house with two other teams. At the end of Thailand we were given new teams. I love my new team. We are ministry partners with an organization, J-Zone, and we do a variety of ministry, which is a great change from Thailand where I did the same thing everyday. I still miss my old team and Thailand, but this is where and what I’m doing now and I’m okay with that. We do a widow’s bible study, construction, help run an Awana’s summer program, and we help at two orphanages (Ebenzer and SOS Children Livingstone). Every other week we go to Makumba Village and hangout with villagers, it’s pretty awesome and I’ve never seen so many stars in my life out there at night. It’s beautiful. Last month the men did MANistry in Kabwe, Zambia. It was a good two weeks away from the ladies, but we were excited to be reunited with them. I have four guys on my team and when we got home to the girls in Livingstone we were met with hugs and warm food. I love our girls. My house is in Livingstone, Zambia, home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World: Victoria Falls. I went to go see it for myself a couple weeks ago and it was magnificent. You can’t get close to it without getting soaked. The force of the falling water hitting the ground makes it feel like it’s raining buckets. You can try to wear a rain jacket while you’re there, but it’s not worth it you’ll just get soaked. And it’s way more fun to just let the water get you soaked in my opinion.
enjoying the falls with my new teammate/good friend, Megan
We’re getting soaked
Victoria Falls
The Children at Makumba Village
