Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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  • I am going to be in America in ONE week!! ***
     
    Time has flown!
     
    Exactly one year ago, I drove to training camp with Ehop and Lynda to meet my future family for the next year….
     
    …. Today, I am sitting in a hostel in Jaco, Costa Rica the final day of the World Race before our final debrief.
     
    ***SO SURREAL***
     
     
    I posted a few days ago that I am going to do a Question/Answer blog. So, here it is. I’m also just going to add some questions that I think I’ll be asked a lot.
     
    I’ll try to keep it brief ish… I know that blogs can get hard to read with too many words.
     
    **************************************************************
    What stands out as the most memorable event?
    There are so many events that were so memorable.
     
    Ministry wise:
     
    One of the moments that I will never forget is my first experience ever with a feeding. In Nicaragua, we had a children’s feeding. It was pouring rain that night and the house we were staying in- the house that the children came to to get food- was flooded. People came from all over, in the pouring rain, just to get a plate of food. It was awesome.
     
    In Uganda, we found out that our wonderful squad coach, Papa Jim, passed away. My team found that out right before we were going to go to church and perform the Everything skit. It is a little drama- no words, just music- that depicts the Father and His utter love for us no matter what. We found out the horrible news and decided to continue with the original plans- despite all the feels- and perform the skit for our church. It was so emotional and beautiful! I have a video of the skit if you want to see it.
     
    Cultural wise:
     
    One of the moments I will never forget culturally is when our entire squad went to a cultural dinner/night in Thailand. We sat in the floor. Yes, I mean in. The table was like two feet off floor level and they had seats that were in the floor. There were cultural dances for us on a stage and we even went and danced some dances with them.
     
    I would say that the other moment was in Ethiopia. We had a cultural coffee night. Ethiopians love to prepare coffee that is really thick and dark. As a person that doesn’t like coffee, I drank that stuff every time it was offered. It was really good. The ladies all dressed up in traditional clothes and made coffee for us. They take out a coffee pot and a lot of small little tea cups to put it in. They roast the beans and press the coffee in front of us. The coffee service was served with popcorn and a kind of bread that they have. After that was complete, one of the men that worked with the ministry we were with, washed EVERY SINGLE person’s feet!
     
    Adventure wise:
     
    In Vietnam, my team took a little bus trip to Muy Nei. A beach in Vietnam. We spent the ENTIRE day in the water! I’m not the biggest Ocean water person, so it was suuuuper memorable!
     
    In Montenegro, some of us were able to take a few days and roadtrip to Italy! The ride there was something I will never forget! The 10 hour drive took us 18 hours! We popped our tire in Bosnia and I changed it with a little help from a Bosnian, we cheered like banchees when we saw a McDonalds, we just drove into Italy- no border where we went-, didn’t know we were in Italy, and asked a random bus driver what country we were in. So memorable.
     
    Squad wise:
     
    In Thailand, we had a squad lanterns night. We went to a river and each person on the squad bought a lantern- just like in Tangled. Werness first showed her awesome gifting for speaking there. After she talked, we all wrote things on our lanterns that we were giving to the Lord. Then, we lit our lanterns and set them off in teams. It was sweet.
     
    In Ethiopia, we did a squad wise fast/prayer burn. For 24 hours, there was always a person in our designated prayer closet, praying for a specific time slot. We were doing this specifically for finances. Right after our burn/fast ended, we put all the tables together (Harry Potter style) and broke our fast all together with a huge family style meal!! Incredible! Also, like an hour after the burn ended, we got a call telling us that we received a significant donation for the entire squad from an anonymous donor!! Whatttt?????
     
    Team wise:
     
    I have to say, FOR SURE, the music videos! Burning Joy’s The Dara Song. TLC’s No Scrubs. Werness & Ashley’s Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Werness & Ashley’s Doe a Deer. En Fuego’s Roar. *Coming* Burning Joy/ TLC’s Your Love is My Drug. Music videos are a way to love me I have discovered 🙂
     
    In Honduras, En Fuego was Unsung Heroes. This is where we don’t have a host and we had to go through out the country and find future contacts for AIM. We decided not to use any internet for Unsung purposes- we decided to only rely on the Lord. It was awesome to see God move through that!
     
     
    Name a favorite from each country
    Cambodia- The last day that we were in Cambodia, our contact and all of the children had a farewell party for us. They strung white Christmas lights and blew up balloons. It was adorable to watch all the children dance.
     
    Thailand- The hostel that we were staying at is a part of the Cafe that we worked at- Zion Cafe. The food there was amazing! Every meal. The lady that cooked for the hostel let me cook with her a lot. 
     
    Vietnam- One night, some of the students that were in our English club took Werness and I to a karaoke lounge. It was so fun. It was just us and the students. We had a private room, we got to choose our songs, and we sang our hearts out!
     
    Uganda- On New Year’s Eve, we climbed up a huge hill overlooking all of Kampala. It was awesome! When we got to the top, we sang some worship songs. As we were about to leave, Ronnie- the man that took us up there- sang a song to our team. It was about him missing us.
     
    Rwanda- Ehop and I met a man in Rwanda that lived near us. His name was Frederick. Frederick didn’t speak any English, so there was no verbal communication between us. We spoke in our own language. After we met him a  couple of times, he would light up when he saw us! It was so awesome to see! I wrote a blog about him (His name is Frederick), you should read it if you have the time!
     
    Ethiopia- Valentine’s Day was in Ethiopia. For Valentine’s day, our squad did some speed dating. We lined up at the tables and talked one on one with each person- speed date style 😉 Also, when we ate lunch that day, the 5 men that were there, served lunch for all the women and then they did dishes!
     
    Montenegro- In Montenegro, we would have movies nights all the time with our host family. We would make popcorn- Werny would eat it like a beast. Then we would all go upstairs to their living room and all settle into couches and bean bags for the films.
     
    Albania- In the Hope center, where we were staying, we had a talent show. Some of the girls on my team did a dance that they- well Martha- coreographed (shout out to Martha!!) and it ended with the director of the Hope center telling a story and imitating a chicken.
     
    Honduras- In Honduras, we went to a carnival with some locals. (One of which basically fell in love with Werny and she was totally oblivious) We went on some janky rides- the last one was a spinning whirly ride- it made all of us sick.
     
    Nicaragua- One day our host took us to a mountain like an hour away. It was beautiful! It was picturesque and I may or may not have started singing Climb Every Mountain with Werny.
     
    Costa Rica- My favorite from this month was the last day the blue team was with us. We had an epic worship night of just our team while their team was having a meeting. After their meeting, they came over and joined us in worship. After singing, they prayed over my team. It was a sweet sweet moment.
     
     What insights do you have on feeling alone in a crowd and learning to TRUST?
     I am not exactly sure what this question is looking for, but I will answer what I think is an answer 🙂 (This answer actually meshes with the next question) A couple of times on the Race this has happened: I will have an idea- whether worship, teaching the locals an English song, or a game that I know… No one else really wants to do it, but I feel like it’s something that I should do. My insights from it are: If you feel like you need to do something- whether it feels like God wants you to do it or you just think it’s a cool idea: GO with it. Especially if it is something that you feel God wants you to do. ALWAYS trust the Spirit and follow His leading. What God calls you to, He will bless. (if you haven’t read “Obeying is the Victory”- you should) Whether is looks like it or not, He WILL always bless you for obeying!
     
    How do you think we can be better “missionaries ” here at home?
    Coming from only a highschool mission trip background and no further experience till now, I’d say that awareness is probably one of the biggest things we at home could have. Awareness in different areas: finances, time, helping people, conversations. But, I think that I can generally say that if our awareness of the Holy Spirit- of His leading- is raised, we will naturally be better “missionaries”. Our sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading is what we need. With that sensitivity/ heightened awareness we will know what ministries God wants money to go to. We will know when we need to buy the man on the street some food. We will know when we should spend time doing different work for the Lord. We will know what He wants us to do. We will know when we need to offer our services to someone, whether that is a ride or taking the children of a mother of 5 to a park so she has some free time. We will know when to talk to someone about a specific topic or just smile at them and let them know that you see them, that they are important. Us being “missionaries” is bringing people to the Lord. It’s nothing spectacular- don’t get me wrong, it can be a Jonathan Edward’s revival spectacular event, but more often than not, it is from just life.
     
     Blue team or grey team 
    Not fair question. I love you both so much!! Both teams have different characteristics and personalities. I like GRUE! 🙂
     
    Which countries ministry did you feel made the biggest impact on you and which country did you feel you made the biggest impact on the people you were helping.
    Ministry in Albania was awesome. I definitely would say that the ministry there made the biggest impact on me. It was in Albania that I realized that my passion is teenagers- specifically teenage women. My team was partnered with Hope for the World. It is a center that selects orphans that have graduated the orphanages and stay at the center for the three years while they attend high school. Being able to be a companion, confidant, and truth giver to our teens there was amazing.
     
    I think that Uganda was probably where we made the biggest impact in the community. We were doing a lot of door to door ministry, but just being a solid part of the community for a month was awesome. I can’t tell you how many children’s hands I held that month. We went to places that vehicles couldn’t get to. Just visiting people and showing we cared made a big impact I think. The family that we stayed with was just that. A family to us. By the end of the month, we were all family. At Christmas time, we set up a paypal account and were able to give them all a Christmas. Uganda was the first goodbye that I cried at. My 15 year old sister, Sarah, started crying and I totally lost it.
     
    Most Beautiful Country
    Montenegro
     
    Best Ministry
    Albania 
    Favorite Food
    Kausoi in Thailand and Nicaraguan Beans and Rice
     
    Favorite Month
    Ethiopia
     
    What is the strangest food that you ate?
    Cow Lung in Cambodia. First Sunday I was on the Race.
     
     
    Thank you to Every. Single. Person. that reads this blog! You deserve a medal!!
     
    <3 Ash