101 Things I’ve Learned on the World Race

Welcome to my 101st day on the World Race! Wow it’s crazy to think I’ve been away from home for that long, sometimes the days feel long but the months escape so quickly. In honor of this special day, I figured I would give you a list of 101 things I’ve learned thus far. Here ya go!

On Community:

1. Vulnerability is key.

2. Communication: how you say something is sometimes more important than what you say.

3. Being intentional about loving people in a way they receive it best is important.

4. Speaking up for yourself is vital. How do people know what you want/need if you’re not willing to be honest and speak up for yourself? They don’t, and it’s not their fault. You have a voice, use it.

5. There is a time to just listen and not speak. Sometimes the best way you can love some one is by just being with them and letting them say what’s on their heart without trying to get your two cents in.

6. Be bold in feedback. It’s not about calling someone out on something you didn’t like, and it’s also not giving cheap compliments. It’s about calling each other higher into the character and identity that they already have in Christ.

7. Don’t wait until it gets ugly to reslove conflict. Even the smallest things add up and before you know it, there is a wall between you and the person next to you. It’s way easier, and less painful to just be honest in the moment.

8. It is what you make it. Don’t wait for your community to “magically” turn into what you hoped for. It won’t. You have to choose the people in front of you, and be what you want to see in your community.  You have good stuff to bring to the table, so don’t hold back. Be proactive.

 

9. Sometimes rough days happen, be honest about that and let your team in. If you’re like me, that can be scary but these people are your family. Let them in.

10. Laugh with each other. Be silly. Do ridiculous things together. God had something more than just ministry planned for you when He called you on the Race. Dive into relationships with the people He has put right in front of you.

On Ministry:

1. Sometimes it’s not as “productive” as you thought it would be. Month 1 me and my team spent a lot more time than we ever wanted to in our host’s living room. Sometimes your ministry is within your team, and that’s okay. 

2. Get to know your host. Learn their stories. Get invested in doing life with them. Chances are these 3-4 weeks you have with them will be the only ones you get. Don’t take it for granted.

3. Decide to be invested in your ministry for the month. Whether you’re doing construction all month, or taking care of babies, there’s a difference between being present where you are and with the people around you and counting down until you can go home. Your perspective is your choice and will decide what kind of experience you’ll have, so choose wisely!

4. Before you go to ministry, be in conversation with Jesus. He’s the whole reason you came, and without communication with Him your well will run dry. Make sure you take the time to pray, journal, sing, however you connect with Him, do it before you go minister to His people. You can’t do it on your own strength.

5. Have a good attitude! Believe it or not, how you act effects the people around you. Ask your team to hold you accountable if you need it, and it’s never a bad idea to ask for prayer too.

 

6. Look for little things throughout the day to be thankful for!

7. Make it your own. There are no parameters on how big you can go with your ministry. Go above and beyond for your contacts, write them thank you cards, make your team their favorite. 🙂 It makes all the difference to just show them you really care.

8. Sometimes ministry can be exhausting. It’s in those times that you need to be honest about your needs and let your team know you need to rest. It’s not selfish. Also, you’re not doing your team or ministry any favors by being exhausted and you might even be more of a hinderance than a help at that point. Know what you need and advocate for yourself.

9. Remember why you signed up for this. Write it down if you have to. Stay focused.

10. Leave it better than you found it. The place you lived for the month will probably be home to someone else in the near future. Be considerate of that and clean up!

On Travel:

1. Be prepared for the unexpected. Sometimes your whole squad is in the lobby of a hostel prepared to leave at 3 am and the bus doesn’t show. Be okay with going back to bed and figuring it out in the morning.

2. Bring snacks and plenty of water. Dehydration is a real thing, drink lots of water! 

3. Dramamine is something you should have. If not for yourself, for the ones around you who might be prone to motion sickness.

4. Help eachother out! You’re family now, and family takes care of each other. Sometimes that means carrying someone else’s pack for them, and other times it’s sharing a can of Pringles that you know will be your breakfast, lunch, and possibly dinner.

 

5. During Unsung Heroes month you will travel CONSIDERABLY more than in a normal month of ministry. Be prepared for that by taking out what you need and keeping your pack mostly together. You won’t regret it.

 

6. Pack your stuff ahead of time when you have a travel day coming up.  You’re less likely to forget something, and you’ll have a better attitude knowing that your stuff is in place and ready to go.

7. Travel days are kind of a cool opportunity in disguise. You get to be with your whole squad again! Use that time to get to know people you aren’t as close to, catch up with them and learn about their month! 

8. Be prepared to sleep in weird places. You’re going to do this basically the whole 11 months but mostly on travel days. We’ve slept in 2 airports so far, and  they probably won’t be our last. 

9. Make sure you have a book/journal/some music handy. It’s always a good idea to have something there to occupy your mind while the miles pass by.

10. Communicate with each other. Sometimes you have less than an hour to get 53 people through customs and onto the next flight. It’s times like those that you need to pay attention to what leadership is telling you and make sure it gets passed on.

On Personal Spiritual Growth:

1. Be real with yourself and with Jesus. He already knows what’s in your heart so don’t hide it from Him.

2. There is such a thing as being angry with God and learning how to forgive Him. Crazy right? He doesn’t need your forgiveness, He’s perfect. Sometimes you need to acknowledge the ugly stuff that you wanted to pretend wasn’t there and tell Him about it. Tell Him about feeling unprotected, tell Him about feeling like He didn’t care, tell Him about what that made you feel, and walk through what it looks like to forgive those things. He doesn’t need it, but you do so be brave and walk through it.

3. Take feedback to the Lord. Whether it’s feedback you’re giving or feedback you’ve received, He will make clear to you what you need to understand or say to someone else.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask hard questions, and don’t settle for cheap answers. 

5. Press into things that He puts in font of you. Whether in your personal quiet time, nature, or things people speak over you, press into it and ask what He wants you to learn.

6. Understand that you don’t have to understand everything. Yep, that just happened. Learn to have peace in knowing that Jesus has all the answers, and the ones you’re supposed to receive will come at the perfect time.

7. Make your prayers specific and be expectant. Wow, this is huge. Be persistent in prayer and look for Him to show up. For example, I left my bible on a bus last month and prayed for an NIV bible in English and a few days later my squad mate gave one to me! Turns out she had been praying about who to give it to, and that person was me!

 

8. Talk to your team about what you’re going through. They love Jesus too and chances are, they have some wisdom you can glean from them.  Some of my biggest realizations have come from fruitful conversations with my team mates.

 

9. Find new ways to spend time with God.  Pray, sing, write, run, dance, listen. God speaks all the time in different ways.  Invite Him into the mundane and the spectacular.

 

10. In the midst of chaos find a way to praise Him.  Circumstances are fleeting, He is good always.  When put into practice, this is a game changer.

 

 

1. Listen, just because you’re on the World Race does NOT mean you should completely forgo showers.  Ew.  You need to take a shower, you just do. Everywhere we’ve been offers some kind of shower option (even if they’re by bucket or ice-cold you need to take them!).

 

2. Do your laundry on a schedule.  Most of the time laundry is by hand and line-dried. That means if you wait until you’ve reached your last pair of underwear to do laundry, you might have to wait a day until it’s dry. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

 

3. Take time to do things like paint your nails.  Just because you’re on the missions field for 11 months doesn’t mean you stop being feminine.  Obviously, if it’s not your jam in the first place ignore this piece of advice.  If you’re like me though, make sure you pack a few bottles of polish.

 

4. You should probably have an emergency roll of toilet paper available at all times…

 

5. Girls: if you wear make up at home, bring it on the Race.  I have maybe worn make up 10 times in 4 months, but when I do I’m so thankful I brought it!

 

6. Face wash is important!  The climate will change, the water will be different, and your skin will go through varying highs and lows.  Bring good face wash you use at home and not some random brand that you pack because it will last the whole year (aka the weird bars of face wash I packed because it was small and sounded like a good idea at the time… #regrets).

 

7. Wash your towel and sleeping back liner/blanket often.  They get over looked so easily, but those bad boys need to be cleaned regularly!

 

8.  When you have access to a washer take a hot second to praise the Lord for the favor He has bestowed upon you.  If you have access to a washer and a dryer give both a hug and recognize the blessing you’ve received.

 

9. Be careful of the water you use to brush your teeth.  Sometimes the tap is not so safe, make sure to ask your host.

 

10. Don’t forget deodorant.  Double-checking is a must.  The amount of sweat that you will experience is kind of unreal at times, and you don’t want to be the one everyone smells all day-just saying.

 

1. Know what your personal budget looks like and stick to it.

 

2. Make sure you’ve taken care of things like canceling your Netflix account/gym membership/etc. before you leave.

 

3. Charles Schwab.  You want that card.  ATM fees are no joke, and you don’t want to waste your personal money.

 

4. Save up for exciting things you want to do.  Sometimes there’ll be opportunities to go spend a weekend somewhere as a team and it will require your personal cash. Make sure you plan accordingly and allow a budget for things like that.

 

5. Be honest with your team about your budget.  

 

6. Make sure you plan for things you might run out of (various personal hygiene products, pens, new journal, etc.).

 

7. Live within the means of the community you’re serving in.  There’s an opportunity to grab a Snicker’s and a Coke just about anywhere.  Be disciplined and try to live like the people you serve.  It’s difficult, but so worth it.

 

8. Be aware of the fact that things might cost more than you ever would have expected, for reasons you don’t understand.  For instance, in Costa Rica one load of laundry washed and dried cost $16. Yikes.

 

9. Be open to sharing things.  Go family style at restaurants to make it more affordable, go in on groceries together and split the cost to make your money go further.

 

10. Hold each other accountable, and help each other out.

 

 

1. A scarf for those dusty mountainside travels in Haiti.

 

2. A sarong.

 

3. Finger nail clippers (a few of us share a pair don’t worry).

 

4. Vitamin B12 for the bugs.

 

5. Vitamin C for the random colds that pop up.

 

6. An extra set of headphones.

 

7. Good sunglasses.

 

8. A laptop.

 

9. An endless supply of q-tips.

 

10. A pair of shoes that is somewhere between Chacos and Nike running shoes.. aka something you can wear with a dress and not look like a missionary. 🙂

 

1. A headlamp.

 

2. Make-up.

 

3. Multiple tooth brushes.

 

4. A Kindle.

 

5. A pillow-pet.

 

6. A cute dress.

 

7. Lots of underwear.

 

8. Letters from home.

 

9. Pictures of family and friends.

 

10. A go-pro.

 

1. The obvious, family and friends.

 

2. Going places alone.

 

3. Toilets that flush toilet paper.

 

4. Hot showers.

 

5. A bed.

 

6. Netflix.

 

7. Coffee dates.

 

8. Driving

 

9. The glorious power of a perfectly hand-crafted Starbucks beverage (aka triple grande, iced espresso, with soy, and 2 pumps of white mocha).

 

10. Church and worship in English.

 

1. 11 people riding in the bed of a pick-up truck in the DR.

 

2. A lame man walking in Haiti.

 

3. A perfectly planned Valentine’s Day by the men in our squad in Haiti.

 

4. Leading worship for our team (Costa Rica).

 

5. White water rafting and surviving (Costa Rica)!

 

6. Zip-lining in Costa Rica!

 

7. Standing up in front of my squad and being real about my struggles, and declaring my identity in Christ. (Haiti)

 

8. Seeing God’s fingerprints in the ministry we’re serving in and being a part of it (DR, Haiti, Costa Rica, Honduras).

 

9. Late nights singing to Jesus (Honduras).

 

10. Therapeutic downpours complete with symphonic thunder and lightening (Haiti, Honduras).

 

Last but not least, lesson 101: God is in all things.  He’s in the ugly, He’s in the beautiful.  He doesn’t leave us.  It’s important to not give up even when you feel like the odds are stacked against you.  Follow Him into the depths and trust that He will carry you when you can’t walk on your own strength.  He is good, even when your circumstances are not.

 

Thank you for your love and support!  I couldn’t have made it to day number 101 without you!  Please be in prayer for my next financial deadline on July 1st, I will need to have raised $16,500 and I’m not too far away!  Love you and thank you for reading!!