We recently reached 100 days being on the Race, so I wanted to share this blog about things I’ve learned so far! To all who have donated, to all who have supported, to all who have prayed, and to all those who have pushed me along thank you for helping me reach this point! I can’t even begin to imagine what the next 100 days could look like!!
100 things I’ve learned on the race (there are 25 from each country!)
1. I had a dream about mountains and oceans and Costa Rica had just that!
2.”Pura Vida”is a common saying in Costa Rica meaning pure life
3. We got the opportunity to teach Bible stories during a kids club held at a park.
4. I found that I am an ENFP (extrovert, intuitive feeler, perceptive)
5. I experienced teaching a class in their school. It was kinda of hard because we only had one person who was fluent in Spanish.
6. I knew VERY little Spanish entering Costa Rica.
7.Jaco was a very tourist town and it made me think of Virginia Beach about 10 years ago.
8. I met & hung out with a professional surfer and his wife.
9.The currency was call Colones.530 ….colones=$1 which seems like a lot but because it was a touristy town prices were not cheap.
10. The weather was VERY HOT and HUMID! Plus it was rainy season! It also did not cool down at night. We sweated 99% of the time.
11. I lived with two teams the first month my team Branches of Peace and Kalieo ( a co-ed team)
12. We had to cook for ourselves this month
13. We at A LOT of tuna from a can and beans and rice
14. We got hooked on different local sauces to spice up our meal.
15. Hot sauce was added to everything
16. We had a costume party on Halloween In which I was Captain America
17. We successful ran a 1 day VBS!
18. We attended a Spanish church called Radical.
19. We dug three trenches. One of which resulted in us breaking an essential water pipe! (Funniest day!!)
20. We helped build a roof (and take it apart and build it again)
21. So basically we are professional construction workers (hahaha!)
22. We had a bonfire on the beach to celebrate Sarah’s birthday and a mariachette band sang happy birthday to her.
23. I was healed from Tonslist. (I was diagonised with tonslist after being sick for 3 days and the next morning I woke up perfectly fine! THaNK YOU LORD!)
24. One of my teammate’s father was healed from Cancer! (They did blood work indicated he had cancer, he went into a 2nd blood test by a second doctor which reconfirmed. He was moving forward with the diagnosis and had one last blood test and it was 100% clear! NO CANCER IN SIGHT!)
25. Romans 5:3-5 We can rejoice when we run into problems and trails for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character & character strengthens over confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.
26. We experienced our first debrief (which is a time to help process as individual and a team) in Granda, Nicaragua.
27. I met a man named Juan, who was deaf. The Lord gave me the ability to speak fluently in ASL with him.
28. Juan joined us for Squad worship and dinner many nights
29. We swam in a volcanic crater and jumped of 15ft docks into the water
30. Month 2 we lived in Chinendaga. And worked with Vision Nicaragua.
31. Our month consisted of door to door ministry and running Sunday church services.
32. We had the SWEETEST ladies cook for us! And it felt like a feast every meal (especially coming from rice and beans everyday)
33. A lot of my time during door to door was spent loving on the kids around the neghiborhood and speaking life into them.
34. We had beds, showers, toilets! (It really is the little things)
35. It was about 100 degrees every day and in low 70s at night.
36. We had an opportunity to go to a fishing village where no one from the United States (not America because we are all American here) had ever come to their house to talk about Jesus!! So we got to explain who Jesus was and why we were there to many different houses!
37. We ended that day swimming in the ocean and playing on the beach with locals! (Fully clothed haha)
38. We felt a pretty strong earthquake and was actually under a Tusmani watch at one point. (But we were safe).
39. We had a volcano in our backyard but it wasn’t very active.
40. The currency was Córdoba. It was 28 cords to $1.
41. We had a squad wide fashion show and lip sync battle.
42. Our transportation was standing on the back of a huge truck! (Probably one of my favorite travel times).
43. Malik was a little boy that I met during a kids ministry time and he crawled up into my arms and didnt want to leave (even thought he bit me a couple times)
44. We watched Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade on a projector.
45. Mario and Ron were our hosts and they were super sweet.
46. Maxi Pali is a store run by walmart but found in Central America
47. I also got sick again this month with fever and cold like symptoms. And just let it ride out.
48. One things I really learned was “look for the one”
49. Peanut Butter has become like GOLD!!!!
50. I had a really yummy Oreo frap! From their version of Starbucks
51. When traveling from Nicaragua to Honduras it took over 21 hours because, we spent 8 hours trying to exit Nicaragua (just giving us a hard time and wanting guitar permits) and then entering Honduras was easy. About 2 hours in we were stopped by the police (typical bus full of Gringos) and our BUS BREAKS DOWN! So we slept outside of Police Academy until another bus could come get us. (This was a school bus by the way that we traveled in)
52. We arrived to our hostel in Honduras at 3am and my team had to leave by 6am.
53. 7 people + 6 50lbs bags + 6 day packs+ 1 ukulele fit into A FORD FOCUS!!!!!!! (Yes 100% true!)-we had to get to the bus and the driver was messing around so we stuffed in!
54. We took another 12 hours to get to our city. Santa Rosa De Copan.
55. We saw a miracle happen! The space under the bus where bags go was open on the highway and one of my teammates bags fell out but a nice Honduran man chased the bus down to return the bag!!
56The climate was VERY DIFFERENT!! It was super chilly. Like 60s! Sweatshirts were an all the time thing!
57. We had beds and HOT WATER
58. Even though Honduras is known as the murder capital of the world-we lived in the SAFEST place! It was incredible!
59. Our host were from USA and fixed us very American meals and it was SO YUMMY!
60. Everyone celebrated Christmas! (Decorated with lights and trees)
61. We had our own little tree and decorated it with lights and ornaments!
62. We worked in four different houses. (1 house had 9 foster children 3 and up. 2nd house had 6 kids babies and toddler. 3rd house had 4 kids. 2 toddlers 2 infants. The 4th house was a “safe house” and had a rotating amount of children aged 9-18).
63. I worked with 2 toddlers and 2 infants. I have a new respect of moms with twins!!
64. I helped teach preschool in both Spanish and English.
65. I helped another teammate teach math to some of the teenagers who have never been to school.
66. we were able to walk into town however it was very hilly!
67. Our teammate surprised with a homemade fireplace with “sockings” hanging on them!
68. We had a candlelight service Christmas Eve
69. The currency was Lempira. The exchange rate was 23 lemps to $1
70. We lived very close to a thrift store and they had a lot of clothes for 1 lemp which equaled around 5 cents!
71. We visited a few cute coffee shops a few which grew their own coffee on site
72. We got to wrap Christmas presents for all the children! And deliver them on Christmas Eve!
73. We ate corn flakes every morning for breakfast (sometimes oatmeal or eggs but majority was cornflakes)
74. I saw the Lord do some incredible miracles and set people free!
75. We saw a double rainbow in Honduras!
76. Our team because we were up in the mountains and so far from the other teams, we traveled into Guatemala by ourselves, and it took about 15 hours.
77. We experienced what is called a “chicken bus” basically their public transportation and its decked out school busses.
78. These busses have been SO FULL we’ve climbed over seats and people to get off at our bus stop!
79. We live at a house called Casa De Fugeo because from our roof top we see one of the most active volcanos named Fugeo!
80. I have seen lava spew out of it a couple times!!!
81. We live about 10 minutes outside of Antigua
82. This month is called Unsung Heros and Ask The Lord! So we are looking for local ministries to connect with (for now and future teams!) as well as just going out and partnering with the Lord for whatever He wants to do that day!
83. I’ve (we’ve) gotten to know so many locals here! One of my favorites is Maria she works selling shirts and scarfs in chocolate factory! She’s finally stopped selling us stuff and has allowed us to just come sit and talk with her! She even let us pray for her this past week!!!!
84. The bus we catch to get home is called Esquintla! And we usually get dropped off on the side of the road and walk the rest of the way! Totally normal and safe!
85. I have grown a lot with the Lord this month. It’s like the fire was sparked back on!
86. We have 2 hosts who we call mom and dad and they are so sweet they cook for us each night!
87. There is a market here where you can basically buy ANYTHING I literally mean anything!!! Lol
88. The weather has been COLD in the mornings and night and perfect spring time during the day!
89. I have absolutely loved living by this city this month!!! It’s been the best!!!
90. We’ve met so many people in coffee shops! I love sparking up conversations with total strangers and watch how the Lord orchestrates the conversation. Even if we don’t end with them accepting Jesus it’s still a life giving learning conversation!
91. We had a cool God moment while trying to get information to help in a hospital a man walks by and starts interrupting for us! He offered his services to us whenever we need in while in Antigua! Super awesome guy!
92. We met a man who’s job is a clown and he goes to local villages all over Central America and preforms for the children!
93. We saw the president of Taiwan!
94. It’s been super encouraging to walk through the park and see people we’ve met actually remember us and want to talk with us.
95. My Spanish has improved so much! I can now hold conversations with locals! Definitely not perfect but I’m shocked how well it is!
96. We got to pass out oreos with encouraging messages and Bible verses to people in the streets!
97. There are so many travelers here! It’s kind of like a melting pot!
98. We’ve started each morning with worship, and it’s looked different day to day because we’ve all had time to lead!
99. I had a cup of sweet tea! (Like real sweet tea!)
100. My favorites have been conversations I’ve had within my squad about God and views and thoughts and talks about the Holy Spirit!
So here we are a week away from ending our time in Central America!!! I can not believe 4 months have passed this quickly!! Next Saturday we are off to Asia!!
My final deadline is quickly approaching to be fully funded!! I am still about $3,261 away from that goal. Fun fact every donation is tax deductible! So with tax season quickly approaching you can definitely get s tax write off by donating directly!
(Also real thing is if I don’t meet this goal fairly sooner then later, I could be facing the option of being sent home. Hard but true…so please consider helping me stay on the Race!) I think this has been the hardest part for me because I’m not currently working I am truly having to rely on others to help me continue this journey. So I appreciate all who have given and all who will give!
Thank you thank you to all who have support thus far! I’m almost there!
