Like most World Racers, I spent my fair share of time reading blogs before I left the country. As I was preparing to leave last summer, a wave of routes were finishing up and question/answer blogs flooded the home page. I've seriously been dying to write one for over a year — and I'm so grateful for the people who want to read it! This is the first half of the questions I've gotten. Watch for the rest of them in a couple of days!
Oh, and PS — deep, much? My goodness, I expected questions like "What's your favorite memory?" or "Which country did you like the most?" These questions have been really, really thought-provoking and insightful and it's helping me process my reentry a lot, so thank you!
If anyone has any other questions, please feel free to comment and let me know!
If you could spend the rest of your life in one of the countries that you visited, which would it be, and why?
Thailand, without a doubt. There is such need there and I loved our ministry and the women I met. It is also probably the most beautiful country I visited, some of the best food, there are tons of things to do and see… I love Thailand.
Romania would be a very, very close second. The community that we lived with while we were there was absolutely unmatched around the world – I miss the church in Dragenest very much and I would definitely go live and serve with them again.
Did any of the people you work with in the different countries become Christians?
A lot of people in Tanzania asked Jesus into their hearts and one man in Uganda named Marius stands out as someone who accepted Jesus. He had been addicted to drugs and alcohol, but after he prayed with our team, he was regularly at church and getting involved. Then there was one really incredible day in Cambodia where our contact took my team to a remote village church where the people did not even know who Jesus is… I had the privilege of speaking and it was absolutely amazing – I walked through the Bible as a story and talked about the need for a Savior and then I got to introduce Jesus and over thirty people prayed and accepted Him into their hearts. The Holy Spirit was really present – it was one of my favorite days of the Race.
At any time did you ever feel in danger?
Yeah, absolutely. Besides the public transportation [which was a small nightmare], there were a couple of men who would just show up out of nowhere wherever we were in Tanzania and that was seriously unnerving to me. There was a lot of theft in Vietnam – a single example of which being when my friend Angel had her purse literally cut off her body by a passing motorcyclist – and that freaked me out for a day or two.
I think the most in danger I ever felt was actually at the beginning of this month; my team of six women was waiting on a curb for our contact to pick us up and two men pulled up on a motorbike to talk with me. They overstepped their boundaries and got a bit touchy with me, but I dealt with it and then left… but then they tried to follow us home on their motorcycle. We had to pull over to try to lose them a couple of times, but they would be hidden and waiting until we started back on our way. Eventually, we lost them and it hasn’t been an issue since… it was hard and strange to feel violated like that, but also to feel like I had somehow jeopardized the rest of my teammates.
Overall, though, it was simply a choice to walk by faith and know that God is literally, physically protecting me and my teammates and our belongings. That and common sense and being more careful in some places… it’s fine. Traveling really isn’t scary.
Which country posed the biggest cultural challenge? Why?
They were all challenging in different ways – Africa is just on its own page and India and Malaysia are incredibly conservative, which is a hard adjustment to be conscious of; however, I think that Moldova was the hardest. It was still early on in the Race and women are simply not valued in that culture, so to be a woman leading a team of five other women was a big challenge. Add to that the fact that my team’s main ministry was to build relationships with two teenage boys and the culture generally limits male/female interaction… it was a tricky line to maneuver.
Knowing what you know now, how would your attitude be different as you prepared for the race?
I think I had a pretty solid understanding of the way that the Race worked before I left; I believe that I had an appropriate view of AIM and the role of authority coming in. I don’t know what I could have done differently – there aren’t books or lessons I could have taken and talking to alumni Racers is really encouraging, but there is simply not much you can do to prepare for the World Race, except spending time with Jesus and aligning your heart and attitude with His. I was in a really good place when I left home and I’m going to be in a super healthy place when I get back.
How will this trip change how you approach your life when you get home?
My life is changed at its very core – I approach God differently now. I know Him deeper and more intimately and therefore I have a greater confidence in His character and, subsequently, my role and position of authority as His daughter. I get deep joy and satisfaction out of being with Him; no longer is it any type of compulsory thing… He’s genuinely the dude I want to hang out with.
In a more concrete sense, though, I now view ministry as a way of life rather than a time commitment, encouragement as a way of speaking, and resting in the confidence that Jesus affords His followers as the most active, powerful thing I can do. Prayer is not a consolation prize anymore, the Holy Spirit is the realest Being I’ll ever love, and the way I talk is different – I really, really believe in the power of the tongue and I’m committed to speak in faith, even when circumstances look bleak. After all, our God is the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as if they were [Romans 4:17] and we have that same authority.
Those are a few of the things that have changed, just off the top of my head.
When was the first time you thought to yourself, “This is were I am supposed to be!”
Actually, Jesus and I got in a fight before I even committed to the World Race; I wanted to leave in January for a number of reasons [a longer break from school before jumping in, better opportunities to make/save money before I left, would get to spend the holidays with my family], but He insisted on September and I didn’t understand why, but I went with it. Then I got to training camp and met my squad. It sounds cheesy and cliché, but a few days in to our experience of living and worshiping together, I was just like, “Oh, yep. This is it. This is exactly where Jesus wanted me all along.”
On the field, it was a little different. There was one day in Romania when we went to the Carpathian Mountains with people from our church. We drove around and actually rented a boat for a couple of hours just to hang out on this gorgeous lake, nestled in the mountains. Everyone was having a good time, eating and laughing, and it was peaceful and perfect. I remember thinking, “This very well could be the best day of my life right now.” I loved that day.
And then there was a night near the end of month two in Moldova, where one of my teammates Angel gave a powerful testimony and invitation to a bunch of the youth we had been working with. She pulled me up front with her for an illustration and I was so incredibly proud of her and of our team and I so deeply loved the kids who were in the church… I had a lot of peace and certainty and joy that night, knowing that I was still exactly where Jesus wanted me all along.
Generally speaking, I think that Americans are pretty cavalier about religion. We live in a tolerant-to-a-fault system where whatever works for a given person is probably truth in some way; however, most people are at least nominally Christians and so most of us have experienced little to no kickback for our faith.
The thing that is baffling to Americans who have always taken religious freedom for granted is the massive cultural implications of your given religion and that is what I have seen deter people from the Gospel around the world. Buddhism breaks my heart and infuriates me more than I can possibly say – it’s so impossibly slippery and tricky and divergent based on where you are, that there is literally almost no way out… and that’s just to try to show someone the True Gospel, discounting any fears that they may have about their family’s reaction to it or the ability to get a job. There is a saying in Thailand, “To be Thai is to be Buddhist.” If you follow that thread, it’s also implying that to be anything else is to be not Thai. Clearly, converting is not a casual decision. And then here in Malaysia, it is literally illegal to leave Islam – a person who wants to publicly follow Jesus has to flee the country. Literally – up and leave. It is unimaginable for most people I know at home, who can shop for churches at their convenience and even switch faiths without any fear of society’s approval. So… eye-opening and heart-breaking, to say the least.
What is the grossest thing you ate?
Eating mystery meat [rabbit? Dog? Goat? All of the above??] in mystery red sauce with a side of four different kinds of carbs [LITERALLY rice, fried potatoes, deep fried plantains, and pasta with mayo on it] twice a day all month in Rwanda got old. Also, there was what I affectionately refer to as pig fat curry in India – I had my one and only food-related breakdown about that on a rooftop in Bangalore. However, jackfruit and/or durian and anything that derives a flavor from those two things… oh my gosh, AWFUL. I literally cannot breathe when I am around the smell. It’s the worst.
Oh, and I ate bull testacles in Kenya during debrief. But it was at a legit restaurant, so it wasn't bad. Sorry I'm not sorry.
