Blessings,
Heather
1. THINGS I’M GLAD I BROUGHT
1. A large REI travel pillow
2. My own plug adaptors and surge protector (It really sucks to have to share or borrow.)
3. Tweaker Speakers
4. My nook
5. A small sewing kit
6. Compression sacks for clothes and sleeping bag …. Actually, bags or containers for everything. (Especially Ziploc bags.) They make packing easier, your tent or living space organized, and gives everything a place.
7. Colorful pens and pen refills (because I’m a sucker for G2 pens).
8. Multiple Journals (invaluable if you write as much as I do. Bring at least one even if you don’t normally write. Having paper is just a good idea.)
9. My Leatherman knife.
10. An airporter for my big pack.
11. Crystal Light packets
2. THINGS I WISH I’D BROUGHT
1. MORE MONEY THAN STUFF
2. Extra Headphones
3. Sweatpants and my favorite hoodie
4. Extra Leggings (two or three pairs of good quality black ones because you can wear them under everything)
5. One more pillow case
6. My study Bible
7. A concordance and commentaries (on my Nook)
8. Extra TOMS (like, two more pairs because I wear them EVERY DAY)
9. Instant Coffee packets or,
10. A travel mug that had a French press built into it.
11. Chalula Hot Sauce
3. THINGS I SHOULD HAVE LEFT AT HOME
1. Half my clothes. I left clothes behind in LITERALLY every country.
2. Gateway Netbook. It did the job, but there were definitely times when I missed my Mac. Like, every time I opened my Netbook.
3. My Nalgene. Half the time I just refilled the bottle my water came in.
4. Chacos. If you don’t wear it at home, you won’t on the Race. I returned mine when we flew through LA.
5. REI quick dry towel. Just buy a sarong. They’re totally multi-purpose, don’t smell bad and dry just as quickly as a towel.
6. A clothesline
7. Anything “quick-dry”. It was all ditched month one.
8. A cell phone (although if I had an iPhone I would have brought it. GENIUS.)
9. Medicines. You can buy whatever you need, wherever you are, even malaria medicine for WAY cheaper than in the states from pharmacies that are (almost) as legitimate.
10. Spices.
11. My expectations of what the Race should be.
4. SPECIFIC GIRL THINGS
1. Bring enough tampons for the whole year (buy the small, sport sized ones and put them into individual Ziploc bags for every month. I put them in the top of my pack and just pulled out a Ziploc per month.)
2. Enough razor blades for the year
3. Really, bring MORE underwear than you think you’ll need. Save some for month 6 and then bring it out. You’ll be so excited it’ll feel like you won a shopping spree at Victoria’s Secret. PROMISE.
4. Be aware of your effect on men. That means to be considerate of the guys on your squad (and ministries) by dressing modestly. With that said, bring a cute one-piece swimsuit.
5. You will probably gain weight. It isn’t fair, because all the guys lose weight. Consider this the curse of the Race and get over it. Quickly. Commit to learning about beauty God’s way instead.
6. All girl teams are AWESOME. Say it with me: GROUP CLOSET.
7. You will fill up whatever size bag you bring. You will also have to carry it. I “upgraded” to a 70 liter pack from a 60 liter and have been lugging extra crap all over the world ever since. (Honestly, I wish I’d kept my 60 liter.)
8. You’re going to want to feel like a girl. Bring things that, at home, do that for you. For me, that meant a little makeup, some key pieces of jewelry and a comfortable, cute dress.
9. Create a community that is high-accountability, high-preference, and high-honor within your girlfriends. They will be your allies and advocates, your battle-buddies, your pillow-talk person, your best friends and sisters. Choose to be that person for them too.
10. You have a responsibility to speak life into your men. They will become who you believe they are. Believe that they are Davids, Joshuas, Peters and Pauls in the making. Encourage them to become those men. Love them through their mistakes. Forgive them when they fail you. Celebrate the man the LORD is making them.
11.This is absolutely the time to find the love of your life and get into a relationship. His name is Jesus. He’s been pursuing you all your life. He thinks you are beautiful, wonderful and worth fighting for. He will never let you down. Commit yourself to a wild, passionate love affair with HIM this year. He’s worth it. I promise.
5. LESSONS I LEARNED
1. Jesus will always leave 99 to find the one. So should we.
2. If they’re living in sin, that’s all the more reason for them to be in the church.
3. The power of life and death is in the tongue.
4. Breakdown brings breakthrough.
5. Your heart will take you places your head can’t go.
6. The spiritual realm is extremely real, extremely active and extremely physical. There is an Enemy who wants you dead. But we serve a LIVING, ACTIVE and VICTORIOUS God.
7. With that said, worship is warfare (or, as Kenra says, “Satan-icide”). Fight hard.
8. Everyone is in process. Be gracious with each other.
9. You be who you are called to be, regardless of the situation or circumstances or actions of others.
10. You have to fight for the relationships you want, whether on the squad, the team, with your family at home or in ministry.
11. Love is always a choice. Who you love and how and how much is always up to you.
6. THINGS I MISSED THE MOST ON THE FIELD:
1. Being alone
2. My family
3. Chichi, Alli and my Colorado friends.
4. Daily hot showers
5. Coffee Shops (mostly this was in Africa)
6. Biking along the river
7. My bed
8. My car
9. Cooking in a real kitchen.
10. Cheese. Dairy products in general.
11. BEING CLEAN ALL THE TIME.
7. THINGS I WILL MISS FROM THE RACE
1. Living in a prophetic, servant-minded, high-honor, high-grace community 24-7.
2. Spontaneous, corporate worship.
3. The freedom to take a day off to pray and be with Jesus.
4. Feedback: positive and constructive.
5. Having my entire life packed into a 70 liter backpack.
6. Riding motorcycles as a primary form of transportation.
7. Children running up to me and randomly holding my hand as I walk.
8. Being constantly challenged by my team.
9. Seeing so many kinds of ministry and seeing where the LORD opens my heart.
10. A life of few distractions.
11. My teams, with all the beautiful messiness that came with them.
8. THINGS I WON’T MISS FROM THE RACE
1. Ugali / posho / sima (or maize meal made into a stiff porridge, used as the African starch. Yuck.)
2. Skype conversations with bad connections.
3. African Internet.
4. Public transportation.
5. 48 hour bus rides that include a squad-wide sleep over at the Malawi-Tanzania border.
6. Rats on the bus. Spiders the size of my fist. The most poisonous snakes in the world feet from my tent.
7. Being called “Muzungu”, “Falang” and “Gringo.”
8. Being stared at for being white.
9. Cold showers.
10. ALWAYS being dirty. There’s no such thing as clean, only reasonably dirty.
11. “Give me my money.” – the favorite phrase of children in Africa
9. AMAZING THINGS I SAW AND DID
1. Spent time with a lady boy named Fahr in Chaing Mai, Thailand
2. Fell in love with a little girl named Catherine in Malaysia.
3. Heard God audibly tell me to look for a boy named Philemon.
4. Given the gifts of intercession, prophesy and tongues.
5. Filled up six Moleskine journals in 11 months
6. Saw one of the 7 Wonders of the World: Angkor Wat
7. Saw Mount Kilimanjaro (“Mama Kili”)
8. Explored Mayan Ruins in Guatemala
9. Got rocked by the Spirit of God more than once
10. Started to believe in my loveableness
11. Forgave the men who assaulted me
10. WORLD RACE-ISMS
1. I receive that. / I rebuke that.
2. Talking about time in the sense of places. “That was so Thailand.”
3. You want it; you got it (referring to spiritual gifts).
4. BGS.
5. For the Kingdom
6. I would never do this in real life.
7. This IS real life.
8. Feedback!
9. Defilement. / Revilement.
10. T.I.A. (This is Africa.)
11. Blog about it.
11. THE “ONE” FROM EVERY MONTH
1. Guatemala: Our contact, Ilse.
2. Honduras: Ariel, a former gang leader.
3. Nicaragua: Kale, my team.
4. Thailand: Pi Gai, our contact.
5. Cambodia: Erica, my teammate.
6. Vietnam: Heather Reed, our contact.
7. Malaysia: Catherine.
8. Kenya: Mama Mary.
9. Uganda: Philemon.
10. Tanzania: Naheeda.
11. Malawi: Me.
