Halfway through Race I gave a little recap about each month from the first 6 months. It seems so incomplete to tell just a couple of stories out of each country, but it’s a start. Here are some of my favorite powerful, funny, and growing moments from the last 5 months of the World Race.
Cambodia:
– One incredible part of this month was seeing God opening opportunities for us to share about Him in unexpected places. My teammate and I were invited by one of our students, a Buddhist monk, to come teach his students one evening. I have rarely laughed as much while teaching a class as I did with these 25 young monks. It was a wonderful chance to engage more in their culture and share about what had brought us to Cambodia.
– Cambodia definitely gave us some of our funnier transportation moments. We rode bicycles around town frequently, which was great unless you happened to get stuck in a monsoon season rainstorm and end up stranded at a restaurant. We did ended up sitting at dinner watching the water rise above the sidewalk and wondering how we’d manage to ride bikes home through the floodwaters. Getting through roundabouts in Cambodia on bikes always reminded me of that scene in Mulan where the Grandma walks across the busy street with the lucky cricket: close your eyes, pray, and hope for the best.
-I grew so much as a teacher this month. It was the only time on the Race where I had the same class that I taught 5 days a week. I loved learning from my students and hearing their opinions and plans for life. They were a great class, and getting to spend each afternoon with them was so rewarding for me.
Malaysia:
– The most powerful moment for me this month was really simple: holding a special needs boy named Ragavan. He didn’t see or hear, so he counted on smell and touch to tell him about the world around him. One day we were able to go with the kids on an outing to a local pool. I was sitting next to Ragavan in the water when he climbed into my lap, wrapped his arms around me, and sat there with his head on my shoulder. I had no idea how to reach this little boy, so I just hugged him until he was ready to let go.
– While we were in Malaysia a few of us had the opportunity to do some street ministry with a local organization. The first night, we were picked up around 10:30 p.m. by one of the staff members from our host ministry and two of the residents from St Nicholas’ Home that I hadn’t met yet. We’d had a great night of ministry and were tired, but our new friends announced that we were going to get coffee. So, by 11 p.m. we were seated at a roadside restaurant, trying some local food, laughing, and making new friendships. As usual, the unexpected was more rewarding than anything we could have planned.
– This month was harder for me than a lot of others – it was one of the first times on the Race where I had to try to love it. That was tough for me, but I’m so glad God gave me the opportunity to push into the hard things. There’s so much I ended up loving about this month, and I’m glad I didn’t miss it by letting the hard things get the best of me.
Philippines:
-I will never forget falling asleep in a park in the Philippines with our kids, and getting woken up in the middle of the night by a guard who was kicking us out of the park. If I could have taken each of my young friends home with me in that moment, I would have done it.
-We had a bonfire with the kids one night, and one of the boys was generously sharing marshmallows that he’d been given. Every time I saw him he only had one marshmallow in his hand, yet he kept coming up with more to give away. It wasn’t until after I’d eaten the one he gave me that I realized he had turned part of his shorts inside out to make a pocket, and he had a nice stash of marshmallows tucked away inside his pants.
– This was my first month of team leading, so of course there was a lot of learning in it for me. I had to learn to be bold and speak what God had put on my heart, but to do it in a healthy and loving way. We also had more down time than usual this month, so my go-go-go mentality had to learn a new way to operate. It was a good chance for me to intentionally fill my time with the things that were important to me when I wasn’t handed a full schedule.
South Africa:
– Our last night in Ocean View, my team and I walked all of our neighborhood kids back to their homes. It was a completely futile effort because for every kid we dropped off, at least 2 more joined the group. Basically we just carried them around the community for close to an hour. What touched me so much is how the kids received us. There were kids that had been skeptical of us and unwilling to listen at the beginning of the month who ran down the street with big grins and threw themselves into our arms that last night. God changed hearts this month, mine most of all.
– One of my favorite things about this month was living in the community with our kids. I loved having them stop by our house a dozen times a day, even if it meant we never had any peace and quiet. One night the guys on our team were out with our host, and we were planning a girls’ night for the four of us. As we got ready to start a movie, I heard giggling outside my bedroom window. I peeked out the curtain to see a group of kids sneaking in our front gate and creeping along the wall to hide by our door. We opened the door to see about 12 of our young friends in our yard. They said they had gotten bored without us (in the 2 hours since they saw us last) and just wanted to come see what we were doing.
– Man, I learned a lot this month. I learned to let God carry my burdens so that I could lead well. I learned to find a way to contribute when it felt like I was out of my element (spraining my ankle right before a month of sports ministry wasn’t great timing). I learned how to have the Father’s heart for His children, and to love them unconditionally.
Swaziland:
– I was amazed this month by the joy of kids at El Shaddai Children’s Home. Hearing their stories was heartbreaking, but it was also so powerful to see their strength. Worshipping with them was my favorite part. These kids know so much about God’s love, and it’s evident in the joyful way they praise him.
– A few of us decided to go for a hike one day near the orphanage. The weather had been stormy, but that was nothing new, and the storm clouds seemed to have moved on. As we hiked though, the thunder and lightning started coming back our way. We were almost to the peak we’d been heading towards when we realized that there were actually two lightning storms, and they appeared to be converging right over our heads. We booked it back home, but by this point it was raining so hard we were drenched in minutes. To make matters worse, there were some freakish little bugs that came out of nowhere as the storm let loose. They swarmed us, sticking to our wet coats, hair, and skin like some kind of disturbing, winged fur. That was the last time we hiked on a stormy day.
– Swaziland was the start of learning to let go. Being faced with the imminent end of the World Race made me look seriously at how I wanted and expected life to be post-Race. I had to learn to make the most of what was right in front of me without spoiling it by worrying about what was coming after.
Well, that’s it. It’s not possible to tell all the stories of the past 11 months, but I hope you’ve enjoyed the pieces I’ve been able to share. I could go on and on about how blessed I was by this incredible year – don’t worry, I won’t do that here. If you would like to hear more about any aspect of this journey, please talk to me ([email protected]). I’m more than happy to answer any questions about the Race or just tell you a little more about what it meant to me.
