111 days on the Race!
In honor of being on the World Race for 111 days, I wanted to share 111 things I’ve experienced and/or things the Lord has taught me this far!
This is also a way for me to fill in some gaps and details about everyday life on the Race that time doesn’t allow for sometimes. 🙂 Also, I did NOT come up with this idea! I got it from another World Racer.
Month 1: Southern INDIA
1. We lived in 3 villages during our month in India and I LOVED it! Village life is the life for me.
2. Our first official ministry day on the Race was the 4th of July and we got to shoot off fireworks with about 40 kiddos at our first village home!
3. One of my favorite memories to this day is getting to sleep on a roof under a star-filled Indian skyline. It was so beautiful!
4. Indian sunsets. Just YES.
5. We were in Southern India in a province called Andhra Pradesh where they speak a language called Telugu and “Vandanalou” in Telugu means “Praise the Lord!”
6. India is a very conservative culture and HOT so it was interesting to wear scarves and cover our ankles in the middle of July!
7. A couple times during the month my team and I “planted trees” for an Indian newspaper AKA we took a picture with a tree in our hand and then didn’t have to do anything else.
8. We got to share in lots of churches and villages.
9. One time I had the privilege of sharing the good news of Jesus to Hindu villagers where there is one Christian among them in the POURING RAIN. By far it was my favorite moment from India.
10. My teammates and I got a huge skin infection/skin rash that lasted about 3 weeks
11. We got to play awesome Indian kids’ games called Cocoo and Kabdi. They are so fun and Kabdi is actually a professional Indian sport!
12. We had so many fun and crazy auto rickshaw rides (Sometimes with 25 people!)
13. I stepped in pig poop in front of 25 kids! #embarrassing
14. We spent an afternoon at the beach of the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal with the sweetest Indian boys from a children’s home we visited.
15. I also got hit by a huge wave and fell into the ocean that day with a maxi skirt on!
16. In our 3rd village, my teammates and I were showered with beautiful bangle bracelets by the sweet Indian women of the village.
17. We got henna done by them for free as well a few days after that. It was amazing and we felt so honored by them.
18. My team and I LOVED our ministry host in India! #bestministryhosteva (Sean and Paige, you know who you are!)
19. Although it got old pretty fast, I really did enjoy Indian food! And sometimes I miss it.
20. Only 2.3% of the population of India would claim Christianity. The true evangelical population is actually less than that. The Church of India struggles with diluting the truth of the true gospel of Jesus with the prosperity gospel. PRAY FOR INDIA.
21. The sheer number of people in India broke my heart. There are over 1 billion people here in India which is almost 20% of the world’s population.
22. That means that almost 1 of every 5 people in the world is Indian, most likely a Hindu, and going to hell.. Maybe without ever hearing about Jesus. This sounds harsh but it is reality for the over 6,600 unreached people groups around the world.
23. My team and I became a drama team in India. Some of our acts included reenacting Noah and the Ark, David and Goliath, and Moses parting the Red Sea.
24. Two times in India we got to ride an overnight train through Southern India and it was super cool!
25. India: Coffee, Chapati, and Curry. All day. Everyday. Every meal.
26. NAAN
27. Most people that have visited India either love or hate India. It is definitely a contrast culture to most western cultures. I definitely did not hate it, but I wouldn’t say I was in love with it either. But India will always have a place in my heart.
28. The host family in our 3rd village threw a birthday party at 6am for my teammate Carolyn’s birthday with a cake and all.. And we did the Cha Cha Slide, of course.
29. One of our last nights in India, we slept on the roof of our last village and about an hour into sleeping, it started pouring rain! We ran like wild women downstairs. It was so much fun!
30. The Lord grew my heart even more for India AFTER I actually left India. And I didn’t realize all of the gems that came out of the month until after I left.
31. My sister-in-law had my first niece while I was in India!
32. We got to love on the most fun and beautiful kiddos at the villages we stayed at!
33. The last home/family we stayed with was my favorite–an all-boys home with the most precious boys.. And they LOVED to dance!
Month 2: Kathmandu, NEPAL
34. Nepal was all-squad month for T-Squad so we all lived together in one house!
35. One night some of the girls and our squad leader Kent dropped water balloons on the men of our squad from the roof of our house!
36. “Dhannebad Yeshu mero mande khi” means “Thank you Jesus from my heart” in Nepali.
37. I celebrated my 23rd birthday in Nepal! My squadmates threw a little birthday shin-dig for me and a couple other girls who had birthdays too.
38. I had a legitimate corndog at a southern-style restaurant in Kathmandu! It was BOMB.
39. I discovered I had lice in Nepal! But thankfully my kind squadmates helped me get rid of it. ??
40. At the beginning of our month, our whole squad of 49 people got to hike a mountain overlooking all of the Kathmandu valley where we prayed, shouted victories, worshipped, and proclaimed Scripture and redemption over Nepal.
41. Psalm 135:15-18 is what the Lord gave me in Nepal one night that represents the idolatry of Hinduism and Buddhism. “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; They have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.
42. We got to help put on a soccer tournament for street kids and it was SO much fun!
43. I swam in a pool for the first time on the Race in Nepal!
44. One day in Nepal, a little Nepali girl came up to my teammate Liz and I and had the word “Jesus” written on her arm. It was WILD since the country only claims 1% Christianity.
45. We got to attend English church services all month in Kathmandu at an international church!
46. My teammates Liz, Hope, and I met these two missionaries one day at a coffee shop in Kathmandu and they prophesied over us and encouraged us. It was so refreshing and a sweet moment from the Lord!!
47. Some of my squadmates and I rented scooters in Kathmandu! It was so fun… And I fell off of it.
48. Don’t underestimate how many people can fit on a Nepali public bus.
49. Nepal is home to Mt. Everest.
50. GOD IS PURSUING PEOPLE from ALL nations. My team and I got to participate in a “treasure hunt” one day in Nepal where we were led to a mall by the Lord. My teammate Casey and I specifically got to witness our dear brother and translator Bipin share the gospel two beautiful Nepali girls that God specifically led us to after showing my teammate and translator visions of them. It was amazing and by far my favorite moment in Nepal.
51. A beautiful promise from the Lord if you are weary like I was in Nepal: “For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing [longing] soul I will replenish.” -Jeremiah 31:25
52. “God has changed our nature so we have no excuse to sin. We are slaves to righteousness.” -Meraia McDaniel, one of my squadmates
53. I got to watch a beautiful lightning storm one night on the roof of our house in Nepal.
54. Nepal was a very hard month for me spiritually but I learned so much.
55. Perspective is everything. One morning in Nepal, my team and I found out we had to go to church at 6am far away for a second week in a row. And what I thought was going to be the worst day ever ended up being on of the best days on the Race so far.
Month 3: Takhmao, CAMBODIA
56. I love the people of Cambodia.
57. The Lord connected my heart very deeply to a 17-year old girl at the children’s center we helped at. At the end of the month, she gave me her prayer card and it’s now in my bible. 🙂 FUN FACT about her: she is so much cooler than I am.
58. I really enjoyed ministry in Cambodia and LOVED the kids we got to spend time with all month at the children’s home we worked at. They were so much fun and so crazy. I loved every minute of being with them.
59. My sweet friend and squadmate Hannah Hand and I almost got attacked by monkeys at Angkor Wat Temple.
60. I played Dutch Blitz for the first time in Cambodia with my team. It is so fun!
61. The people of Cambodia have experienced so much tragedy through the genocide of the communist reign of the Khmer Rouge in 1975-1980. The Khmer Rouge set up “killing fields” all over the country where Khmer people were tortured, beaten, and murdered by the thousands. Over 3 million men, women and children were killed through the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian people are still being affected by it all today.
62. BUT this quote I found describes what the Lord is doing in Cambodia now. “The fields of Cambodia, once “killing fields,” have given way to fields ready for sowing seeds of the gospel.” -The Gospel Coalition
63. Cambodian Tuk Tuks have been my favorite way to travel this far on the Race. SO much fun!
64. One of my favorite things to do in Cambodia was seeing all of the crazy things people carry with them on their motorcycles.. (bags of meat, IVs, dogs, giant bags of vegetables, etc).
65. Our ministry hosts were Korean and so we got to eat at a Korean restaurant one night in the capital, Phnom Penh. It was SO GOOD! #Koreanfoodftw
66. A verse that the Lord put on my heart in Cambodia very often was Psalm 63:3: “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.”
67. One day, my skirt fell down when I was chasing birds in Phnom Penh. That was #EMBARRASSING.
68. Our ministry hosts were SO passionate about prayer and intercession for their ministry. And it was clear how God is using it.
69. DRAGONFRUIT.
70. A quote that the Lord showed me in Cambodia that is now so precious to me is, “It is a safe thing to trust Him to fulfill the desires which He creates.” -Amy Carmichael.
Month 4: Mae Sot, THAILAND
71. We worked with a ministry called Outpour Movement that works with displaced youth from the Thai and Burma border. They also have a RAD burger restaurant called Famous Ray’s Burger Shop and bike shop called Famous Ray’s Bike Shop as well.
72. Mae Sot, Thailand is a unique city that is on the border of Burma (Myanmar) and is home to Thai people, Burmese people, and Karen people (A people group of Burma). And even though we are in Thailand we mainly worked with people from Burma/Myanmar.
73. The people and youth of Myanmar are AMAZING. I loved being with them this month. They are so passionate. I have so much love for them.
74. The people of Myanmar have been through so much governmental oppression, genocide, and civil war over the last 65 years so many of them have fled to other countries for refuge. Mae Sot, Thailand happens to be a place for many of them.
75. My teammates Hope, Liz, and I taught English to a group of DTS students from Burma and loved it!
76. We got to see 3 waterfalls in Thailand!
77. PAD THAI. ALWAYS.
78. Casa Mia Restaurant, Mae Sot, Thailand: Best banana pancakes EVA
79. I saw Everest in Thailand.. The movie! #gotcha
80. I got to learn some sweet break dance moves from some of my little brothers in Christ from Burma!
81. We rode bicycles as our transportation and I LOVED it! #whoneedstoworkoutwhenyouarebiking
82. Part of our ministry included doing manual labor every week. So we got to cut down trees, sand wood, sledgehammer concrete, paint, etc. It was so fun! And it was 2 all-WOMEN teams!
83. We got to go to a Thai festival one night which was basically a Thai version of a county fair!
84. One day for ministry we got to go to an abandoned hotel that overlooked Mae Sot and Burma where we worshipped and interceded for both places.
85. One day we actually got to travel INTO Burma and spend the day there meeting people and prayer walking. It was really great. It also will technically mean we will go to 12 countries in 11 months rather than just 11! #12n11
86. Because we lived next to Famous Ray’s Burger Restaurant all month, we had so many good all-American burgers, fries, and milkshakes!
87. “Sawadeekah” means ‘hello’ in Thai and “Mingalabah” means ‘hello’ in Burmese!
88. On one of our last nights in Mae Sot, we had the PRIVILEGE of attending a youth worship night with some of the youth of Burma we got to hang with all month at the grounds of their new creative arts center! It was amazing and one of my favorite nights in Thailand and on the Race so far.
89. The Lord highlighted the words “quiet” and “obscurity” for me all month in Thailand. For me, it was a way for me to practically walk out humility in quietness and in obscurity– what He’s been teaching me the whole Race so far.
EXTRA
90. HUMILITY. It’s funny.. He is teaching me what I asked Him to teach me. 🙂
91. Where sin increases, grace abounds all the more.
92. Peanut butter is a staple on the World Race. My first team and I went through a lot of peanut butter so far. 🙂
93. Being a team leader was by the far one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done, and yet it is BY FAR the avenue that God taught me the most through.
94. Earphones are wonderful on the Race. Alone time is rare.
95. God’s wisdom is not thwarted by suffering; it’s understood.
96. Sharing is caring. My teammates and I shared everything. #trynabethatActs2church
97. Some of my favorite memories have been laughing so hard I start crying with my teammates late at night. #delusional #teamgrace
98. It’s amazing how little a person can live off. We really don’t need as much as we think we do. –> 5 outfits = 10 outfits on the Race
99. I love street food. Kent Cranford, thank you brother. #youleftthebestlegacy
100. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” -Proverbs 15:1
101. Sometimes the best way you can love someone is just letting them share their heart and their struggles and not try to fix it. Just listening and loving. This is something I’m learning.
102. A beautiful quote I read in Nepal that explains the excellency of Christ and the gospel so well: “The all-sufficiency of Christ in the gospel of grace to restore ruined sinners to Himself for their joy and His glory.”
103. Bucket showers are really not that bad. Especially cold ones in the heat of India.
104. Conviction –> brokenness –> dependency on the Lord –> intimacy with the Lord –> overflow from Him to others
105. I miss my church at home, Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, and church community ALL the time and I am constantly reminded what a GOOD GIFT from the Father they are to me. If any of my CCK friends are reading this, I don’t think you will ever realize how grateful I am for you!!
106. I cannot WAIT to shop at the international grocery section at Publix when I come home next May!
107. “Our salvation is secure because we are “in Christ Jesus.” You are in Christ Jesus and He has given Himself completely to you for all that He is.” -Ray Ortland
108. “God deliberately designed the gospel in such a way so as to strip me of pride and leave me without any grounds for boasting in myself whatsoever.”
109. The valley is the most fertile place in landscapes. And so it is with our journey with Jesus. We learn Him in the hard places. In the valley. Nothing grows on the mountain tops.
110. Theology informs intimacy. When I have a right understanding of Jesus, it will lead me to worship Him in all of His beauty and glory in Spirit and in truth. So what we learn about Him should lead us to be in awe of who He is and to worship Him in our inner being. Head knowledge then becomes heart worship.
111. I’M A SQUAD LEADER NOW! 🙂 #craziness
There is so much more I could put in this blog about how amazing the last 4 months have been, but this will have to do. 🙂 if you read this far, thank you!! I hope you enjoyed it.
SUPPORTERS, THANK YOU!! You have made all of this possible. Thank you, thank you!! I am blown away by your faithfulness to support me spiritually and financially.
Currently, I am about $3,672 short of being fully funded for my Race and to continue past December 31! God is doing so much in my heart and so I would love your prayer and consideration to give financially to the rest of my Race or refer me to someone who might be interested. 🙂
Again, THANK YOU. You are bringing the best news in the whole world to more and more people so they might be SAVED! This really is the greatest mission to give your life to.
For Christ’s glory among all peoples,
Karleigh
