Hi everybody! I asked on Facebook for some questions about my Race and here are the first 20 I received! I did my best to answer them fully but briefly. This is a first step into bringing all of you into this journey as I will be back in the USA in five days.
If you have any more questions, ask away! Okay, here we go!
- “Did you miss me? Like, me specifically?”
I missed everyone! Homesickness is a real thing, but it strangely fades over time. Once the Race shifted from being a yearlong program I was doing to being my real life, the homesickness faded. But yes, Daniel, I missed you and all our shenanigans at work.
- “Is there one experience that sticks out to you?”
SO MANY! If there is really one thing I’ll hold on to is in the Philippines when I shared my testimony to hundreds and hundreds of high school girls. We had so many testimonies of girl’s lives being changed by the way God worked in me and my squadmate’s lives.
One I’ll never forget is a girl, after the session, asking me to pray for her. I did and when I opened my eyes, big tears rolled down her face. She smiled and said, “I never knew God thought I was beautiful until he sent you here to tell me I am.”
It was humbling to be used in such an impactful way for who am I to be used to transform others?
- “What was Balabag tenting like?”
Reference: Balabag is a tiny sugar cane farming village in the Philippines where I lived in my tent during typhoon season. So tenting in Balabag? Wet, stinky, moldy, sleepless, but also probably the most memorable living situation of my entire Race.
- “How do you keep others from eating your food?”
Mostly if you’re eating in public, you’re planning on getting asked by at least two if not thirty four squadmates if they can have a bite of whatever it is. So if you want to keep others from eating your stuff you either; 1. Eat in the bathroom with the door closed 2. Hide it in your backpack and only pull out one bite at a time, or 3. When you sit down with food you announce “this is my food, I got it at the shop down the street, it cost 2 euro, you can go get your own if you want a taste.”
- “Would you do it again?”
If you’re asking would I, Kayla of August 2017 who is just now finishing her World Race, launch again for another 11n11 the answer is no.
If you’re asking would I, Kayla of August 2016 who has yet to launch but knows all the experiences I will have over the year and can decided whether I want to go through all of it, launch knowing all that will happen, then yes I would. In a heartbeat, a thousand times over.
- “Were there any unsettling moments?”
Yeah, a few. We trust others for all of our transport for an entire year, so trusting complete strangers with your life constantly can be really scary—especially in Asia where they drive INSANELY. Africa is where I actually felt safest, the only unsettling moment happened when I was in Zambia without any of our guys and a drunk man grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go.
But kind of like I said, I’ve been on a co-ed team all year (aside from girl month in Zambia) and always having the men with me allowed me to walk in a lot more authority and made me feel real safe. The world is an unsettling place, but I was blessed enough to not have had to walk through any of it alone, and end up here, safe and sound, on the other side.
- “Would you write a book about your experiences?”
Yes. Stay tuned!
- “Thoughts on coming back to America? Any worries, apprehensiveness…?”
ALL the thoughts. Having been in Spain for a month has helped the transition a lot since we’re fully immersed in western culture again. I have had moments of severe anxiety being around a lot of consumerism and technology, which has been a weird one.
I’m not so much worried as curious to see how I’ll react to a lot of things. Like, the thought of texting and people being able to get in contact with me 24/7 again is strange, and being around people who all speak my same language is weird, and holding green American dollars will be weird, and being able to get in my car and go anywhere at any time will be weird.
- “How have you grown in your faith after the World Race?”
My God is so big and so much more than I ever thought He was. Faith is everything I do now. Every step and every breath. I wouldn’t have made it past day one of Cambodia without reliance on Him. My faith is so secure now that if He asks, I can jump off metaphorical cliffs and I know—I know—He’s going to catch me, no fear, no hesitation.
10.“How do you think the Race has changed you as a person?”
Please refer to my previous blogs.
Haha, but okay for real, I’ve changed a whole lot. The main thing is I know who I am now. She always alluded me, clouded by the falsity of American life and hidden by my own refusal to dig up old hurts.
But now, I’m who I was always created to be. I’m goofy, I dance all the freaking time, I’m always singing (badly), I’m full of peace and patience and joy that doctors told me I would never have because of anxiety and depression, I am brave, I love people really well and have learned how to do that, and I’m just… I’m me. And I like me—really truly like who I am—for probably the first time ever.
11. “What was the funniest joke you heard?”
A five year old American missionary kid told me this joke in the Ukraine: Why did the dinosaur wash his eggs? Because his eggs-stinked! (Like “extinct”, you know? We laughed.)
12. “What was the most faith-provoking experience?”
In Romania I met a little girl named Alexia and she wrecked my heart. I had to, and still have to, have faith that God is doing a work in her life. I pray for her all the time still and I have faith that He will call her to his arms. The full story is recorded in a blog here.
13. “Give us some tips on true community!”
Here’s a few bullet points because I could honestly give a whole sermon series on this:
-COMMUNICATION. You gotta talk about the hard stuff as much as the fun stuff. If someone hurts you, take it to God, have Spirit help you find the right words, and tell them.
-VULNERABILITY. It’s a foundation for depth and is honestly the most beautiful thing. We believe our true selves our either too much or not enough, but truth is, when you’re vulnerable with a solid community, you’re going to be greeted with love and open arms.
-PATIENCE and GRACE. These go hand in hand because nobody is perfect so have patience with one another and always extend grace before judgement.
-TIME. There’s nothing like genuinely spending time together—no phones, no wifi, no work, just talking and games and fun.
-INTENTIONALITY. Find out how others want to be loved and the love them. Listen to their stories and ask questions. Call them. Everybody has gold inside, so intentionally take time to seek that out in others because gosh, humans are amazing things.
14. “What was your favorite thing you ate on the World Race?”
So much good food! I love kow soi from Thailand (it’s a crunchy spicy noodle soup), banana roti from Malaysia (sort of a crepe meets naan bread), lumpia from The Philippines (sort of a thin eggroll), all natural peanut butter from Zimbabwe (best PB of my LIFE), farm fresh goat cheese from Albania OH and sufflage (it’s like schwarma but a thousand times better), and sea food pallea from Spain (fancy seafood fried rice).
15. “How will your life look different after coming back from the World Race?”
Gosh, I’m going to be very intentional about my time. I can’t really sit and watch TV or movies all the time any more (bye, Netflix), and I’ve taken big steps away from social media. I hope both of these things stick around since they’ve been replaced with face to face conversations and time spent outdoors. I’m definitely an outdoors person now, which I was before but now I get so antsy if it’s been a couple weeks in a city.
Life is going to be a lot less planned and I’m not worried about that one bit. It’s going to be me learning how to take everything I’ve learned about Kingdom Culture—something I’ve successfully fit into eleven cultures around the world— and live it here in the USA.
16. “What was the hardest thing you faced or something you had to overcome during your Race?”
Well, I faced a lot… a lot, a lot. I am realizing that one of my hardest struggles has been learning how to be loved and looked after. I’m independent, but in extreme community and ministry, you cannot be independent all the time. It’s been hard to learn how to ask for help and admit I don’t know how to do everything. And gosh, learning how to ask for love from others when I needed it was so humbling.
I’m still growing in this, but I now know I’m worthy of love and I’m not alone in anything I do. Thus, it’s a relief to know that where I am weak, Rashidat is strong, or Walker, or Bliz. I don’t have to bear anything alone and, in fact, it’s often much more beautiful when we talk about it, are vulnerable, and then carry weights together.
17. “What are you going to take from your experience on the Race to your next season of life?”
Well, God literally took me around the earth and each day, I had a place to sleep, food to eat, and people to walk through it with me. I’ve been in some of the poorest and most dangerous places on the planet, yet He carried me through all of it. Knowing this–knowing how He’s already showed up—I have no worries for this next season. It’ll be different and difficult, but why would I ever think He’d stop standing right beside me just because I’m back in America?
18. “How would your world be different if you didn’t go?”
I can’t even imagine not going. I wouldn’t know who I am, I wouldn’t have a family of 40 amazing men and women, I wouldn’t have all the stories of all the believers living around the world residing in my heart. My world would still be incredibly small, and my idea of God even smaller.
19. “What reflections of Christ did you see through every month in the different countries?”
I saw Him everywhere. I saw Him in the ministry organizer who rescues girls from Thailand sex trafficking. I saw Him in our Malaysian “mom” who made sure we were loved and looked after. I saw Him in our evangelist friends in Zimbabwe. I saw Him in the stars of Malawi. I saw Him in my teammates when I cried but they smiled, loving me so well. I saw Him in a teenage girl helping us feed the homeless of Romania. I see Him in so much because that’s just it—He’s everywhere, we just need to wake up and look around.
20. “Where did you see God the most?”
Through the entire year, I saw Him the most in people and in nature. I’ve already talked about the people a bit, but nature has been a huge one. It’s the way He’s spoken to me the most, from whispers about his majesty while standing on coastlines in Malaysia, to the full Milky Way being visible in Malwi, to the beautiful mountains in Albania, He’s used nature to sooth my soul, tell me jokes, teach me deep lessons, and just spoil me with beauty.
Thanks for the questions and for being with me this whole journey! I look forward to all the conversations in the next months!
