I can hardly believe that there are 11 days remaining of this “11n11” journey. I do not even know how to begin this entry. I have been blessed beyond measure, stretched beyond measure, encouraged, taught, enlightened, frustrated, and humbled, beyond measure…
We have this saying at Texas A&M,
“From the outside looking in you cannot understand it, and from the inside looking out you cannot explain it.”
The same is true of The World Race. I experienced most of the bizarre things I read about in countless blogs; sleeping on floors of airports, bus rides I thought would never end, endless meals consisting of rice with a side of rice, community that makes you want to climb the walls, preaching 3 times a day in Africa, sharing a bed with innumerable bugs, you get the idea. I have gained so much (including the rice belly I swore I wouldn’t)…but the life changing things cannot be explained, they can only be experienced.
Through all of the ups and downs I have constantly been reminded that my God loves me and genuinely cares about me. Our God is a relational God. And Behind all of the slum visits, trips to orphanages, feeding homeless people, talking with prostitutes; is a God that simply wants a relationship with us and to see us invite the lost into a glorious grace filled relationship with Him.
I know even more that our God is a God that answers prayers. There were three specific things I asked for on the race, and He graciously granted them. I prayed to be sent to Perth, Australia to see some old missionary friends, He did it. I prayed to serve with Tiny Hands International in Kathmandu, Nepal (since that organization is why I chose this route) and I had an amazing fellowship with one of their staff. I fervently prayed to spend time in the bush of Kenya near the village I had been to in 2010, and guess where I spent month 8…El Doret, Kenya.
The community of brothers & sisters is something I will forever cherish and I am sure to miss in the future. There were days when the words “team time” made my skin crawl cause I just wanted some authentic community without all of the forced feedback and scheduled meetings. But I know that nothing great happens instantly, and just as my relationship with Jesus requires quality time and intentionality, so do the earthly ones that I claim to care for.
I have had my heart shattered and gently pieced back together. I have cried for the orphans and sex workers. I walked the streets of Thamel, Nepal and ate biscuits with street kids sniffing glue. I taught english to beautiful Cambodian children, I slept on the floors of mud huts, and I buttered bread for homeless chinese senior citizens.
There were moments that I thought I’d never make it and calculated how many miles I was from the closest international airport. I laugh now thinking about how quickly the time really did pass and how miserable I made myself by thinking of home.
Thank you to each of you that supported this trip financially and prayerfully. You believed in the power of our sweet savior and when my faith was wavering I needed your prayers to carry me through and closer to him.
I have learned that It does not matter where you are from, what you look like, how you eat your food, or how you sleep at night, every single person on this planet has a desire to be loved and feel valued. The only thing that will ever satisfy the deepest desires of the human heart is Jesus Christ. Whether your day begins in the middle of the jungle or the middle of suburbia, as long as Jesus is the center of your day He will make a way for you.
The Cross Was Enough,
Currie
