These questions were asked by the Sunday schoolers of my local church back home.
How do you travel around the world? What type of transportation?
We travel a couple different ways. Mostly by airplane and bus. We have also done a couple taxi vans as well to get from country to country.
So from the U.S. to the Phillippines we flew. We flew from Atlanta to Toyoko, Japan and had about a 2 hour layover. Then flew feom Toyoko to Manila, Philippines.
With in the Philippines we traveled mostly by van or to go to the mini mart down the road we would take a tuk-tuk. Which is a moto bike with a cart type thing attached to is so it can carry others.
From the Philippines we flew directly into Kuala Lumper, Malaysia and then took a bus to northern Maylaysia to our contact for the month.
We bused back down to Kuala Lumper. And had to wait a couple extra days for ourvisas to get processed and accepted before we flew to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
From Ho Chi Minh we took a 14 hour bus ride to Siam Reapp, Cambodia where had a debrief and talked about our month with our squad leaders. To cross the boarder we had to take all of our things out of the bus and fill out our forms than put them through xray machines then get our stamps ect. and put everythng back on the bus. From their we took another bus down to pheon pheom to meet up with the ministry partner.
While in Vietnam we would take motos or regular taxis anywhere we went.
Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand was another all day bus ride which lasted about 17 to 18 hours. At the boarder we had to again take all of our stuff off the bus and carry It through everything. First we have to fill out a departure form for Cambodia, then we we had to walk a good half mile. Our backpacks weight easily 40+ pounds and our day packs weight probably another 15. Then we had to fill out an entry form for thailland, stand in line, get our stamps, walk back down the stairs outside and then cramed into two small vans for 20 of us and all of our gear. Once in Bangkok we had to catch a taxi to our hostel.
Are there any elephants where you are? Have they been trained by humans?
Yes, both in Thailand and Africa their are Elephants. All the elephants we saw in Thailand were trained and had handlers. Some of the handlers we ran into in did not use the nicest methods to get the elephant to listen. Many of them had a sharp hook like instrument that they would jab into the side of the elephant to get it to listen or do something. Some of them it was very sad. Asian elephants are a lot smaller than African elephants. All the elephants we have seen in Africa roam free within game reserves. They are protected here, a lot of people will try and kill them for their tusks, because the tusks are ivory that can be worth a lot of money.
Elephants have very hard, wrinkly skin it is very rough to the touch. The ones is Asia surprisingly had a lot of hair as well.
Where have you been so far? What have you seen and learned?
Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and South Africa. Soon to head to Swaziland.
I have seen big crowded cities, smaller villages and towns. I have used a squatty potty, and cold bucket showers. I have seen beggars on the streets, many women in full burqua, meet children with aids and people who would get punished if they didn’t worship what the villages worshipped on Sundays… so they hold Sunday church instead things that literally have broken my heart. They break my heart because it also breaks Gods heart.
I have learned the importance of building relationships with others, that God created us for community, for one another. God has an unconditional love that as humans we can know but never fully understand.
His love and grace truly know no bounds, that you are allowed to be angry, because if you go back and read any of the old testament God himself was mad a lot, its ok to not exactly know every last thing in the world. I have learned how important ones testimony (aka: story) is to others. It can point out common struggles, give others the opportunity and hope to get through their own. That not dealing with past struggles we are holding ourselves in shame and really holding ourselves back from our full potental.
When are you coming back?
I am coming back at the end of July/ beginning of August. I do not have an official return date yet.
1) Where did you stay/sleep in the various countries you have visited?
A lot of the places we have stayed in Hostels. Hostels are a step down from a hotel. They are the low budget versions of a hotel. Usually it is a dorm style room with a handful of beds crammed into it, sometimes their is just a fan and other times their is air conditioning. Other times we have had sleeping pads out on the floor. But for the most part we have very blessed by living conditions. This month we were blessed with an apartment to ourselves. I have yet to actually have to use my tent. Thus far we have only had to sleep with bug nets once and that was in Cambodia.
2) What was the coolest part about seeing an elephant?
The coolest part was the simple fact that it came to my house. That the handler told the daughter of our contact, sure ill just bring my elephant to your house.
3) What is your favorite food that you have tried abroad?
That is a hard one, probably either the chicken fried rice of Malaysia or a chicken soup that had peanuts and was spicy and delicious in Thailand
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4) Have you learned or tried to learn any other languages?
In each country we try and learn the basics. Things like hello, how are you, and other important questions, or the food we like so we can order it. Africa has been nice because they English is one of their main languages. I however cannot spell any of the things I have learned.
5) What is your favorite country so far?
Hmmm. This is tough, I think Malaysia, I think the country and people are so incredibly beautiful.
6) Have you come across any poisonous animals?
Surprisingly not too many. We have come across mostly a couple spiders that I think were poisonous, but always in nature and you could stay a safe distance away.
7) What other religions have you encountered? What are some similarities and differences between those other religious and Lutheran beliefs?
Well the two main ones we have encountered is Buddhist and Muslim.
Buddhists believe in reincarnation. They believe that if you are born with a disability that you have done something in a past life to deserve your current situation. The same goes for the opposite, if you are born into a wealthy family you did something very good in a past life to be born into that. They are very big into karma. They stayed pretty much covered with clothing (the monks that is) and believe that touching a women makes them impure. They also have a God for everything.
Muslims will pray 5 times a day, they announce it over loud speakers each and every time it is time to pray. They think the only place they are safe is in their temple/church. They believe that as a women you should be fully covered no matter how hot and humid it may be outside, that everything except a slit for your eyes should covered. They believe that if you are born with any disability or anything like that then you have done something to displease Allah. Also they always place there Quran at the highest place in a home they can, and it would never be allowed on the floor or any of that.
8) How have you seen God’s love throughout your journey?
A lot of different ways. I have seen it a lot in little things every day that put a smile on my face. In teammates that encourage me and challenge me to grow and help me when I am struggling. I see it in the accommodations he has given us, and the contacts he has blessed us with, I have learned how much he just wants a relationship with us. That his love is truly unconditional which is a hard concept. I am not required to perform at a certain level or be a certain way, that he loves me right where I am at, that even when I am mad or angry or just upset he still loves me.
9) Is their American food abroad?
Yes, it tends to be more expensive to purchase, but you can find it, especially in the big cities.
10) What has been the most difficult part about your race around the world?
I think missing my family and friends, as well as getting in a car and going places when I want to go, our schedule is usually packed and you always have have two people come with for safety reasons.
11) Who do you want to win the Superbowl?
haha. The seahawks, although I know they already won.
How is the weather?
The weather has been very hot and particularly humid everywhere we have gone. While it maybe winter back home, right now it is summer in Africa. Africa has been dryer then Asia was. But it still has been in the 80s+ every day we have been here.
How is it in Thailand?
Thailand was beautiful and very diverse. I thought bangkok was very westernized compared to the rest of Asia. Westernized meaning it felt a lot more like I was walking through a big american city like Seattle or somewhere.
Where have you seen animals?
The small village we were in, in Thailand is where we saw our first elephant of the race. Yesterday I got to go to Kruger National Park in South Africa, which is a lot like Yellowstone if you have ever been there. It is a huge piece of protected land so the animals can roam free. It is not a zoo of any kind. There we saw Elephants, Giraffes, Rhinos, Hippos, alls kinds of birds, lions and we even saw a lapords kill up in a tree. We did not get to see the lapord however.
What are the schools like?
Well many of them still have chalk boards, they tend to be more run down, and a lot smaller, although they service a lot of kids.
Do they have a church/ Sunday School? What day do they meet on?
They do, many of the paces do still meet on Sunday. However a couple teammates and I got the opportunity to go to a small village church last week here in South Africa. This church meets in the school so more students can easily get to church. This church meets on Saturdays because in the community another religion has worship and meets on Sundays, and if you do not show up to that religions worship you can be threaten and hurt. So the church has made an effort to help these believers out and holds their service on Saturday instead
What’s the temple for?
The temple is a Buddhist temple. It is where monks live and practice. They can be found all over Thailand.
What is your favorite activity?
Ministry wise I really enjoyed this last month the most. We got to meet people all over the map that have ministries and are pursuing amazing work for God. It was amazing listening to people talk about what they were passionate about and that they were actually pursuing those passions and making a difference in the lives of the people.
Activity that I’ve gotten to do in my free time, would be hands down going to Kruger National Park yesterday, and seeing all the different animals.
It has also been cool just seeing Gods creation around the world.
How long was the flight to Africa?
probably a good 12+ hours with our layover in Kenya
