I received a lot more questions than I thought I would, so I’m splitting this up into 2 parts. You also have the opportunity now to ask any follow up questions you may have and I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can next time!
What is the hardest injustice that you have had to see, and did you/could you do anything when you saw it?
One night when we were in Riga, Latvia we helped an organization called Freedom 61, an organization fighting against sex trafficking, which is a huge issue in Riga. Most of our squad got involved in being the eyes of the ministry and scouting out shady activity in bars and on the streets, but we weren’t allowed to do anything. Not that I would have known what to do anyway. Our objective was to play “the dumb tourist” card and just be extra aware. We did see some shady looking stuff, but all we could do was pray.
What are you going to do when this is over?
I have no idea! We’ll see where God takes me. I’m not sure if that means future missions work or not right now. I still have 6 months to figure that out and time after. I’m not worried about it! I’d like to come home to St. Louis for sure, but who knows!
How often do you shower?
Well right now I’m back to my regular showering schedule, but it got bad in Africa. It got bad… I think my max was 5 days of no showering. I’m almost proud of it. When in Africa, standards are lowered and no one judges you…except maybe the Africans. But hey when you have to haul your own water, you learn to live on baby wipe baths and showering in the rain. That’s one of my favorite memories, when almost the entire squad showered in the rain in Malawi!
What is the easiest thing to adjust to? The hardest?
Community living has been surprisingly easy to adjust to especially after living on my own for a few months before coming out here. I’m with 5 other people 24/7. We’re literally not allowed to be alone ever. It sucks sometimes, but overall it’s been pretty easy. Plus I eat way better food than I would on my own because we cook for each other!
The hardest is maybe adjusting to life without a church to regularly be filled by. You definitely have to learn to take ownership of your own spiritual growth, which has been challenging but SO good!
Name three times that you have felt God’s presence and how.
Well that’s another awesome part of learning to take ownership of your own spiritual growth. You learn to feel God’s presence more. Pretty much every morning for the last 1.5 months, I’ve been intentionally spending time in listening prayer and writing down what I hear. It’s been pretty incredible!
What do you miss most from the past months?
I miss Africa in general. In Africa it’s easy to feel like you’re constantly doing ministry just because of where you are. In Europe, it’s more comfortable and more like home and it’s harder to see ministry opportunities. I also miss my friends from my last team, Zoa, but I’ll get to see them every month!
What do you look forward to most in the upcoming months?
The rest of our race is spent entirely in Asia! I’m excited about working in religiously closed countries with underground churches. I’m excited about seeing how different the cultures are in each Asian country we go to. I want to eat weird Asian food and I also really want to ride an elephant!
Is there a way to reach you to send packages for your birthday?
Ummm probably not. There’s too great a chance of them getting lost or stuck in customs or something that would cost a lot more than it should. But I appreciate the question!
What was the scariest moment that you ever encountered so far?
That time I got charged at by an elephant in Zambia. Yeah, I have a healthy fear of elephants now.
I know you didn’t really know what to expect from this trip. But what is the most surprising challenge you have faced? Something you didn’t really anticipate.
The most surprising challenges I’ve faced are probably more internal things. I’m surprised by the things that God’s called out in me and the ways that I’ve grown. I’m surprised I’m a team leader right now! That was not anticipated at all. I thought I’d GP it all year long (General Population). It definitely brings new challenges to the regular World Race experience, but in a great way. I came out here to be challenged and to grow.
Part 2 comin’ atcha soon!
