So here's the deal! To those of you considering or who have already been accepted to the world race this blog is to help you understand what travel days are like and how to experience them successfully.
1) Don't have expectations! You may be going into this race expecting it to be a certain way, but for real my friend let go completely. Even when you read blogs, don't expect your race experience to be the same. Each racers experience is unique to their squad and team. So embrace the moment!
2) Be Flexible! For real though things will change…probably a thousand times in one day. So if you're a Type A personality or even if you're not, just be ready for travel plans, ministry, squads, and teams to change. It's gonna happen….a lot!!! Ye have been warned! But for real that's the beauty of the World Race experience so embrace it!
3) Allow God To Be A Part Of Even Your Travel Days! It's easy as Americans/Canadians (I have a Squadmate from Canada..so cool) to compartmentalize God and allow Him to be a part of only certain times in our lives. Like we include God when we go to church, sometimes before we eat, in ministry times, and when times are tough but besides that we forget to include Him in everyday life! Just because you go on the World Race does not mean that perception of life will be shattered unless you make a conscious effort to. And trust me…if you do He won't let you down!
So to give you a little taste of what travel days may look like for you on the World Race here is a story of an experience I had on my travel to Romania to Serbia:
First of all I will set up the scenario for you. My team and two others did ministry in Serbia while the rest of my squad did ministry in the neighboring country of Bulgaria (aka Bulkraine). So although Serbia is a straight shot to Romania (final destination) we had to backtrack to Bulgaria/Bulkraine to meet up and travel with the rest of our squad (you will always meet up with your squad to travel with them to the next country and trust me you will grow to love that time).
All of our team leaders and logistic people traveled ahead of us to Romania to go to leadership training. Therefore, they put Erin (Squadmate) and I in charge of getting all fourteen of us to Bulgaria from Serbia to meet up with the squad. They gave us train tickets and we were told that if we got on the train it would be about an eight hour train ride straight to Sofia, Bulgaria and then we had to take the Metro for about an hour to meet up with our squad.
Simple right? So we all boarded the train at 9:50pm and settled into our compartments hoping to get as much sleep as we could as we traveled through the night. It started out great! I bounced from compartment to compartment sparking conversations about what God had done in our lives the past month and even whipped out my guitar and had a random worship time with some. Great times! God was moving!
It was around 3am and as the train rocked back and forth I was fighting to stay awake. I didn't feel right about letting myself fall asleep for some reason. Finally, I stepped out of my compartment as the train stopped at a train station in Nis, Serbia just to peer out at the beautiful city! As I leaned out the window a cold breeze hit my face and I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply the smell of the night dew. In the distance I heard the faint whistle signaling the train it was safe to leave.
As the train began to press forward I slipped back into my compartment and rested my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. Sleep began to take over but was suddenly interrupted by the swinging open of the compartment door. The ticket man was coming around again. I reached down to show the man our group ticket. I handed it to him and settled back into my seat and watched as his face turned from indifference to an intense look of worry. He grabbed my shoulder and began to yell at me in Serbian (obviously I didn't understand a word he was saying). I kept saying, "English, only English." But he just kept yelling and pointing at the ticket. All of my squadmates in my compartment were now fully awake and starting to look worried so I quickly stepped outside of the compartment and tried to close the door. I quickly prayed in my head, "God, I have no idea what this guy is saying but I'm not thinking it's anything good. Please send me someone who can help me."
I kid you not, the moment I finished that prayer a man came up behind us whom I had never seen before on the train and he just so happened to speak English. He talked to the ranting ticket man for a good ten minutes and then turned to me and explained that my whole team should have got off at the train station in Nis to catch a bus to the next train station and from there we were to get on a train to Sofia. The train we were on was currently headed to Macedonia!
NOT GOOD! So I looked at the man and asked him to ask the ticket man what the heck we were supposed to do. The man came back and told me that we had to get off the train at the next station and we had to backtrack back to Nis. So I went to wake up Erin and the rest of the squad.
We had no way of getting a hold of anyone so Erin and I started thinking of solutions. While we stood there laughing (because that's all we knew to do) the man who had helped me before came up to me and informed us that he also just so happened to be getting off at the next stop, so he would help us. The train finally came to a stop and our group finally piled off the train with their packs on there backs. As we departed the train we were met with a small Podunk train station enveloped in darkness. There was nothing else around but a couple of stray cats and dogs. As my squadmates made themselves as comfortable as they could on the benches and even the ground, Erin and I went in with "the man" to sort out the situation.
The man behind the counter did not speak English so "the man" began to speak with him. At first we were told that we would have to pay for our tickets to Nis and our train would be there at 6am. We didn't really have the money. I prayed, "God give us favor!" Next thing we knew "the man" told us that our tickets would be good enough to get us to the border of Serbia for FREE and from there we could take a bus to Sofia, Bulgaria. Perfect!!! Then right after we got it all straightened out "the man" left. Erin and I looked at each other and she said, "Marie, I think that guy was an angel! I seriously do!" It made sense! He came out of nowhere. Randomly spoke English and just so happened to get off at the same stop as us. Then he helped us get free tickets back to Nis and then he just left. What!?!? Cool God!
We made it to Nis just in time to climb on a small train to the border of Serbia. FOR FREE! After about a four hour train ride, we finally arrived at the border at about 11am. So Erin, Susannah, and I ran off to find the bus station. The town was so small that it didn't even have a bus station. It had a tiny office in which there was a lady who spoke no English. So we grabbed a random 16 year old girl off the street who spoke very minimal English and tried to communicate with them to get us a bus to Sofia.
Finally, we figured out there was a bus leaving at 1:30pm to the border of Bulgaria. We were told that from there we could get a bus to Sofia. We got our squadmates and then hiked about twenty minutes through the town with all of our belongings on our backs. We were such a spectacle that we we actually made the news as the headline story! Yeah! They interviewed me as everyone was getting on the bus to leave. CRAZY!
We got to the border and it started down pouring! So we crossed the Bulgarian border….on foot….in the rain! Come on people now that's funny! We had a good laugh about it! The only problem is that we didn't see one bus. Not even a taxi. NOT GOOD! By that time I was running on zero hours of sleep in the last 30 hours. And everyone else was exhausted! But The Lord sustained us and kept our spirits high! Everyone kept a positive attitude but let's face it, everyone was ready to just get there! We were so close! Yet so very far away! Erin and I began to ask around for busses and all we got was blank stares and rude answers. Finally someone told us there was a town about 3 miles away and if we could get everyone there we could get a bus to Sofia. That was our only option because there was no busses at the border at all. And to top it all off, there was no way we could get to that town without walking. In the rain. With all that we owned on our backs. Yeah that wasn't happening.
For the first time that day I got somewhat discouraged. We were stranded at the border with no possible way of getting where we needed to go. In that moment Erin and I walked over to our squadmates and told them, "OK we've got everything under control (we didn't), but if y'all could just start praying for favor and for open doors that would be great!" And so they did. They all got together and started praying hardcore!
Erin and I walked away and stopped to pray before we approached the border police again to beg them for help. After praying we had a new courage and confidence that God was going to come through. As we walked up for the second time, we asked once again for any help at all that they could offer us. We were shot down again and as we began to walk away a man, not in uniform, pulled us aside and told us he wanted to help us. He had a friend that he would call to see if he could come pick us up. As he called, Erin and I started praying harder than I think either of us had ever prayed before haha! When he got off the phone he looked at us and smiled. "My friend can come pick you up and take you to the exact place that you are staying! He will be here in forty minutes!" We started praising Jesus right then and there. We rushed over to our squadmates to share the good news and they let put a cry of relief and thankfulness! I sat down for literally the first time that day and began to just thank God for all He had done and for all that he had taught me in the last 30 hours! Three train rides, two bus rides, one news interview, and two "angels" later we finally made it back to the rest of our squad where we traveled without incident to Romania!
That's my story and in stickin to it! Moral of the story: God is faithful! He has everything under control! So let go of your expectations, be flexible, and include God in everything and, I promise, your World Race experience may not be what you thought it would be but so much better! Have fun and embrace every moment!
With Joy,
Marie Olson
Thanks for reading and thank you for your prayers! They are obviously working 🙂
Quick financial update: I am more than halfway funded and am in need of $1,709 by October to reach my next deadline! And then all I need is $6,209 to be fully funded! Im so excited as i get closer and closer to the deadline! God is moving and i love being his hands and feet in these places he has called me to! Thank you to all of you who have already invested in and have made this mission possible. If you feel led to give click on the SUPPORT ME TAB on the left side of my blog screen! Thank you and much love from Romania!!!!!
