This New Year I’m celebrating a lot more than just the beginning of 2016. It’s the end of my fourth month on the World Race, and the end of my squad’s time in Nepal. The new year brings a new country for us–India–as well as new teams. Not to mention, January 1st is my birthday and marks the beginning of being 24. In order to reflect, celebrate, and process the past four months of my life, I put together a list of my 6 favorite moments or things from each country we’ve been to, which adds up to 24. It was really hard narrowing it down to only six, but looking back, these are the things that stood out to me most.
China
1. Team 3:14. I couldn’t start this list without mentioning them first and foremost–Trey, Matt, Dustin, Kelsea, Jess, and Shelby. I started the race unsure and anxious about living and doing ministry with 6 total strangers, but they quickly grew to become people I love like family. They taught me I can be 100% myself and that they’d not only like me, but love me too.
2. Roundabout. This was the charity store where we spent most of our days sorting clothing, electronics, furniture, and books donated by people in the neighborhood of Beijing we were living in. I loved the people we met there and the conversations I had with my teammates as we were just getting to know each other.
3. Photos with the locals. China gave me a taste of what it must feel like to be kind of famous. Because we’re white and dress like typical World Racers, we got pretty used to having our pictures taken on the subway and as we walked around the city. Everyone was extremely kind to us despite thinking we also looked incredibly strange. As I wrote in my journal, “they might look at you funny, but they’re glad you’re here.”
4. Bubble tea. If you know me at all, you know about my unexplainable love for this strange beverage.
5. The Great Wall. Getting to experience the Great Wall is something I will never, ever forget. Being there symbolized this journey that God has me on, and I couldn’t stop thanking Him for allowing me visit this part of the world and experience His beauty so far from home.
6. Dinner with a complete stranger. That one night a kind stranger (who barely spoke English and turned out to be some kind of piano prodigy) invited us over to his house (which was actually an art/music studio) to eat homemade dumplings and salmon ceviche and sing karaoke? Yeah, that was the best night ever.
Mongolia
7. Panoramic views. As soon as we got to our apartment where we were staying in Ulaanbaatar, I went outside to the balcony, which wrapped around the entire building and gave us a panoramic view of the entire city. Here, we were able to pray for the city, watch gorgeous sunsets, and stargaze on nights it wasn’t too freezing. It was a quiet space above streets and away from other people where I could experience God’s peace and be most honest with Him.
8. Divine intersections. On our first day of ministry, my squadmate Abby and I stopped into this little café for lunch, where a woman named Adriana took our order. Little did we know, we would spend almost every day after that with Adriana talking about life and praying with her.
9. 14 hour bus rides to the-middle-of-nowhere, Mongolia. A couple weeks into being in Ulaanbaatar, my team and I found out that for one week we would be going to a little village 12 hours away called Hatgal. The bus ride there and back was uncomfortable and freezing, but outside the window were the most gorgeous golden hills and cerulean skies I have ever seen. Every 30 minutes or so the bus would stop for a heard of sheep, horses, or cows to pass, and I’d laugh at how starkly different and surreal my life suddenly felt.
10. Hatgal. This village deserves it’s own number, because it was here that I learned how to trust God through the mystery and wilderness. I was so resistant to the idea of leaving the comfort of the city, but when my team and I arrived to a tiny cabin in a village of 3500 people surrounded by patches of snow, a frozen river, and the best stargazing in the world, I was sold.
11. Coffee that isn’t instant. Just… thank God for real coffee.
12. Spontaneous dance parties. Kelsea and Shelby know exactly what I’m talking about.
Japan
13. Getting our feet wet. One of the first days I was in Japan, my squadmate Carlos and I went on an impromptu hike to see more of the fall scenery and explore the trails behind the retreat center where we were staying. We came across a river, where we both decided to hike up our jeans and step in. We walked through the river as far as we could, admiring the maroon and golden leaves and feeling totally excited to finally be in Japan. Our spontaneous excursion felt like a sacred moment God created just for us.
14. Matcha (green tea) flavored everything.
15. The Linscotts. In Japan we stayed with host families, and Shelby and I were lucky enough to be with the Linscott family. After two months of being so far away from home, it was nice to get be in a family environment and have them show us around the city and teach us more about Japanese culture. My favorite moments were getting to help make dinner in the kitchen and the conversations I had with my host mom, Aya. I am definitely going to try making okonomiyaki when I get home!
16. Encouragement from strangers. On Friday nights we went to a worship service where people would play music and we could sing and pray for each other. The first night we went I met a man there who came up to me during one of the first few songs and asked me out of the blue if I like to write. Obviously I was really caught off guard—when he and I talked beforehand I only told him my name and that I’m from Georgia. Half laughing and half in shock I said yes, and then he prayed over me that God would help my words be powerful and precise. I felt so encouraged because I had been praying that God would encourage me with my writing, and he used this man to do just that.
17. Kyoto. Kyoto is a city I really want to go back to because I didn’t get to spend as much time there as I wished to. As the capital city of the Kyoto prefecture, it’s rich with Japanese tradition and history. It was so interesting seeing the geishas walking down the streets and the abundance of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.
18. Karaoke. Because how can you not do karaoke when in Japan?
Nepal
19. Culture shock. My first real experience with culture shock happened pretty much the moment I stepped foot in the Nepal airport, which is basically just a big brick building with one baggage claim, a creepy bathroom with flickering lights, and sketchy dudes outside asking where you’re from.
20. Rooftops. I admit I embraced the colorful chaos of Kathmandu as much as I could, but overall I felt overwhelmed and struggled with my sudden lack of freedom and sense of safety. There was one moment during the first few days, though, when I finally felt a peace and excitement about being there. My squamate Mykal led me up a rusty, flimsy looking ladder to the rooftop of the hostile we were staying at. We carefully made our way across the metal roof and climbed another ladder, where we got a gorgeous view of the city and Himalaya mountains.
21. Bollywood film. Are Bollywood films ridiculously cheesy and over the top? Yes, and I love them now.
22. Sunrise hikes. Waking up at 3 AM to climb up a mountain in almost total darkness may not sound like everyone’s ideal Saturday morning, but the ladies on my squad and I did just that. The view of the sun coming up over the Himalayas was totally worth it.
23. A very Nepali Christmas. Christmas 2015 looked like wearing punjabis and saris, eating curry and rice, soccer and games with street children, sharing the Christmas story with men and women hearing it for the first time, and, to top it all off, a Christmas sermon my squad and I will never ever forget.
24. Faith day. For our last day of ministry, we wandered off throughout the city with no phones, no money, and no idea what we were supposed to do. Our only goal was to allow God to show us where to go and who to talk to. For most of us this was a challenging and uncomfortable idea, but God not only guided and provided for my team and I, but allowed us to have some pretty funny experiences, such playing ping pong with new friends at a Hindu temple, getting our picture taken with a monk (who happened to have iPhone), and stumbling upon a music video set near another Hindu temple. We got to pray for our two friends that we met that day and came home with more stories about God’s goodness, generosity, and sense of humor.
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I’m so excited to get to share more stories with you through this blog as the year continues! I’m only a little over $1000 away from being fully funded, which is amazing and something I honestly doubted was even possible. But the Lord has provided for me every step of the way, and I don’t doubt that he’ll provide this portion for me. Please prayerfully consider donating and helping me be fully funded!
