But before I get to being home I’ll wrap up our time in India…..and the World Race.
We finished out murals at the primary school. We really had to burn the late night oil the last few nights, but we got it done! They turned out great and I’m so glad we were able to leave a lasting mark for the thousands of kids that will go through that school.
We got to celebrate India Independence day! It was on ye 16th of August. The kids put together a really cool program to celebrate. Thy danced, sang, and did some really cool skits. A lot of those kids are the same kids that we play with after school. It was really inspiring to see ye kids we play with perform on such a large stage. The best dance was when the middle school kids performed the famous “Jai Ho” dance from Slumdog Millionaire. One of the boys that I got close with was front and center in the dance. I was excited to see him do the dance. As I watches him perform I would see him slip up a few times. Ok, well more than a few times. I mean these are kids here, so they are bound to mess up a bit. But even at the end o the dance I was so proud of my buddy! Even though he messed up a bunch I was still so proud. And that’s when God taught me a lesson. The feeling of proudness I had even amongst his mess ups is the same way the Lord sees me through His eyes. I mess up a lot. We all do. But God still is proud of us for trying.
It was hard to say goodbye to the kids as they have been so much fun to be with.
Final Debrief.
Final debrief was in New Delhi. We stayed at a pretty legit hotel close to lots of shops and restaurants. We did lots of shopping and ate lots of good food that would prepare us for re-entry (Subway, Dominoes, McDonalds, etc.).
We also had our final banquet at The Rodeo restaurant. We gave out awards to each squad member. Somehow I got “Most likely to be on the cover of GQ magazine: Missionary Edition” I have no idea now they came up with that idea?
After the banquet the men of S-Squad went out to another “watering hole” to spend out final night together. There was live music at the place and some of the guys had become friends with the performers the night before from hanging out there for Cody’s birthday. There was really no one else there so they let us kind if run the stage. Given some of our men are super talented musically, we ran the show most of the night. We sang some fun songs and then we did our own little worship session. We finished with singing “break every chain” as a prayer for India and we got up and left.
Flying home.
As the Lord promised we would be flying on the two largest commercial airliners in the sky. We took the Lufthansa 747 from Delhi to Frankfurt. I had a blast even though it was a red eye and even had the pleasure of sitting next to my brother, Dex (thanks Jacinda!). We got to reflect on the past year on how God moved and changed us. It was quite the conversation because we were both so tired and loopy so our words sorta made sense. Haha.
When we landed in Frankfurt I jetted to our gate to catch a glimpse of the A380 we would be riding in. I went so fast that I missed the opportunity to say goodbye to one of my good friends, Julie, who was staying in Germany to meet up with her family. Sorry again Jules! Ad I got to the gate, low and behold she was waiting for me. Lufthansa’s flagship A380 named “Munchen” was waiting for us/me to take us HOME!
We got on board and were welcomed by some uhhh….rather beautiful cabin attendants 🙂 and we also had personal screens on our seats. I went through the movie selections and had no idea what any of the movies were.
I my sear buddies were, Jacinda, Ginger, Micheal, and even Keryn was across the aisle from me! She claims I switched with someone so I could torture her, but I think it’s God’s sense of humor. 🙂
The A380 was all I imagined. Quiet. Comfortable. Yummy food. Ahh… So much fun! Thank you Jesus!
We landed at JFK an it was a rat race to get through customs. Some had to run and catch connecting flights and some had friends and family meeting them outside. I also had the pleasure to meet one of my/s-squad’s biggest supporters, Mom Senn!! It was so nice to meet the face whose words encouraged and inspired me throughout the Race. I could also just see a relief on her face knowing that Keryn was home safe as well as the rest of us.
The goodbyes weren’t as hard as I thought they would be. 1. Because it was super crazy at the waiting area at JFK an 2. I would be seeing my squad mates again within a month for training camp or going to visit them.
It really just felt like another month of ministry where we say “okay! See ya at the end of the month!” but it wasn’t another month of ministry. We were going home.
I had the blessing if staying in New York for a few days (thanks Steph!). We saw the sights, went to Lion King, and best of all….a Yankees game at the new Yankee stadium. It was a great way to end an incredible journey God set me on.
Stayed tuned for my next update on what it’s like to be home and how God is keeping me from LOSING IT! 🙂
