As of January 15, we are officially halfway through the World Race! So I thought it would be appropriate to tell you some of the things you shouldn’t take for granted and which I miss quite a bit about home. Here are twelve things I truly miss about the land of the free and the home of the brave.
1. Showers
Baby wipes are the new shower. While I have been extremely fortunate to have showers available most of the time on the Race, I definitely miss showers where you can control the temperature. Cold showers weren’t bad in the hot countries, but now that we are getting to the colder parts of South America, I don’t really want a cold shower when it’s already freezing outside.
2. Laundry Machines and Dryers
Hand washing my clothes seemed really cool and missionary-like…for the first week. Now it’s not new and it’s not fun. It just takes a lot of time and the clothes still don’t even smell clean all the time. Plus, even if we have washing machines (which is rare and we have to pay for them), we almost never have access to dryers. Say hello to mildew.
3. Food
Being on the World Race is like what I imagine it is like being pregnant: I get the weirdest cravings all the time. I miss things I’ve eaten once in my life, like a Sonic Cherry Limeade slushy with Nerds and that turkey leg I didn’t eat at the motorcycle festival. It’s amazing how badly you want things when you know you have no way to access them.
I miss being able to cook for only one person (instead of 6 or sometimes 30) and I miss being able to buy boneless chicken without heads or feet or other body parts included (or better yet, without seeing the chicken get slaughtered in front of me in the market before I take it home).
I miss being full. I figured out my metabolism is about 11 hours, more than twice as fast as the average person’s. While I feel satisfied after meals, five dollars of food a day doesn’t leave me full very often.
4. Water
Bags, bottles, jugs, you name it. That’s how we drink our water. Forget about refrigerators and filters and don’t even think about that sink. We spend money buying water, and then we spend time figuring out how to get said water into our bottles. And then there are always the times when we mess up and get a stomach bug or a parasite.
5. Air Conditioning and Heating
South America is like Texas heat on steroids. In reality, it’s probably about the same temperature, except here there is no air conditioning to escape the oven. I have dropped almost all my original shirts because with the constant sweat and the lack of washing machines, things just start permanently reeking. Next up we have the cold half of our route, where we will be at the closest point to Antarctica with no heaters. Bundle up!
6. Internet that works
Juan Valdez is a lifesaver, except I’m tired of having to buy a coffee every time I want to use the Internet. Not only do we rarely have Internet where we are staying, but half the time the Internet we pay for doesn’t even work. Other times the wifi magically cuts out, or doesn’t work because of rain, or there are too many people trying to use it so it moves about as quickly as molasses. In Guyana I took my laptop to the church (the only place we had wifi), and left it under my chair during services so that my videos could upload. The average upload time of a video is around two to seven hours. In America it takes five to ten minutes.
7. Clothing I actually like
Imagine that cute Latino guy checking you out. He looks you up and down multiple times, so that you move past the point of flattery to flat out being creeped out. As you walk away, suddenly it dawns on you that he wasn’t interested in your blonde hair and blue eyes, but the dress/leggings/llama sweater/knee sock/hiking boot outfit you’re repping hard core.
I didn’t bring any clothes that I love on the World Race. I don’t regret that decision, because half of it had to do with the dress code and half had to do with the fact that I didn’t want clothes I liked getting ruined. But I miss my Nike shorts, hoodies, dresses, jeans, heels, and outfits that match. Sometimes it’s nice to look a little human. Unfortunately, two backpacks for a year is not conducive to style.
8. Chairs
“God made your body to where there is less stress on your back when you are standing than when you are sitting.” That sounded just dandy to the athlete Tera. World Race Tera thinks God made men to design chairs. I just changed position from leaning against a wall to lying on my stomach on the floor while I write this. Why? Because believe it or not, chairs are indeed a luxury. I never realized how nice it is to have a chair to eat dinner, sit through meetings, or write a blog until I had no access to them.
9. Being Alone
Solitude. Praying out loud. Sleeping without screaming children or barking dogs or airplanes flying over your head. Singing along to a song in the car. Nope. Not on the World Race. I am never alone. Ever. It’s actually not as bad as I thought it would be, but it’s not exactly promoting of independence. We sleep, eat, do ministry, and hang out with people all day, every day. I walked by myself to get a haircut in Quito and it freaked me out. I realized I could breathe or jump or make a weird face and no one would know. Freaky.
10. Free bathrooms and toilet paper
Napkins, hotel toilet paper, and plastic bags. They’re hot commodities on the race. You never know when you’re going to need that napkin when there isn’t any toilet paper in the bathroom or when you’re going to need that plastic bag to throw up in on the bus.
I cannot tell you how sick I am of paying to use a public bathroom. I also cannot express how annoying it is to carry a roll of toilet paper with you at all times, since that is rarely provided in public bathrooms, either. Oh, and add clean bathrooms to the list. I won’t even describe that to you.
11. People who respect personal boundaries and lines
There is a cultural norm here where lines do not exist. If there is a foot between you and the person in front of you in a line, it is perfectly acceptable for someone to step in front of you. I thought it was a joke at first, but the people seemed genuinely oblivious to their monstrous offense of cutting me in line.
In the bathrooms, women take to staking out three or four stalls each and waiting for those. If you are at the front of the line and a stall opens on the other side of the bathroom, someone will walk right past you if you’re a couple tenths of a second too late. Rather than stick to stubbornness, I have learned from the locals and am now acquainted with the variety of smells that exist on South American bodies. If your nose isn’t against their back, you apparently are not in line.
12. Sleeping Horizontally
At first I thought I missed beds, but now I am grateful when I can sleep horizontally. Part of the design of the expedition route is to travel over land as much as possible. I thought it was more about the budget, but our staff told us at this debrief that it is more about the challenge of traveling for so long (to break you and depend on God) and seeing all of the local culture. During this past stretch from Ecuador to Peru, I went four days straight without a bed or sleeping horizontally.
And I miss so. Much. More.
But it’s worth it. I don’t miss anything enough to regret coming. Furthermore, the things I miss I’ve lived without for six months. Most people in the world have never even experienced them, much less are able to miss them. This blog may have slapped your comfort in the face, but the thought of this being normal for all the people we’re serving sobers me.
I believe that if you are born in the US then you have already won the lottery. “But to him who has been given much, much more will be asked, and to him who is entrusted with much, much more will be demanded” (Luke 12:48). If you’re reading this from a computer or iPhone or tablet in the US, then take a look around you. Be grateful for what you have. Be grateful for what you don’t. Then go do one small thing to make someone’s day a little brighter. Even if it means getting off that comfy couch and getting out of the heat of the building.
UPDATES
Since my last blog, we completed our work in Loreto, Ecuador, spent about 70 hours in buses traveling to Cusco, Peru, I met my Compassion International girl in Lima, we saw Machu Picchu, we went to the Rainbow Mountains, and now we are at a debrief in Cusco. We leave for Bolivia at 6am tomorrow.
We hiked up to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu!! In total, we saw Machu Picchu for around $100, but we hiked about 22 miles in two days to do it!
I had a goal of being able to do a headstand on Machu Picchu. I did it! It is a testament to God’s grace in my life that I can support my body on a reconstructed arm! I’m still living my miracle! (Side note: You’re not allowed to do headstands on Machu Picchu. I got whistled at and then couldn’t redo it for a better shot.)
We got to see the Rainbow Mountains near Cusco! The mountains are rainbow streaked due to the different minerals in the dirt. I got some food poisoning so I took a horse again (oh bummer) to the summit, which is above 16,000 feet. I love these mountains because rainbows remind me of God’s promises. Wherever you are today, God is faithful to complete the promises He has made to you. Hang in there.
I will post the video I’m making of meeting Sazckia soon. Meeting her was by far one of the best days of my life. After partnering with Compassion International for nine years and sponsoring Sazckia for two years, it was truly indescribable to meet one of my children in person. Not only has she kept every letter I’ve ever sent her, but she has my name plastered on the wall in her bedroom. Let us never underestimate the impact we can have on a life.
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We have done no “set” ministry since my last blog except living missionally. We were able to do prayer walks for the Calvary Church where we stayed the week before debrief in Cusco, as well as have dinner with Kenneth and Letty and spend time supporting them.
This debrief we had team changes yet again, so I am no longer a part of Team Holy Genes. My new team is Team Free Fall: Tiara Menjivar, Emily Spencer (Team Holy Genes), Kaitlyn Squanda (Team 3125), Vandella Jasso, Corrie Jo Lundberg (we worked together on the combined team in Guyana), and me. New squad leaders Hannah Shope (Team 3125) and Neal Parish will be coming with us for the first few days, as well. Another new change is that I am no longer treasurer! God humbled me through being treasurer, but I never grew to love the job. Instead I have been asked to be the team leader of this team, so I will be stepping into that new role.
I am stoked to get to know some new people as well as serve alongside some girls I have been on teams with previously. We are heading to Bolivia for our next month of ministry, where we will be partnering with a ministry host in Mojo. This is the most remote location I have worked in since the start of the race. We will take a 24-hour bus from La Paz, Bolivia, a truck, a boat to cross the river, and then hike two days into the jungle to get to the community where we will be living this month. The community consists of around 17 families, food will be brought into the town for us on a mule, and our work will be a hodgepodge of encouraging the people there, evangelizing, doing skits, leading Bible studies, building relationships and doing manual labor with them, and anything else they need.
We are going completely off the grid with only a satellite phone for emergencies, so please continue to pray for my team and me until you hear from me again. We’re going to need it! This will probably be the most difficult part of our World Race, at least physically.
PRAYER REQUESTS
-We stayed at a church of some missionaries in Cusco, and they could really use some prayer. The day we arrived, children came running to them after church saying their father wasn’t moving, and then Letty went back to the house to find him dead. A couple days before, the place they rent for the church upped the rent, causing them to really need to pray about if this building s God’s will for them or if they should move. Please pray for the Gutierrez family (the five children who found their father dead), please pray for God’s provision for the church to meet in a place in budget, and for God to continue working through Kenneth, Letty, and their famly in Cusco.
– Please pray for me as I walk into this new season of leadership on my team, that God gives me discernment to help steward our team to the best of my ability and lead us closer to the kingdom of God through humility and servant leadership.
-Please pray a hedge of protection around my team. We are at risk for about every kind of mosquito-borne disease that exists, including malaria, zika, chikungunya, about five more, and bot worms (whatever those are). We will be boiling our water and treating it with chlorine to make it drinkable, we will be cooking on the trail and eating with families with only a mud stove, and we are carrying all the supplies we need for two weeks on our backs. Welcome to the expedition! This is the work we dreamed of when we signed up for the expedition route (going to remote people groups you can only reach by hiking) but there is always significant risk involved. Pray God protects us and uses us in ways we never could have imagined.
Thank you for continuing to partner with me on this journey, for continuing to pray for me, and for continuing to read the stories of what God is doing in South America. I’ll see you all after the jungle!
Also, there are two videos I posted since the last blog attached below.
May God bless you and keep you,
Tera
