One week down, a lifetime to go!

We left Atlanta last Sunday, July 7th, on a plane to Amsterdam (my first flight ever)! This is how our first travel day(s) went down:

  • 8 hour flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam – Sunday night to Monday morning
  • 3 hour flight from Amsterdam to Istanbul
  • 28 hour bus ride from Istanbul, through Greece and Macedonia, to Albania! This ride felt like forever, but I watched some movies, slept a lot, saw awesome places along the way, and got a sharpie tattoo sleeve. Squad bonding – weird things happened on that bus…

On Tuesday night, we arrived at our camp! In my first 3 days of travel, I've seen 5 countries!

Month 1 of the race is all squad launch, which means our entire squad is together! We're living and working at a kids camp, assisting the staff with activities and teaching. I was pumped when I found out that we were doing kids ministry, and it has been even more fun than I imagined! 

11 thoughts from World Race week 1:

  1. We're white and we're American. Begin the stare-fest
  2. Coffee, coca-cola, and wi-fi = gold
  3. I haven't stopped sweating since I got here
  4. Picking up Albanian from the kids has been awesome. I love learning languages and can't wait to be filled with a good smattering of words and phrases from wherever the race takes me
  5. Albanian kids will destroy you in billiards.
  6. Squatty potties are kind of liberating
  7. Community = persistence + patience
  8. I have become desperate for the presence of the Lord
  9. Ministry doesn't have to be flashy. God is present in the normal things. 
  10. Worship is less about what we can do, and more about welcoming His Spirit to move.
  11. The rest of the world isn't that different. People are still people and God is still God.