* Before you begin reading, I'll admit this is a VERY long blog, but basically it's a summary of all my countries I visited and what I thought about them. Hope you enjoy it! It's kinda a "wrap up" or final summary of my race overall. I thought long and hard and this was what I came up with.
I seen this blog on another racers site one time and thought it took a good look into what he thought of each country. I figured I would “borrow” the idea and make my own list to let you know what I thought of each country and how, when I rank them 1 – 11, they place and why. Saying that… There really weren’t many places that I just didn’t enjoy at all… The race was never easy by any means, but there were definitely times that were A LOT more enjoyable than others, HAHA…
What I’m gonna attempt to do is to “judge” each country in several different areas, and then give a description for each one and why. There will be a couple different categories and also I will rank the countries overall… I will rank individual categories with a “1 – 5”. 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
The categories are going to be as follows:
# Overall- Where on the list each country ranked from 1 – 11.
1. Location- How beautiful/ incredible I thought the country was.
2. Food- One of my favorite categories 🙂 Whether the food was any count or not.
3. Locals (People)- How friendly, kind, nice, hospitable, welcoming, etc. the local people were.
4. Ministry- How well I enjoyed serving there for the month (I’m not voting on how good or bad the ministry itself was, because that isn’t for me to judge).
So… Without further to do… Drum roll please…
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#11 SOUTH AFRICA
1. Location- 5
2. Food- 2
3. Locals- 3
4. Ministry- 2
* Don’t get me wrong, South Africa was hands down one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL countries I’ve EVER been too, however, this month was just difficult. South Africa happened to fall month 3 on our route. Month 3 is a hard time for everybody, because leadership changes hands, teams get switched around, you go through mini-debrief, etc.… So many things are changing and nerves are getting the best of most the folks on the squad. Oddly enough, you’d think the surfing ministry would be in my top favorites for the race, and yes, that’s true, it was a blast and a dream come true, but it was just a hard month overall. Not to mention, South Africa is basically like being back in the USA. I’d love to visit again one day though! AND, Shark Week on Discovery Channel will never be the same again after having been in the water when the shark sirens sounded…
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#10 MOZAMBIQUE
1. Location- 1
2. Food- 4
3. Locals- 4
4. Ministry- 3
* I’m just gonna be straight up, Mozambique was probably the most difficult, emotional, challenging, roller coaster ride, month of my life. I spent many days under my mosquito net, in the 110F weather, filthy, thirsty, frustrated, with tears in my eyes. Most teams that go to the ministry we worked with, LOVE working there. I think that would have been the case for us as well, however because of holiday, the boys at our home had all left to be with their families for Christmas. We did a lot of manual labor in the garden and on the grounds. I probably learned the most about myself this month, because when you hit rock bottom, your “true colors” come out. Also, if you’ve never been away from family and friends during Christmas and New Years, it’s tough. Really tough. However, Christmas morning we woke up to find that our contact had made us an amazing Christmas breakfast complete with french toast and biscuits and gravy! Talk about a taste of home. I actually cried as I ate breakfast, because in that moment, life was put into perspective and I realized just how ungrateful we sometimes are in life. I walked away a different man this month. Oh yeah! One last note… Some people didn’t realize that if the water is off for 48 hours, and you’re living in a very small house with no air or circulation, it isn’t a good idea to keep pooping in the toilet… That doesn’t set well for that long, Haha… The lessons you learn on the World Race 🙂
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#9 SERBIA
1. Location- 3
2. Food- 4
3. Locals- 4
4. Ministry- 3
* Serbia was probably the most “chill” month on the race. Much like South Africa, it wasn’t a “bad month”, I just felt like I didn’t connect well with the people we ministered to. The contacts and the culture were really cool and I loved spending time in the context, but I felt “unused” a lot of the time. I did like the fact that Serbians “eat meat with their meat”, haha! We definitely ate VERY GOOD! Serbia, aka Yugoslavia, at one point during history, is a place starving for people to come share the Gospel. It’s very post-communist, like the majority of Eastern Europe. I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d visit there, because I remember hearing about it as a kid, but I’m so glad a did! Not to mention, I met one of my heroes in the faith! Meeting Brother Yun, “The Heavenly Man”, was one of the greatest moments, not only on the race, but also in my life entire life.
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#8 GUATEMALA
1. Location- 4
2. Food- 4
3. Locals- 3
4. Ministry- 4
* Guatemala was a good month, because it was “Manistry Month,” where all the men were together separate from the women on our squad, but with that came a lot of difficulties. Pride was a huge issue for many of us, because naturally as men, we tend to carry more of that. So we fought a lot of that and broke down a lot of those walls, praise God! We had a tough time connecting with our contacts that month, but we also had the blessing of serving beside one of the coolest men of God I’ve ever met, Pastor Roni. He really redeemed that month for us and I’ve never seen somebody more on fire to share Jesus with people. There were so many souls added to The Kingdom that month, and I praise God for that!
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#7 PHILIPPINES
1. Location- 4
2. Food- 4
3. Locals- 5
4. Ministry- 3
* Ahh, the first month as a World Racer. Haha, I’ll admit, we had NO IDEA what we were suppose to be doing. At this point, you still have expectations of what the race will look like, and I probably believed I was “Father Teresa!” Haha… The Philippines is an incredible and beautiful culture though. We loved serving there for the month and it was a great month of getting to know my first team. Don’t get my wrong, we had our “knock down drag outs”, but I think that’s normal as a first month racer. The Lord taught me so much about trusting Him and about allowing Him to be in complete control of my journey. One day I’d like to revisit The Philippines, but it’ll be in His timing. The food was wonderful, too! Although… I don’t think I’ll be partaking of a “Balut Egg” again anytime soon… Baby ducks are in the egg for 28 days total before hatching, however, some of them don’t make it that far because about day 14-18 they are considered a delicacy in The Philippines, and people like to eat them… Once was enough for this guy. I know I could win “Fear Factor” after that!
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#6 HONDURAS
1. Location- 3
2. Food- 4
3. Locals- 4
4. Ministry- 5
* I had previously been to Honduras, so when I found out we were heading there, I wasn’t particularly excited. However, it was different from any other month on the race because we had the blessing of being with our ENTIRE squad at the same ministry! It was great, but brought its challenges at times, too. Tony’s ministry was one of my favorites though of the whole race and it was incredible to see how the Lord was using him! I’ll admit, the first 2 weeks being in Honduras, our squad literally thought we were gonna starve. God taught me a lot about trusting Him to provide all my needs though and to be my satisfier in every situation.
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#5 ROMANIA
1. Location- 4
2. Food- 4
3. Locals- 5
4. Ministry- 3
* Romania is a pretty incredible country. It’s rich in culture and history and is beautiful! We hadn’t originally signed up to go there on our race, but I’m thankful the Lord led us there. Who can say that they survived a blizzard in Romania? Not many folks I know. This month taught me a lot about community and the value or relationships. I’d love to go back there one day and see what it looks like without 3 feet of snow. Overall it was a chill month and our contact, Mihai, was incredible. Next time I’ll plan on taking some warmer clothes with me.
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#4 SWAZILAND
1. Location- 5
2. Food- 3
3. Locals- 4
4. Ministry- 5
* This country immediately stole a place in my heart. We had just finished 2 rough months in Africa, and I was a little nervous that our 3rd month wouldn’t be any different. As soon as we arrived though, God brought a peace over me like never before. About 78% of the population in Swaziland is infected with HIV/AIDS, but I was so blessed being able to love on the locals and hold the kids even for just a few days. Absolutely the best view I experienced on the whole race! I see redemption coming to that country, and I truly believe that revival will break out, spiritually and physically as well. I’d love to visit again one day and see what all the Lord is doing.
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#3 NICARAGUA
1. Location- 5
2. Food- 4
3. Locals- 5
4. Ministry- 4
* Nicaragua was our final month of the World Race. I knew that naturally God had something big planned. We were Z-Squad and were finishing the first generation of World Racers, so we were bound to finish stronger than we started. Sure enough, God showed up in incredible ways. We were blessed with an incredible ministry contact, had great opportunities to serve, we had some good home cooked food, and the location wasn’t too shabby either. I connected really well with a few people in Jinotepe, and one day I would love to return to see how they are doing. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my race. I think overall, our squad would say that Nicaragua was in the top 5 countries we experienced. Talk about a country rich in culture.
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#2 CHINA
1. Location- 4
2. Food- 5
3. Locals- 3
4. Ministry- 5
* God changed my life in China. Honestly, I signed up for World Race September Route 1 for this very reason. I always had a desire to go see China, and I wasn’t at all disappointed. Living with the kids at our ministry was sometimes a challenge. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc. I questioned God many times as I watched these kids that the world had basically kicked to the curb. However, God taught me much about His love for me. The kids at Eagles Wings taught me more than I could ever have taught them. I learned about having faith that month. Faith to believe in God’s bigger plan. Romans 8:28 took on a whole new meaning. Our ministry was legit, the people were so hungry for Jesus, and we got to see incredible miracles take place that month. My favorite thing about China was hearing Zi-Pings story and seeing the Lord do incredible things for him. His papers are in China and he's coming home! Sometimes I don’t know whether China should be 1st or 2nd, but regardless, it was awesome! Greater things are yet to come; greater things are still to be done in that country!
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And the winner is…
#1 BULGARIA
1. Location- 4
2. Food- 5
3. Locals- 4
4. Ministry- 5
* Bulgaria was a life-changing month. The coolest thing that happened was seeing myself and so many of my teammates experience true freedom in Christ for the first time. I mean REAL FREEDOM! I realized so much this month. Not to mention, I had the opportunity to pray healing over a young Gypsie man and see Jesus INSTANTLY heal him! I loved the food, I loved our contacts, the ministry was great, and Bulgaria was actually the place I was least excited about prior to the WR. Now, I personally think everybody should experience it, but I’m partial I reckon. Bulgaria was one of the toughest months to leave on the race. Leaving our ministry contacts and friends was hard, but I know I’ll see them again one day. The funny thing is, Bulgaria wasn't anything too “special.” It was cold, desolate, and more spiritually dead than anywhere we’d previously stepped foot, but God gave me a vision for that country and I believe with all my heart that it wasn’t in vain. I experienced things for the first time that month, and I believe it was a “defining moment” for so many of us. On top of all of that, we ate REALLY WELL this month 😀 Cause that’s an important thing for a boy like myself! If you ever get a chance to go, you should! While you’re there, hang out with the Gypsies! They’re some really interesting and great people!
