Has this experience shown you a different vision then you already felt for your life?
This experience has shown me a whole new way of living. God has placed the dream in my heart to travel and do ministry, which has not changed, but this race has shown me that ministry isn’t a job you do… it’s a lifestyle you live. When you are able to slow yourself down and stop filling yourself with all of these unimportant things, you can actually hear God guide your life daily. Some of my favorite ministry days have come from a soft voice inside of me saying talk to them, go hang out in that coffee shop, or make friends with that girl. Ministry is all around us, and I don’t think I really believed that before. That revelation has absolutely changed the way I do life, so it has thus affected how my dreams will look.
Do you wish you could click your heels 3 times and recite THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME, and be here?
YES YES YES…. as long as I could also come back and finish this journey as well! I kind of wish there was a 2 week break in the middle of the race where I could go home and really love on all of the people I miss. I think it would help me focus on staying present during the trip instead of having to always fight the feeligs of missing home.
How are you recording your experiences/ memories from this trip?
Well thankfully I am also on a squad of 49 people who are also recording this journey, so I am banking somewhat on that. Personally I am taking lots of photos and keeping a journal of my adventures.
What has been your best experience yet?
My best experience on the race is a tie between two very different moments. The first one was my birthday celebrations in Cambodia! My team knew how much I love birthdays, so they went all out. They blindfolded me the day before my actual birthday and told me that my birthday celebrations had begun. They led me to a tuk tuk and we drove for like 20 minutes as they described the random stuff they saw as we drove (roaches on a stick, mountains, etc). We arrived at a place called the Killing Caves/Bat Caves… it was where the Khmer Rouge executed people in the 1970s who posed a threat to their rule. There were these beautiful mountains with such a history… I absolutely loved it. It is also where millions of bats fly out of every night to go gather food. The next day… they woke me up, sang to me, had my parents on the phone to join in singing, cuddled with me, downloaded birthday video messages from my friends back home, got me a bible (cause I gave mine away and had been looking to buy one), a sponge bob skateboard, a traveling coloring book, balloons & decorations everywhere, and delicious food all day long. They ended with these incredible letters of what they see in me/why they love me. It was a perfect day, not only because I felt so loved, but because our team was so incredibly real. It was a day filled with laughter, tears and multiple God moments! The tie experience was last month in South Africa. On our first day of ministry, we walked into this after school program of 300 elementary aged kids and they started praying over us. I have never felt such a powerful prayer in my life! It challenged and inspired me so much! It was breathtaking.
Your worst?
My worst experience on the race was on our travel day from India to Nepal. On that travel day, everything that could have gone wrong did… plus I had a terrible ear infection so all of the altitude changes made me feel like I was legit going to die! Our first flight was delayed 4 hours so we missed our next flight. By the time we arrived at the next airport, there were no more flights leaving for our next layover so they flew us to a totally different city (not on our itinerary). They made us disembark, pick up our bags, check back in, go through security, all in 30 minutes while upset Indian men were screaming at us the whole time. We then got back on the exact same plane we just got off of. Finally we made it to New Delhi at 1 am so our visas were now expired so we had more angry Indian men yelling at us. After many hours got that worked out with a “verbal extension” meaning no papers to prove anything despite much persistence of asking. We spent the night in India for another night, flew out the next morning. We finally made it to Kathmandu, got stuck in traffic for 2.5 hours, got off at the wrong hotel, 5 of us got separated from the rest of the group and tried to navigate through these sketchy alley ways with all of our 50lb packs in their airporters. We met this kid who thought he was funny by introducing himself as robinhood. We realized one girl is completely lost by herself…. and then somehow we all found our way to the correct hotel, my teammates who had to leave the day before us came running up to me, take my bags, and give me the greatest hug ever! It was overall the worst day with a sweet ending!
What is the oddest food you have tried?
I have tried a lot of local foods… but the craziest sounding was probably silk worms. I tried them in Cambodia and they were actually delicious! I have also tried things like squid, frog legs, baby duck eggs, fish, etc. Its crazy now because when I started the race, I was one of the pickiest eaters ever. I decided month 1 that I was going to force myself to try every food that a trusted local offered me. Now in month 8 on the race, trying food has become a norm and some of the food that I would have originally deemed as odd, I eat without hesitation.
How much do you feel God has changed you so far on this journey? What’s the biggest change you can feel?
Honestly I feel like God has completely changed me from the person I thought I was to who He has actually created me to be. I started this journey believing at the core of my being that I was a huge burden to everyone around me, and that the only thing I had that made me worth anything was my giftings & abilities. I believed that my abilities and giftings were the counterweight to my natural state of being a burden. I’ve always known that I think differently than people around me, have different dreams and desires, and the things that excite me don’t excite others and vise versa. Through this journey God has made the truth that I am His daughter, created uniquely for the purposes He has designed for me, really change from head knowledge to heart knowledge. Growing up in the church I have heard this said 10 million different ways, but I never believed it. On this journey God has spoken directly to me in so many different ways about the why He has created this crazy combination of traits that make up Katelyn. From strangers on a bus to hiking up the mountain everyday to raindrops on a beach palapa to incredibly inspiring hosts to my teammates doing life with me, I may still question a lot of different things and have days where I don’t feel like I am enough, but I now know without a shadow of a doubt that I am His daughter that He created!
If given this opportunity would you do this again in the future?
Yes and no! I think this adventure is absolutely incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity that I would love to do again with different countries! The no is if I was asked to leave immediately once I got home. I miss my family, friends, and comfort of homes. I would want at least a year in between.
What has impacted you the most?
I think watching how our hosts love God has effected me the most. I have done a lot of 2 week mission trips before the race where I have been exposed to a lot of culture shock, poverty, and strange foods. But on this trip we have really had the chance to live life with our hosts. We live with them, eat with them, and do ministry with them day in and day out. We get to see what they believe about God everyday by their actions. Each of our hosts have taught me something different about living life – from learning what living by faith really looks like to how to live a bold courageous life for Jesus despite the consequences, I have been blessed to experience incredible host who each love God differently! They have helped me start to understand why when there is unity in the body it is so beautiful!
What is something you miss that you didn’t think you would, and what is something you don’t miss that you thought you would?
I miss my daily drives to and from work! I miss being able to be alone (that’s never a thing on the race) with my thoughts, or deciding to jam my music not having to be conscious of the people around me, and being in control of deciding where I want to go! I miss the normalcy of life, the ease of doing thing like going to the store, calling up a friend, and making decisions on my own.
I don’t miss the holidays as much as I thought I would! I thought Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter were going to be some of the worst days on the race but they are actually some of the greatest. Of course I miss my family and friends, but I wished more that they were traveling with me than I wish that I was at home celebrating the traditional way.
What advice would you give to others preparing or thinking about doing this trip?
The world race has been one of the most incredible experiences of my lifetime! I have learned so much more about how God has made me, I am more secure in why He made me the way He has, and I have gained so much courage to live a life that looks different than the “American Lifestyle “. If you are going on this trip wanting to grow deeper with God and completely let go of the life you have planned for yourself, then this trip IS A MUST!!! If you want to go on this trip just to help people and learn about God (not so much experience Him, but just gain biblical knowledge) then this isn’t the trip for you. This trip is one that throws you into circumstances that you, on your own strength, are totally unprepared for. The way the trip is set up forces you to constantly depend on God or else give up out of complete burn out. The constant change of culture/people/ ministry, personal growth/ spiritual growth, and having community 24/7 are each a challenge on their own, but together they create this beautiful mix of chaos that turns your life completely upside down! This, similar to what happens in the military at boot camp, allows a beautiful place of openness for God to completely transform you and your life into what He has planned for you! Although it seems crazy, it really is the best kind of life you can ever have… literally better than you could ask, think, hope, or dream! So if your thinking about the race, really ask yourself if you are willing to give up the plan you have for your life and embrace whatever God has for you. If you are, then get ready for the adventure of a lifetime.
