A day in the life of a logistics person on the squad… Or better yet, a few hours or so in the life of a logistics person on the squad.
Logistics
noun
person in charge of finding transportation, coordinating and planning our debriefs; i.e. shout out to Sam, Whit and now Marie! I love you!
.: Some time between 11:00AM-11:15AM :.
Our 10:30AM meeting just ended, and Ace, our team leader, had “asked” the entire team to play logistics for a day. I secretly was unhappy about it. I grudgingly volunteered to help Marie and Nathan find our transportation to Almaty, Kazakhstan from Urumqi, China, the town we were currently in. Spending my entire day looking for bus stations, buses and bus schedules/prices, etc… did not sound appealing nor fun to me. However, since I couldn’t get out of the task, I thought the best thing to do was to get started on it immediately. “The earlier I get started, the quicker the task would be completed. And maybe, just maybe, I will be able to enjoy the rest of my afternoon.” I went back to my room and began my research online. Less than 30-40 minutes later, I had a bus station name and location.
.: 11:50AM- 12:05PM :.
I tell Marie the good news with the hopes that we would leave right away to go check it out. She replied: “That’s great! Let’s wait for Nathan to finish his treasury report and we will head out!” I tried hard not to feel annoyed and inconvenienced. I really wanted to get this done right away. Instead of voicing that out, I replied: “Ok! I’ll go eat lunch then. I will be back.” I grabbed my purse and headed out the door.
.: 12:05PM – 12:20PM :.
“Treasury work can take forever. Even though Nathan said he should be back within an hour or two, I don’t believe that at all.” I said to myself as I was walking to Pizza Hut. (And I know. I know. Don’t judge: I had just been craving American food a lot lately and I caved.)
.: 12:20PM – 1:35PM:.
I made it to Pizza Hut, grabbed a table, placed my order and started my quiet time. During my quality time with Dad, I told Him this: “Father, as great as Urumqi is, no one speaks English here. No one. Can you please put someone who speaks English in our path to help us out when we do go look for this bus station?”
.: 1:35PM and 2:00PM :.
I headed back to our hostel. Nathan was also back (Praise!). A few minutes later, we were out of the door. Our navigation app told us the bus station would be on the right-hand side when we turn left at this major street intersection. We did not find it. We then decided to retrace our steps to make sure we didn’t miss it. As we did so, we walked past this hotel and Marie suggested that we ask them for help. To our disappointment, neither the security guard at the front door nor the receptionist spoke English.
Just as we were about to pull out Google Translate, a group of young individuals walked in the lobby. When she saw them, the receptionist immediately called one of them over for assistance. He looked at us and said: “This hotel is for locals only. You can’t stay here. Is there anything I can help with though?” *Yes! He spoke English. I was floored! Invisible mic drop!* He first thought that we were asking what he thinks about going to Almaty by bus. He made fun of us: “Why not go to airport and take plane? It’s the best way.” However, when we explained to him that we were looking for the bus station, he pointed us to the right direction. Less than 15 minutes later, we made it to the bus station.
We quickly discovered that the clerk did not speak English either. Thus, we started inquiring of bus prices and departure schedules with Google translate. A few minutes into the conversation, one of the other bus station workers tapped my shoulder and handed me a phone.
“Hello?”
“Yes! I speak English and I understand you’re trying to purchase some bus tickets. I am happy to translate for you. What are your questions?”
*I was shocked. Invisible mic drop – God did it again!*
.: Between 3:00PM – 3:15 PM :.
We left the bus station with all the information we needed. “Guys! I can’t believe this! I literally just prayed during my quiet time for God to send us someone who speaks English. Look at how He came through for us. That was a way easier and more fun than I expected.” I excitingly shared with Nathan and Marie. She replied “Aww Steph! I am glad! And I kid you not, right before the guy handed you the phone, I also did cry out to God for help. Please send us someone who speaks English.” Crazy!!!!
.: In Conclusion :.
1. The world is more accessible than we think. You really can go anywhere (buses, trains, airplanes etc…). And the world wide web does play a significant role in that. On this particular day, what I thought would be an entire day’s worth of work turned out to be just a few hours’ worth.
2. Yes, there are some major challenges that come with being on the logistics team. Sam, Whit and Marie can testify. Feel free to reach out to them. But I ended up enjoying our day. I loved seeing how God came through with a person who speaks English, with major discount deals when things are out of our budget, etc…
3. God is and cares about all the big and little things, including language barrier. And by the way, language barrier was one of the things I struggled and worried about at the beginning of my Race. When I prayed that prayer earlier, I did not expect anything to come out of it. Really, Google Translate was more than enough. The fact that God chose to grant Marie‘s and my request was such a sweet treat. And I thought that it would fun to share how much I loved that He did that.
You’re awesome for reading: thanxies so much!!! 
One more thing:
Two of my squadmates are still fundraising for this trip. Please prayerfully consider supporting them and head over to their blog and click on the “Donate!” button located on the top right corner of the page. ANY ANY ANY amount does count!
1. Whitney – $2,637 http://whitneycragun.theworldrace.org/
2. Tandi – $2,592 http://tandipatton.theworldrace.org/
