I posted on facebook asking for your questions. I’ve answered them below and I hope they give you some insight into my life this year. Enjoy!
What was your favorite country and why?
Rwanda for one million reasons. It is such a beautiful country with a terribly sad history. The genocide wiped out an entire generation of people and yet the country is rebuilding. People love each other so well and convicted me deeply about how I love others. They serve each other and fight for each other and take care of each other. Our host was INCREDIBLE and loved, served, and prayed for us like we’ve never been before. Rwanda had the biggest impact on my life and changed the fabric of who I am as a person. I think I’m a better person for having experienced and served in Rwanda.
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What was your least favorite country and why?
Nepal. The altitude was killer for my weakling lungs, I was getting sicker and sicker with my first parasite (even though I didn’t realize that’s what it was), it was all-squad month and 50 people were living in a space that could probably comfortably only hold 1/3 of that. Our ministry was very unscheduled and I hadn’t yet lost my need for structure and timeliness. It was super challenging for me and overall a fairly negative experience. I think I would like to go back someday, but stay in the town we were in for our debrief (Thamel) and do ministry and be touristy around there.
How did God surprise you on the race?
Wow, God surprised me every single day, in a hundred big and small ways. He surprised me by showing up in the most spiritually dark places, and doing miracles. He showed up by providing food for bunches of people when there were only enough ingredients to feed a few. God showed up EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Our God is good, so I don’t know why it surprises me that he showed up the way he did, but it was and is good and I am in constant awe of our good, good Father!
Is it hard living out of a backpack for so long? Do you think living with so little will make you a minimalist once you’re home?
At the beginning of the race it was really hard to live of a backpack. Organizing my stuff was a nightmare and if I didn’t put things in just so, I couldn’t find anything or pulling one thing out would cause a lava flow of stuff out of the bag. Once I figured out how to keep organized and how to pack my pack well, life has been much easier. That said, it is frustrating to constantly have to fold and refold my clothes because while packing cubes are great, they are not drawers. Once the backpack life became normal, it’s been second nature.
This is one of the most daunting things about going home. I’ve lived with so little (basically nothing) for a year and I’m going back to the land of plenty. I got rid of basically everything I owned before the race but I know I’ll be overwhelmed with the little I kept…simply because it can’t fit in a 64 liter backpack. I’ve adjusted to living in small spaces and wearing the same clothes over and over. I’ve also seen the depths of poverty and probably won’t ever be able to justify having more than what I need in my life. I’m excited to revamp my life and have less!
How has the race changed you?
Oh man. In so many ways. I am more patient, more adventurous, and more forgiving. I am less irritable, less germaphobic, and less tethered to a schedule. I am no longer offendable, I am a much deeper sleeper, and I now see the world through new eyes. I have lived in the world and experienced so many things that have made me a stronger, more compassionate person. My heart bleeds for so many things, but I’m also less fragile. My heart breaks every time I see a person suffering or in need, but it doesn’t break me apart in bad ways. I’m more well-rounded, more excited about every single day, and more in love with Jesus than ever.
What are you most nervous/anxious about coming home?
I think I’m most nervous that my home/community has changed too much or that I have changed too much. I think it’s irrational because my community at home is awesome and there is going to be grace and love and acceptance for me.
I voiced this fear to one of my very dearest friends, Sarah, right before the race. And she told me “everything is going to be even better when you get back because you’ll be different, but you’ll be more YOU than when you left. You won’t be some other person! God always makes us more “us” when we follow Him in obedience.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
What is the first meal you want once you’re back on US soil?
Considering I’ll be in the Miami airport for something like 20 hours before my connecting flight, it will be airport/fast food. All year my squad mates and I have joked about Chick-fil-A being our first meal. Since the Miami airport doesn’t have a one, something else will have to suffice. Once I’m with my family, Chick-fil-A all the way!
I also can’t wait to eat EVERYTHING my mom cooks!
Do you think you will look at your local community with new eyes?
Absolutely! I view everything in every day life as the “mission field” now. It’s like I am looking at life through a new glasses prescription. Everything is clearer and I know my purpose and assignment from God better than ever. I am much more confident in my ability to share the Gospel and I now have the urgency inside me that EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW!!!
What are your ideas for making an impact once you’re back in the States?
Hmm, this is hard to answer because I don’t know where I’ll be or what I”ll be doing for work. God has stirred some passions in my heart this year and I know that I want to be involved in some aspect of those passions. I want to be involved with human trafficking rescue, drug and alcohol rehab, ministry to poverty stricken people, and/or volunteer at church for international missions. Or maybe all of them. That’s the “official” answer. I also want to be more involved in my community and serve people where I can. I want to be more interruptible in my daily life and stop and have coffee with a woman who looks sad at the grocery store, or pull over and pray with the man begging on the side of the street.
I want my life to look like Jesus’ life looked. He lived messy. He wasn’t afraid to be involved with things “above his pay grade,” so to speak. He stopped and spent time with people who needed him, even if he had places to be or other things to do. His agenda completely fell away every time a person crossed his path. He loved people so well and so big, that he was known for it far and wide. I want to love people (all people) like that.
Did you ever have to eat something you didn’t like in order not to offend the culture?
This is a very frequent occurrence. Hosts love to serve us local food. Most of the time it isn’t a problem! But sometimes unrecognizable foods are set in front of you. Sometimes the food smells or looks gross. Sometimes you know exactly what it is and would never under normal circumstances eat it. If you’re lucky, you can get away with a few bites and pass it off to a garbage disposal teammate (thanks Mikayla, Matt, and Bekah!) But, sometimes you have no choice but to eat it all. You live.
[Most notable, chopped sardines and rice in Bolivia.]
What was the most adventurous thing you ate?
Basically everything in Vietnam. Pho was the only food I liked there. Everything looks interesting but has strange textures, smells, and flavor combinations. We also ate at a buffet style place and had a ton of meat we cooked ourselves over tiny fires. Hello parasite number 2! All I know for sure is that we ate frog legs. The rest is still a mystery to me.
Some fun foods/dining experiences-
Arabian food in India
Buffalo momo (wontons) in Nepal
Seafood medleys in Thailand
Thanksgiving dinner in Cambodia
Meal with Ever, the 9 year old aspiring YouTube star, in Vietnam
Injera in Ethiopia
Goat smorgasbord in Rwanda
Dulce de leche on EVERYTHING in Bolivia
Soup every day in Peru
Our Ecuadorian mom’s cooking
Lunch with the sweet kids every day in Colombia
What are you going to miss the most about the world race?
Being with my friends 24/7. So much is hard about doing community this way, but being able to talk to and lean on your besties at any hour of the day is so sweet. I will also miss the spontaneous adventure of this life. Having a job is going to be so great and I’m CRAVING consistency, but I’m going to be so sad that adventure won’t play as big a role in my life.
What was the hardest thing that happened?
Leaving over and over again, never knowing if you made an impact, having to say goodbye to people you’ve come to love deeply, and not knowing if you’ll ever see them again. Yeah, that’s super hard.
What was the saddest thing you experienced?
The things that have most broken my heart this year are poverty and the sex industry. In Nepal, we worked with street kids and it was so sad to see these tiny humans already so jaded and broken by the world. Children should be so full of life and excitement, and those kids were broken and had death behind their eyes. I unfortunately was impacted by the sex industry in a few countries. Parents sell their children (mostly daughters) to make money for their family. They cut them off from their futures and ensure they’ll live a life completely ensconced in exploitation and abuse. In some places when the families don’t sell their children, the women (and men) have no other choice but to sell themselves to provide for themselves.
Most shocking?
The red light district in Thailand, for sure. It was gut wrenching to walk down the street and see dozens of bars with velvet curtains. It was disgusting to see so many men (and mostly white men at that) lining up to go inside. It was terrifying to see the people so firmly in the grip of evil. It was encouraging to walk down the street, praying, and get a word from the Lord telling us which bar to go in and which girl to talk to. It was absolutely shocking to meet a girl about my sisters age at the time (even though she claimed to be 19) who had just started working at the bar and still had life and light behind her eyes. It was shocking knowing what awaited her as she quickly became the customer favorite.
It was probably the worst experience of my race, but in the best way. It stirred something inside of me that still has not died. I know that forever, I will be involved in trafficking rescue efforts. No human should be enslaved. No girl should have to sell her body to pay off her family’s debt. No girl should have to place her entire worth in the things she can do for a man. Human trafficking infuriates me and it has to stop.
How are you going to keep the Race and the things you gained in the last 11 months applicable to life in the States?
It’s kind of hard to explain, but my very core has changed. This race isn’t just a trip that I took, it was a year of my life that I dedicated to the Lord and in doing whatever he asked of me. The way I operate in the world is different now.
There are things from each country/culture that I’d like to implement into my life when I get home. But my basic operation as a human is different, so in that way my Race will always be with me and relevant to my life no matter where I go.
Momma, Dad, Sarah, Liam, Austin, Skout- 20 sleeps until I get to squeeze your guts out! Make a paper chain, because I’m coming for you! (ps- can you bring Toby to SC!?)
