Thoughts from a 22 hour bus ride to Tocopilla - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Hola from Tocopilla, Chile!

After 15 hours of flying and a 22 hour bus ride, we’ve made it! Although I’ve only been on The World Race for 4 official days, I’ve already learned so much. I’ve learned that I’m not going to be able to do this alone – without Christ, this trip will be impossible.

Let’s start from the beginning, my arrival to Santiago, Chile.

We left Atlanta at 3am on Tuesday, 10/10 and after three planes and two connections we arrived in Santiago Chile at 9am on 10/11. Upon arrival, we had to secure a taxi to the bus station to board for our 22 hour bus ride. Immediately, I realized this was not going to be as easy as I had anticipated. Very few people at the airport spoke English. Also, when I booked the bus tickets for my team the site was in Spanish and somehow I managed to purchase these tickets, but I wasn’t exactly sure where the bus station was located. The combination of the language barrier issues, no data to use Google Maps and not knowing the exact location of the bus station made for a frustrating next couple of hours. Luckily, we found a semi-trustworthy taxi company and an address we believed was a pretty good shot of being the right one so we headed out. We were right! We made it to the correct bus station and even found the bus that was going to take us to Tocopilla with an hour to spare. Hallelujah! I had the responsibility of communicating with our ministry host (the pastor we are staying with and helping out this month) and after locating an internet cafe, I was able to shoot him a quick email to let him know our arrival time to Tocopilla. Then, we were good to go and ready to board the bus!

I spent much of the next 22 hours of my life praying. I had that entire bus ride to digest this new chapter of my life, and it was kind of overwhelming. Anxiety began to flood me when I realized I was gone. I had left my loved ones and wouldn’t see them again for 11 months. Even typing these words brings tears to my eyes and an entire bus ride to focus on this became too much for me, so I prayed. I prayed God would take it – take my anxiety, take my sadness, my fears, remove my apprehension and fill me with His peace that passes all understanding. This is when the realization hit me that I cannot do this alone. Human Amy wants to turn back, to go home, to hug my family and not let go, to walk into the Carter’s office and sit in my cube, to eat regular food, to have alone time, to sleep in my fluffy bed and to be surrounded by English speakers.. I want to be comfortable again. I then realized, I haven’t been called to be comfortable; I’ve been called to go. Saying yes isn’t as easy and glamorous as I had hoped, but it will be fruitful. Most of the people in Tocopilla know nothing of Christ. The pastor we are staying with has 17 members in his church congregation and out of the 28,000 people that live in Tocopilla these 17 are some of the few Christians. I’m excited to see how this month will unfold and how the Lord will use my team of English speaking foreigners to work throughout Tocopilla. On Monday, we start our ministry of working with high risk children. Monday through Friday, we will be caring for these kids while their parents are at work (I think this is what we’re doing – with the language barrier, I’m not exactly sure). I’m excited and nervous for this ministry and this opportunity to share the love of Christ that has touched my life so deeply. Stay tuned for how everything turns out and what day to day with the kids looks like!

My team and I explored the city today and spent some time down by the water, pictures to follow!

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my Savior and my God!” Psalm 43:5

The view from our bedroom window