First things first, I want to give a shoutout to all of my supporters, who have prayed for me and financially supported me. This trip, and the change in me for the better and wiser would not have been possible without you all. God Bless!
There will be but only two more blogs after this post, so I’m hoping to wrap up my journey nicely with these posts. I want to take a look back on my journey by sharing with you my favorite memories from each country. Now a couple blogs back, I listed the things of spiritual significance that have come to define my trip. This list will highlight the more bucket-list type items.
Chile: Rode a mountain bike through the Atacama desert, and later threw my friend Lauren’s frisbee into the Pacific Ocean (accidentally), never to be seen again.
Argentina: Spent a weekend in Secano del Valle. We enjoyed mate, saw the most beautiful stars and slaughtered a goat. I received an amazing gift (a miniature weaving frame) from the local alcalde’s wife, and got to ride through the sand dunes.
Bolivia: Had our truck break down in the middle of the Bolivian Salt Flats, later to be towed out using a ratchet strap, a seatbelt buckle and a tire iron. We also got to see Valle de la Luna and ride the Swiss Gondola into La Paz.
Peru: Toured Lake Titicaca by boat, where we saw the Uros Floating Islands. I also ate some of the best trout I’ve ever had.
Cambodia: Saw the sunrise over Angkor Wat Temple and camped out in a church building for two weeks. We were awoken every morning by the local Buddhist radio broadcasts.
Thailand: Camped out under the stars in a remote village on the Thai-Burmese border where I got to preach a candlelight service. I also ate the hottest pepper of my life . . . it brought me to my knees and caused blurred vision in my left eye.
Serbia: I got to tour the city of Budapest, Hungary in the snow, and coach baseball for two weeks. I also played the best ping-pong of my life. (Shoutout here to Zoltan Vegel, the only man to beat me 9 out of 15 games).
Romania: Got to tour Dracula’s Castle and eat some barbecue pork in the Carpathian Mountains.
Bulgaria: Prayed on the banks of the Danube River, a mere 200 yards from Romania. I also ate some life changing lasagna.
Ethiopia: Here my new team camped out at a church compound in Welenchede for a week, where God used me to lead two men to the Lord. We also slaughtered another goat.
Rwanda: In Rwanda, my team and I toured the Genocide and Liberation Museums. I got to teach English every day for three weeks. Myself and two others also visited Kivu Lake, where we swam the Rwandan/Congo Border.
Uganda: I ate meat on a stick (not a kebab), rode go-karts through Rukungiri, got my butt kicked at pool by a Ugandan Imam and celebrated my 23rd birthday.
I’ll be home soon America,
-Matt
