Well I am not sure how I am going to explain this other then I messed up. It has been about 2 months since my last blog and there is no room for excuses on my end. I admit that I grew lazy and I would like to apologize to you, my supporter(s). I think this blog is going to be a bit of a long one since I have so much to talk about.
To start off I want to talk about where I left off. I had just finished Zimbabwe and I am on my way to Manistry (month of just all guys, no women). The month of that was spent in Town for a couple of days, then out into a village for 10 days, back to town for a few more days (Christmas time and a couple days after) then back into a village for 6 more days. I really love the idea of brotherhood and leaning on others, picking people up when they are down and then people doing the same for me. I might be bias because I have 2 younger brothers at home and I love them to death, but regardless I love brotherhood.
Quick update, my family has recently adopted a boy who is currently 16 and I am more than excited to get to know him, and be the eldest of 4 instead of 3. Now back to manistry!
Manistry was definitely the hardest month for me personally. Just a lot of questioning of my faith and why I was on the race going through my mind. Healings have been such a hard thing for me to understand and spiritual gifts just in general. The lord had used me to heal quite a bit of people in India, but I struggle with the understanding of the lord healing some and not all when I hope that everyone can be healed. Just a lot of questions. Other than that, there was a lot of growth this month. We all got accountability partners and everyone was doing quiet times. My partner had been Logan and we pushed each other to read every day and talk about what we read. There were definitely some days where we were slacking but it is all okay. Something else I learned is how much of an introvert I am. I selfishly enjoy time by myself and I love being alone and the whole month was spent with 15 guys (11 were racers, 4 were the ministry host guys) and I am sure my introverted supports can understand how I felt with constant noise for a month. Overall the month was super good, a lot of growth, some questioning of my faith but also strengthening of it which is something positive that came from the hard times.
Now let’s move on to debrief at Lake Malawi
Paradise is the best word I can use to describe debrief. Absolutely gorgeous. We were on the shoreline of the lake (which is so big that you cannot see the other end of it) and it seemed like you were on an ocean line. For the first time since leaving America, I had a hot running shower every day for 6 days! The room was so good and clean and comfy. I roomed with Logan and it was a lot of fun. The days were long and restful and very refreshing. This is the first time I had the opportunity to have a TAB and I realized how dangerous they can be. I drank about 3 fantas a day (sorry mom I know soda isn’t the best for me) and a smoothie every morning. I was not shocked when I spent about 40 dollars at the end of the week on nothing but drinks and snacks but I assure you I do not regret it. Something I love to do is play the Cajon (a box drum) alongside Tanner who leads worship and plays guitar for the squad. He is very talented and I love getting to play alongside him during worship, as well as have a few jam sessions. Overall debrief was. great time and just a lot of rest which was definitely needed.
During our debrief we had team changes and I got a whole new team with all new faces! My new team “Divas” consists of Keia (Team leader) Courtney (Treasurer) Tara, Nick Luke and Myself. I have already spent a month with these guys and it has been a blast.
So now onto what the last month has looked like!
My new team and I are living by ourselves on a plot of land that has a boy and girls home, and a secondary school. Our lives have been quite busy. Everyone (but nick) is teaching a subject at the school which has been a blast so far. Usually my day starts at 7 am when I get up and make breakfast and get going to school to teach physics sometime between 8 and 10 (depends on the day, I teach Monday, Wednesday and Thursday). Then afterward I go straight to construction till 11:30 am where I then cook lunch (sometimes for only myself or for the whole team it depends on the food we have available) then at 2:30 we leave for an afterschool program to schools and we feed kids and help out with a couple of school subjects. We usually get home around 5:30 and then Dinner is prepared by Me or Tara. After dinner, we have team time and then our team devotion and by then It is usually 10 o clock. I hope this helps show how busy we all are during the day. Keep in mind I have to find time to read for our devo and everyone teaches at different times throughout the days so we aren’t all home together as a team from 7am to around 1pm. We are on month 2 of Malawi and have a month left and although I am exhausted a lot, I do enjoy the ministry. Construction is beginning to slow down a little bit so i am starting to have a bit more time to read and relax, and on occasion do this thing i love to call, sleeping in.
Luke is no longer with our team which is sad to say. I could explain what happened but I would rather you go to his blog here lukestephens.theworldrace.org and read what he had to say about it. Luke and I have gotten super close and I would consider him a brother to me so it sucks that he is gone, but I know that the lord is not done with him or our friendship.
Other than that, I have explained everything that has happened in the past 2 months. I apologize for the laziness and I will be keeping up with blogs weekly as I was doing before.
Thank you to everyone who supports me, I am excited for the future and what is to come. I will be keeping everyone updated about what is happening on this blog site for the remainder of my race!
-Rodrigo Ariceaga
Lilongwe Malawi 3:45 pm February 10th 2018
