Through the World Race the Lord has shown me more, taught me more and grown me more than I could have ever expected. They say that the race is like a pressure cooker and I used to have no idea what that meant, but now it’s all so real. When asked what I have learned or how I’ve grown the response is usually ‘Which day?’ While the days seem long, the weeks fly by and the months have seemingly gone even faster. It feels like just yesterday I was sitting on the floor of our house in Battambang, Cambodia packing for our first country change.
The Lord has walked me through so many different seasons on the race. Seasons of learning about healing, seasons of studying the spiritual realm, learning about community, and learning what it looks like to fully walk in my identity as a daughter of the one true King. Amongst these seasons, I have seen physical healing, seen the Lord turn the small things into the big things and experienced such drastic culture changes all across the world. I began my race with month one to three in Cambodia, took a quick trip to Thailand, spent the holidays and the middle part of my race in Ethiopia, had a layover in Canada, spent month seven in Nicaragua and months eight and nine in Costa Rica.
So many of the things that we experienced in each country would have shocked me before the race. I had spent nearly my whole life living in Texas and to be honest, had a very limited view of the world that I live in. However, so many things abroad have become normality, and I think that’s evidence of change in my life. The Lord used each and every situation to shift my perspective, to give me a new outlook, to see the world through a new lens.
I would love to share a small glimpse of how I gained my new outlook below. So, I’ve broken it down into some influential memories that God used in each country, to change my perspective. Check it out!
CAMBODIA
My initial experience of poverty – driving from Siem Reap to Battambang and seeing the difference in living standards. The houses and business along the road were nothing like I had imagined.
The cultural need to seek and long for something greater was one that I saw firsthand when we got to eat lunch with some of the Buddhist monks that the men of our squad had been teaching English to month three. (Photo by Sam Adams)
Going to the market every day, I realized the drastic difference in lifestyle. Market day in Cambodia isn’t two or three times a week. It is every day, and it is peoples livelihood.
ETHIOPIA
The stars every night were like nothing I had ever seen before. When it gets dark, it’s dark. For the majority of the village there is no light for people to turn on. And as a result, the stars declare the vastness of the Lord.
Water is life. It’s something that I was taught as a child, but I never seemed to grasp the concept of, because it was something I had never lacked. I’d turn the faucet, and water would come out. But in Africa, women and children walk miles every day to the only water well in town. And when the well/pump isn’t working, there’s just no water.
The life and joy in an Ethiopian church service was unlike anything that I had ever experienced at home. Church typically last about 4 hours and is so led by the Holy Spirit.
NICARAGUA
Praying for healing and seeing it happen was something that I experienced for the first time with Rabirra’s story, https://carakelley.theworldrace.org/post/what-love-can-do. And I had the amazing opportunity to see it again in Nicaragua, in Antonia’s life! She was healed of gastritis which was causing pain all throughout her body. Antonia is a woman with incredible faith in the Lord.
Chicken buses are the main way of transportation! Pack in as many people as possible!
The people of this gorgeous city in Nicaragua have been through so much within the past year. However, they continue to persevere and give thanks to the Lord for what they do have. Every house visit we had was so encouraging and eye-opening for me.
COSTA RICA
On my walk to ministry each morning, I would encounter many individuals who seemed to be stuck in the grasp of the world. However, the testimony of Luis’s life showed me the faithfulness of the Lord, to bring His children into His loving arms. Read more of this story here, https://carakelley.theworldrace.org/post/divine-appointments-and-dinner-dates.
Working with prostitutes in the red light district of San Jose gave me a new definition of the phrase ‘meeting people where they are at.’ We worked in a building named Casa Esperanza (House of Hope), on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. This place served as a safe space for women to come, eat breakfast, have bible study, and talk about real life.
These are only a few of the experiences that helped shape my newfound perspective and taught me more about the Lord over the past 9 months. The World Race itself did not change my life. However, as I allowed the Lord to work through it HE DID. If you want to hear more about my journey as I return home in 5 short days please don’t hesitate to reach out! You can find my contact info here, https://carakelley.theworldrace.org/?isFunction=contact.
Thank you so much to everyone who has followed me and supported me along this journey. I don’t have words to express my gratefulness enough!!! See you all so soon!
– Cara
