The World Race is OVER!!! My squad and I landed in New York City on June 22. I spent a couple days in the city with my mom and brother. Afterwards, we drove down to Raleigh, NC where we had a cook out with my cousin Austin and his wife Logan. After staying one night there, I finally made it home home on June 26.
I’m sure many of you have noticed, I haven’t exactly been the best about blogging. Actually that’s a huge understatement. I just simply haven’t written a single blog in nearly eight months! So, now that I am back I wanted to at least write a blog that would briefly summarize my experiences on the entire 11 month journey. This overview blog will be broken up into three parts, so stay tuned for the next two. Here we go!
Month 1, Ukraine:
In Ukraine, my team and I lived in a small apartment with a sweet older lady from the church where we were partnered with. Our month was broken up into three parts. The first part we taught English at a local middle school. The second part we helped run a children’s day camp at the church. Towards the end of the month we helped teach English classes for the church who uses it as a way to build relationships in the community, and ultimately share the Gospel.
Fun fact, it was very common for restaurants to serve both pizza and sushi. Talk about genius! And it was super cheap!
Month 2, Romania:
This was the only month where my entire squad was altogether for the whole month. (Usually we’d be split into four teams and in different cities.) It was exceptionally tight having nearly 30 people all living in one house! We engaged in all sorts of ministries this month, from street evangelism, to playing soccer with children, to chopping wood for widows. We were also living in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere! I swear there were more wild dogs running around in this town than people.
Fun fact, Betzaida from my squad taught me how to make authentic Mexican rice this month. It’s delicious!!
Month 3, Bulgaria:
In Bulgaria my team was assigned ATL, which stands for Ask the Lord. In other words we weren’t partnered with any particular church or ministry. Instead, we would wake up every morning and simply ask God what He wanted us to do. This led to us meeting two really cool guys, who were both Muslim. Both were in Bulgaria attending dental school, but one was originally from Iran and the other from Pakistan. We had the privilege of getting dinner with them one night at an authentic Turkish restaurant. It was a blast getting to know them. We had some really awesome conversations about God and the person of Jesus. It was one of my favorite memories of the Race.
Fun fact, one of my best friends from high school is from Bulgaria and I got to go to his hometown!
That wraps up Eastern Europe! Stay tuned!! Part 2 of Wrapping Up the World Race will dive into Southeast Asia, and will be coming in a couple days!
