Friends, family and others who have stumbled upon my blog; hello! The point of this blog is to simply update you all on how I’ve been, how The World Race is going and general catch up. Many of you ask me how everything is, but I can’t talk to everyone with the limited WiFi here in Africa.
Two days ago, we left Rwanda to head to Uganda. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I was asked to step up into the position of Squad Leader, of which there are four of us. We are with different teams each month, and this last month I was with the all guys team in Kigali, Rwanda working with Church of Hope and Pastor James. Pastor James also founded his own school, Kigali Christian Academy where we spent a significant amount of our time.
If you’ve followed me thus far or have talked to me any during The Race, you know that it is a constant jerk and pull of different activities and a roller coaster ride when it comes to emotions, to be cliche. There are some days I miss home an extraordinary amount, and some where I don’t think about it too much (except Jackie of course 🙂 ). This month was a pretty consistent month of positive experiences, with FINALLY a healthy balance of ministry and free time. Usually, my months have been heavy on the former and light on the latter. This allowed me to do some reflecting and praying on life after The Race. However, I still have 5 months left so there’s no getting ahead of myself here.
We stayed with Pastor James’ family and all 7 of us guys crammed into two small bedrooms where we slept on the floor and shared a single bathroom with no running water (that includes the toilet). We showered and “flushed” the toilet with Jerry Cans of water that had to be fetched from a half mile away. Bucket showers have become as frequent as they are normal for me now. Food was great, and I definitely put back all of the lbs that were stripped from me in India and Nepal!
Our average week consisted of an assortment of tasks specific to each day. Monday and Tuesday included hours and hours of door to door evangelism and fellowship at the church in the evenings where we would preach during the service. Wednesday was our Sabbath day to rest up and do whatever we liked. Thursday and Friday were the busiest days. They included teaching and handling the kids at Kigali Christian Academy, participating in their debates (these were to encourage confidence in public speaking for the kids), lead their sports time and participate at Fellowship again in the evenings where we would preach. We were fortunate to actually have 2 off days this month, so Saturday was our second. Sunday was church from 8-11 (surprise: we also preached here) and then house visits in the evening.
This was our normal week, with additional activities thrown in wherever we were needed. Something I have learned on The Race is to be interruptible. To be able to make time for things that aren’t on our schedule. It’s certainly not something I do well, but I am learning!
One of the coolest parts about this month was having such an involvement in the community. From house visits to hanging out with some of the 20 year-olds from church, it truly felt the most like home since I left in January. Sleeping on the ground and bucket showers didn’t, but the love and familiarity I felt from those we formed relationships with sure did.
In summary, it was a good month and The World Race has continued to prove itself to be one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I question and wonder where my life will go afterwards, as I’m sure many of us all do regardless of where we are. There are good times and bad times, but my mission to grow into a deeper relationship with God and understand the needs of the world continues to be met each month.
To everyone back home: I miss you all very much. Now that I am over the halfway mark, I sometimes find myself “day”dreaming before I go to bed each night about fond memories from home and things I look forward to upon my return. I can’t wait to pick out a Christmas tree with my family when I get home and visit my grandparents during the holidays. As fall gets closer and closer, I think more and more about a nice cold Tropicalia with my boys watching the dawgs finally take down The Crimson Tide in the natty. I want to walk the beltline with Jackie and grill a nice steak on a fall night.. or end up at Anticos for a Dia Vola. The list could go on and on, but these are the thoughts that frequent my mind.
However, I know that all of those things will be worth it once I have done what God has asked me to do here on The Race. Which is to use my gifts and abilities well, lead the squad well, and continue to grow in my relationship with Him so that I have a firm foundation for when I return this coming November (few days before Thanksgiving if you’re wondering.)
SO, in the actual conclusion… I love you all and seriously think about you all much more than you probably would guess. The World Race has been wonderful, through all of the incredibly difficult times, as well as the beautiful ones. God continues to work in my life and reveal things to me and with only 5 months remaining, I have to constantly remind myself to stay present here.
Please reach out via email, groupme, facebook, IG or whatever. It might take me a bit to respond, but I love hearing from you all.
Thanks 🙂
-JonB
