“home again, home again, Jigady jig” – a saying my dad would say every time we pulled into the driveway, coming from a trip- big or small. It’s stuck with me as a little celebration Jig of coming home. I found myself saying these words two weeks ago as I pulled back into the driveway, home in the USA.
So with that, I guess I have a “little” announcement to make: I’m home
Yes, quite earlier than expected. About 97 days early to be exact.
And my oh my, it’s been a whirlwind.
So here we go. Let me first rewind to the beginning of March, before the thought of coming home was ever in sight. Then I want to give a little bit of a tribute to the 8 countries I was blessed to visit + share some of my favorite stories & memories.
A little warning: this might be long – it’s so hard to only tell a few stories when there are so many good ones. I hope you enjoy 🙂
We got to our host church in Pitesti, Romania. We met the pastor and his sweet family of 3 kiddos and heard their heart and vision for the ministry they began and how we can be a part of it. Their vision for us was 2-part: first, they really needed some help with their upstairs room and other things around the church building and second, they wanted us to partner with their work in the gypsie and homeless communities.
I loved listening to their hearts pour out as they spilled to us the history of the church and how each of the different ministries sprouted up. Each word they spoke sang of their love for the people of Pitesti, and especially in the communities they have worked in for decades. I was so excited to partner with them.
And we got too, for a little bit. The first week we were there, we got to be a part of their various outreaches to the homeless population, visiting and bringing meals to share together, and to the gypsie community, helping with their children’s ministry (they host a program very similar to Awanas here in the states).
But sadly, this only lasted for about a week, as things with the coronavirus began to be much more serious in Europe. Lockdowns/ quarantines began getting stricter and stricter each day that passed, and we were more or less confined to the church, except for quick grocery runs. We were able to spend the next week finishing up the cleaning and organization of the upstairs of the church, which truly was a HUGE help to them, and paint some of the downstairs. I am thankful we were able to assist in that way.
Still at this point, the thought of us getting brought home early was not a thing. We all thought that maybe we would have to stay in Romania a bit longer and stay in the church, for the most part. But everything changed in a matter of just a few days.
It was a Friday when some of our squad leaders made the announcement that The World Race was bringing some of its squads home to the states, but they were undecided about ours and said they would reevaluate on Monday. However, in the middle of the night, we got an email saying that things were escalating rather quickly with borders shutting, the virus spreading, and flights being canceled, and that they had made the decision to bring all of their squads home (over 500 people) in the next 72 hours. Woah.
And just like that, the life we all expected to live for the next 3 months was flipped upside down and we were coming home. No time to really think or process the wild rollercoaster of the past 8 months.
We flew out early Tuesday and I was home in Virginia that night. It all felt surreal. It still feels that way. I can’t really decide which one feels like more of a dream: the past 8 months all over the world, or being home now.
The past 3 weeks or so I’ve been home has been a lot of catching up on sleep, catching up with family (from as much of a distance as possible, of course 😉 lol), some processing and reflecting, and figuring out what now to do with these next 3 months, or really more these next 5 months before the wedding.
Life is full of questions right now, of where to live and if I can work, but God is good and I trust it’ll all come together. Please keep me in your prayers through this journey of transition home and for God to open the door for where I am supposed to be.
For the time being, I am happily home with my fiance and his sweet family 🙂 What a blessing!
Now, as this season comes to a close, I wanted to do a little overview of my time on the field and share my favorite memories/stories from each country. I hope you enjoy 🙂
Mongolia
Hands down, my favorite memories of Mongolia are the days I got to spend working in the cafe. As I talked about in my two posts ( pt. 1 & pt. 2), these times were prayers answered and dreams in view. Chopping veggies + rolling noodles all morning, and serving the customers all afternoon, I was in my space + element for sure. It was incredible to see God move through the Cafe and the relationships that were formed there.
Mongolia -pt. 2 (Because our time in Mongolia was split in 2 by 2 very different environments + ministries )
The second part of our time in Mongolia was spent in the capital city, living in a hostel, awaiting our visas to get into China – and it was the BEST time – wow.
My favorite memory here was getting to share the gospel with my new friend Hero, at the kitchen table in the hostel. Read all about it in this blog post 🙂 Bringing Kingdom to the Hostel World
China
China was a wild time. The theme of that month was learning to listen to + follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit on where to go and what to do. We went on lots of grand adventures, the two of us.
My favorite time was when he led me to meet a sweet new friend.
I can’t describe to you the sweetness that filled that room. I don’t know really why, but instantly the two of us felt so much love and warmth towards each other, bonding quickly as if we were friends for years, although neither one of us could speak a word to each other. She sat me down for a traditional tea ceremony and showed me precisely how everything was done. She took so much delight in teaching and sharing her love of tea. Laughs and smiles were exchanged almost constantly. After the first hour or so of drinking tea and spending time with my sweet friend, I kept asking the LORD to provide a way for me to have a real conversation with her. And surely enough, a few minutes later, some of her friends came into the shop who had google translate on their phone. WOW God x2. I spent the rest of the day with her and her friends (at least 4 or so hours) chatting about all things of life – family, our beliefs/not beliefs in God, hobbies, dreams, and of course, tea. It was the sweetest time.
The next day I returned to my friend, bringing her a thank you card I painted + wrote in Chinese – she cried. I cried. It was so sweet. I sat down to spend hours more with my friend.
The rest of the week I was in the city of Lanzhou, I spent in her tea shop, drinking more tea than I could ever imagine + sharing life & conversation over the table.
One day, I even got to bring my friend Jen along!! What a time.
I wish I could tell you so much more about the times we spent together around the table for a cup (or hundreds of cups) of tea, but to sum it up: a sweet friendship was knitted together by the LORD and the hope of Jesus was shared.
Please pray for my friend. I haven’t been able to contact her since my phone was stolen in Kenya, since I can no longer log into my WEchat (if you have an active wechat account – please message me!!!). I’m praying the name of Jesus will continually float in her mind and she will find him.
The Stans: Bringing Kingdom through English
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were full of teaching English. The English language is such a gift & an incredible avenue for building relationships and sharing Jesus.
Kazakhstan
My team and I were in the capital city of Kazakhstan, Astana, working alongside an English center ministry. Their heart was to bring the gospel to University students. The college campuses are closed to any sort of outreach, and even more so, Kazakhstan is a closed country, so sharing the gospel to groups outside a permitted church was illegal. However, English was a key that unlocked so many doors. They were able to get onto the college campus on Tuesday nights to host “speaking clubs”. The room would be packed full with as many students as could possibly fit, all eager to practice their English. Afterwards, we would go out to dinner with some of the students and get to know them better. The Center also host English Club every Monday- Thursday in their office. New students would come almost every time, but the majority were regulars, so we go to know them really well.
Jahnar
Jahnar was the sweetest girl you’ll ever find. We quickly became good friends. We found kindred spirits in each other, attending aerial yoga classes together, eating yummy food & exploring the city. We talked of many things and laughed lots. One thing we talked frequently about was faith. Truly, I respected her a lot. She was quite intelligent and dedicated to what she believed in. Although Kazakhstan is a Muslim country, she was one of the few I met who actually lived out the faith she claimed. Most Kazak people believe that “I’m Kazak, so I’m Muslim”, and really only observe holidays and such (very similar to cultural Christianity in the west). Jahnar’s dedication to the Muslim faith though, ironically, really was a door opener. She was eager to share her beliefs and what life looks like for her as a Muslim women. In return, she was also curious about Christian beliefs and asked my teammate, Jen & I many questions when we spent time together. I think one of my favorite conversations with her was as we were walking to the Mosque (Kazakhstan has the biggest Mosque in Asia, and it’s quite beautiful, honestly) for her to give us a tour. She was telling us about what prayer means to her, and how she was on the “weekend” because she was menstruating and isn’t allowed to pray during that time. She was excited because she said she got a break. This made me really sad. I kept thinking of how beautiful and sweet and life-dependent prayer is for me. How what an honor it is to be able to sit at the feet of the Father anytime, as Jesus tore the veil between God and Man (Exodus 26:31-33, Numbers 18:7, Matthew 27:51, Hebrews 6:19-20), something even our Israelite brothers + sisters throughout the ages didn’t have. I thought about the sweet intimacy with the Father, and the goodness of living in relationship with him, and the peace + strength in the awareness of and engagement with his presence all around. And then my friend here, caught in the ritual of prayer and recitations, leaped for joy in getting to take a break for a few days. Jen & I then got to share with her what prayer means to us, and how it is beautiful intimacy and conversation with the Father. It was a really cool conversation, especially seeing the look in her eyes as her wheels were turning, pondering if she is missing something so good and so sweet. Sadly, the story here doesn’t end with my dear friend coming to know the LORD (yet), but I know seeds were deeply planted. And now she is in the hands of the LORD and I can partner with my brothers + sisters still working at the English center in prayer. Join me in prayer for my dear friend Jhanar, that as she seeks Allah, she will find the One true God!
Inju
My dear friend Inju – Wow, where to begin? Inju became like a little sister to me this month. She was brand new to the city, a freshman in University, full of excitement. We met at the English club on campus and quickly connected. Her heart for animals and science reminded me quite a lot of my little sister back home, and apparently, I reminded her of her older sister. It was the sweetest. We began to hang out quite regularly, very much enjoying each other’s company. I would have her over to our hostel for movie nights, or we would explore the city together since it was knew to both of us. I had found a really good American restaurant I took her to, and she took me to her favorite Kazak restaurant. Inju came from a Muslim family, but definitely fell into the nominal category I discussed earlier. Still however, she was very eager to have conversations about God and I was able to connect her with some of the local believers I knew who also went to English club. Please pray for my dear friend, that the LORD continues to bring people into her path to point her to Him and she comes to know Jesus.
Issa
One of my favorite memories of all the race was getting to share the gospel with one of the english students as we stood at the front of the mosque (one of the biggest in central Asia) he was giving us a tour in. Issa is a very intellectual + friendly human, and hung out with us often outside class. He began explaining his faith to us and the things he believes. The whole time we were silently praying for his heart to be opened, and the LORD sparked curiosity in his mind. He began to ask us all sorts of questions about the Trinity, how Christians believe we are saved, Jesus and his death, and our thoughts on Heaven + Hell. Quite a big conversation to have, standing at the front of a Mosque + all in whispered tones. Oh how the LORD moves – wow. Hallelujah.
My goodness. How I wish I could tell you all about the rest of my friends and the times we shared and how the LORD work through those friendships. But I guess those will be stories for our next cup of tea together?
Kyrgyzstan
One of the coolest times partnering with the Center was when we got to host a hue American thanksgiving in our home for 30+ students. It was wild and oh so much fun. The kids loved it. We took the opportunity to talk about the thing we are most thankful for. Students shared and we shared, interweaving our testimony. Those students heard how the gospel of Jesus and how it changed 6 lives – each of the members of my time. WOW.
My favorite way of connecting with the students was our bi-weekly game nights. My heart came alive these nights and brought me back to my RA days in college- hosting game nights on Thursday to build relationships with my girls.
And if you thought Kyrgyzstan couldn’t get any better (My favorite country) – we got connected to an orphanage through a pastor we met in a coffee shop- how cool. We spent many mornings hanging out with the kiddos, bringing crafts and teaching english. At the end of our time with them, we got to throw them a Christmas party – making snowflakes and Christmas trees for them to decorate their home with and teaching them a dance for them to perform at the church on Christmas. This day was so full of love and joy, fun and sweetness.
Ethiopia
Hands down my favorite memory in Ethiopia was the cooking class I took with Tiina. We learned so much about the traditional foods and the culture + history that day. Plus, we had really great conversations with the host. What a time.
Kenya
Kenya was a wild time. Truly my hardest country. But there were so many sweet moments of rain in the desert. And I say this both literally and figuratively.
One incredible story in Kenya when we were visiting the Pokot tribe for a few days . Now, the climate of Pokot is not like the luscious green Kenya I was so used to, but desert. Think Arizona dry, but even more so. This tribe lived over an hour away from any town, up in the mountains, rarely getting rain water. The first morning we were there, our host took us up to an overlook to pray over the mountain and the Tribe, and to pray for rain to come. We prayed, asking the LORD to pour down rain in a way that would be undeniably him. A little bit later that day, we were all standing in front of the tribe introducing ourselves, and as soon as we finished, no lie, it started pouring. It was one of the coolest things and clearest ways I’ve ever seen God work. And we got to stand up there and tell them to praise God for the rain because it came from him.
After, we celebrated with Hudson (a teammate) making balloon and having a pretty intense balloon battle. What a joy filled day!!!
Uganda
Uganda was the sweetest, a breath of fresh air after Kenya.
Truly, I can’t decide what my favorite part was. My heart here is torn in two between my sweet Allan – she brought so so so much joy to me that month, and my dear friend and sister Esther Grace- where I saw God move so so clearly.
If you haven’t already read my stories from Africa- and especially the story of Esther Grace- do so now!!!!!
Romania
And last but not least, Romania. My time here was short and confined, but I saw God move and allow ministry through, yet again, board games. A nightly tradition quickly began when I shared my loved of Settlers of Catan with the Pastor’s kids. So quickly, my heart bonded with these 3 boys – 15, 14 and 9 years old. We would play at least 2-3 games a night. I quickly saw how great an opportunity this presented to get to know them, hear their hearts and passions, and speak into them in ways. With out this board game, I never would have bonded with them. Thank God for this opportunity. I think it gave all 4 of us so much joy and honestly, some sanity amidst lockdown lol.
Wow, what a journey it has been – from day one, landing in Mongolia:
with team WILD
to the last days – exploring the streets of Romania with my girls:
Thank you – all of you- for the role you have played in this journey. You guys are incredible. I am so thankful for you & the opportunity to have partnered with you in the work of the gospel. While this leg of our journey together has come to an end, we will always be brothers and sisters, partnering together to bring his Kingdom come, and work that his will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Hallelujah. Amen.
