On the 8th of January I began my journey with my group in San Francisco. It was time I got to meet the other 17 people of my group and I instantly knew that I’d be friends with them for forever. I knew that we would all see growth in our lives and I was extremely excited to get started. I was excited to wait and see what God was going to do through me and my group. I was thrilled to meet new people all around the world by just spreading Jesus’ love for them. It was going to be a full year of just listening and allowing God to lead the way, which I was always wanting to do in my life. I will now share some stories about how I waited and saw God do some amazing things from back then until now and I hope it helps show you that things can happen for you in yours lives too.
I‘ll start by saying where my journey began, which was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was days of happiness and also days of wondering what my life was going to be like during this next year. I felt like it was going to be one of the most amazing experiences in my life. I felt like connections were going to be so good for what God has for me later in my life and it made me feel excited. Here’s how everything started.
After we got out of the airplane and through customs, my group met a man who drove all 18 of us to our hostel. I was really tired because it was a long plane ride journey, so I slept. The next day some of workers at the hostel gave us vouchers for free breakfast every morning with the stay at that hostel, which was really amazing. We had omelettes, fruit, and bread and it was really good. Then the next day our group walked 2 miles(40 minutes) to the leaderships Air BnB, which at first was extremely difficult for me because I wasn’t used to the extreme heat and humidity yet. So that is day we started our 2 week “Training Camp” where we had a ton of different people on the leadership team who spoke to us on what each day was going to look like and it allowed me to see how to hear God’s voice even more clearly. We also put it into practice where we got split into 4 teams for those practice times and we just ministered to people who we felt God call us to. I really liked that time. This was during a time where I felt God was telling me “Daniel you should be patient and wait and see all of the things I have for you.” I was very excited to hear that and now I will describe to you examples of that.
I’ll first begin by saying that my whole group of racers on my Unscripted route are such amazing people. They all are encouraging and just love helping others hear the voice of God. Unscripted is a journey where we don’t know who we will be living with or where we will be living during our whole journey until God reveals that place and people and I am excited for a time where God leads my group in His direction. Then towards the end of my ”Training Camp” the leadership group split us into 4 different teams this time for a few months or longer and people in mine are Matt, Jacob, and Tanner. These three guys are the ones I’ll be journeying to different countries and cities with fully relying on God throughout all of it. We called ourselves the “Guarder Of Heartz” because we want to be the ones that guard the hearts of many people. The name we felt was perfect for my team and I’m excited to be doing it with them.
Now I’ll tell you of the love I have for all of the Cambodian people and the kids I encountered in Phnom Pehn. With what I witnessed they all have such a joyful spirit in them and the kids loved just spending time with me and my group. They were always willing to give me a happy hello wave with their hands and just showed me what a place of happiness is like. This is a time where God kept reminding me, “Daniel I told you to just wait and see everything.” , and that’s what I did. I also got to play some soccer with some of the kids and I know that it definitely made all of us so happy. It was very exciting to see them want to spend time with us and I enjoyed being able to do that with them. One day I’ll go back to Phnom Penh and see them again.
There was also another night where my team wanted to find some food place and I felt God tell me to stop by this place where they sold noodles. As we were eating there, we met a college age student who knew a lot of English and his American name was Sugar. He was a guy who we all instantly connected with and became friends with him right away and I knew that he was one of the people God wanted me to meet and get to know more. What was even more exciting was that Tanner, Matt, Jacob and I all were able to eat another meal with him at one of the local night markets before we had to leave Phnom Pehn. It was awesome to see him because our team had a great friendship with him and we ended up teaching each other our different languages and just enjoyed our time together. I definitely now know that this was another time where God spoke to me and said, ”See Daniel if you are patient I will introduce you to a lot of new people that will create friendships.” I’m excited to go back there one day to see him again and get to know him even more because it’ll be awesome.
I can’t wait to use these relationships to help my future and encounter more people who I can instantly become friends with and I’m excited to continue to travel the world and meet new people. It will be exciting to wait and see the different people God has for me to meet around the world who will never leave my heart. I feel like this is just the beginning of me being patient on God’s call and I’m excited for that.
