I am currently in my hotel room in LA with one of my teammates at 4 a.m. We are the only ones left of Gap W. Ouch. That hurts. Let me explain a little…
On Sunday morning, my team and another team were having breakfast at the farm (a small orphanage in Chiang Dao, Thailand). Brittany, one of our incredible squad leaders, called a meeting just like the day before. Knowing that it was probably about COVID-19, I was a little anxious but didn’t let myself freak out. And… surely enough…
There were tears rolling down Brittany’s face while she was reading the email from our mentor, Madie.
I couldn’t believe it. I looked around the circle and saw my bestest friends sobbing or trying to hold tears in.
Not only were we leaving, but we were leaving the next morning.
So, we packed our bags a couple hours later and got on a two hour bus ride to meet the rest of our squad.
One of the worst things that could happen on the race was now happening…
My brain was full of questions, thoughts and feelings– God, why would you take me this far just to take me this far? How am I supposed to go home? I’m not ready. What about the next two months with my family? I was only in Thailand for two weeks. What am I suppose to do with the next two months? Why is everyone so fearful of corona? Will people understand? I can’t say goodbye to my squad.
Sunday night, my team and I had an ice cream date. We reminisced on the past seven months together– We laughed, cried, sang, danced. It was such a sweet way to end the best season of my life.
On Monday morning, we all headed to the airport with heavy hearts. We had our last travel day together. After landing in Los Angeles from Taiwan, we got another email, it said that Trump suggests no meetings larger than ten people. So, our plans of having debrief for a few days were canceled because there are 41 of us. As soon as we got off the plane, we met in a large group and our squad leaders began to explain the email and that was the last time Gap W was altogether. We prayed and then separated ways to head to customs and baggage claim.
Four of my squadmates actually headed home that night and I said goodbye to my three of my teammates the next day. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. We were supposed to have debrief for two days to try and wrap our heads around this. But, the virus was becoming a bigger issue and people needed to go home. It all happened so fast and I am struggling with even believing it.
The Lord has been so kind to me and I will be sharing about all that He has done. But, I wanted to give a deeper update on what’s going on.
I’m headed to Phoenix tomorrow.
How can you be praying for me and my squad?
– PEACE! our hearts are hurting so bad.
– STRENGTH! to fight against evil, distractions.
– JOY! because the Lord did unbelievable things the past seven months.
– GRACE! with ourselves and our family. it’s a lot. parents, if you have a racer come home,, have grace.
– HEALTH! God is bigger than corona.
– TRANSITION! transitioning to a different country is one of the hardest things on the race. now, we are not only with our squad, but transitioning home is a whole different story.
– REVIVAL! the Lord brought hundreds of missionaries back to the United States for a reason, let’s intercede for our country.
Thank you so much for all your prayers. It means so much. I am in the midst fo grieving, processing and transitioning, but you can reach out! Thank you.
See you sooner than expected Phoenix.
Blog Ya Later,,
Alicia
